Cambodia will lend a rare collection of Angkorian artifacts to Japan for a series of nationwide exhibitions beginning next year.
Japanese movie firm Toei Co. proposed the project last year, but it was not approved until last week, Chuch Phoeung, undersecretary of state of the Cambodian Culture and Fine Arts Ministry, told Kyodo News.
The more than 100 artifacts will be taken from the Phnom Penh National Museum and the Angkor Conservation Center in Siem Reap, home of the Angkor Wat temple complex.
Toei has agreed to pay the Cambodian government more than $100,000 for the artifacts' restoration before they are shipped to Japan, Chuch Phoeung said.
The technical details of shipping and displaying the artifacts are still being worked out by both parties, he said.
The exhibition will be titled, "Angkor Wat and the Glorious Khmer Dynasty -- A Tribute to a World Heritage." It will be launched at the Edo Tokyo Metropolitan Museum in July 2005 before touring seven other cities.
The exhibition is intended to introduce Khmer art while focusing on recent excavations and research results of the Angkor monuments, in which the Institute of Asian Culture at Tokyo's Sophia University has been deeply involved.
"The Japanese hold a great admiration toward the ancient civilization of Khmer, which created one of the world's most glorious traditions of sculpture and architecture," according to a project plan proposed by Toei.
The artifacts include the statue of King Jayavarman VII, who successfully built the Angkor Wat temples, and other statues made from the fifth to 14th centuries.
"Cambodia will earn a lot through the exhibition," Chuch Phoeung said. "That is, foreigners, especially the Japanese, will gain new knowledge or better understanding of Cambodian culture and traditions."