Phnom Penh

The EFEO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Currently closed

In 1990, the EFEO returned to Phnom Penh. As of now, the EFEO Center there is located in the premises of the National Museum of Cambodia, see The sculpture conservation workshop of Phnom Penh National Museum

The Cambodian Edition Manuscripts Fund (FEMC)

From 1990 to 2012, under the direction of Olivier de Bernon (Paris), an FEMC staff of six located, restored, identified, and inventoried the manuscripts surviving in the monastery libraries of Cambodia. Previously housed at the royal palace, in 1999 the FEMC was relocated to Vat Unnalom. In the neighboring monastery of Vat Saravann, the FEMC managed a large library of Cambodian manuscripts. Since 2009 the FEMC constituted the main office of the joint EFEO-UNESCO program for the digitization of the microfilms of the pagoda manuscripts. Since spring 2011, the website khmermanuscripts.org is online.

The sculpture conservation workshop at the Phnom Penh National Museum

Under the leadership of Bertrand Porte (technical engineer), this workshop was created in 1996 and enjoyed the constant support of the EFEO. The work done there was improving the conservation and restoration of the remarkable archaeological collection in the Phnom Penh Museum. The workshop also widened knowledge about and appreciation of the works in the collection through the organization of permanent and temporary exhibits. The personnel were also available to provide expertise on archaeological collections held in provincial archives and the museums.

The National Museum's restoration experts were much in demand in Vietnam and Laos. They were especially appreciated for their skills in making rubbings of inscriptions.

The EFEO Centre in Phnom Penh at the National Museum of Cambodia within the sculpture conservation workshop closed definitively in July 2023.

Other research projects linked to EFEO Phnom Penh:

The Archeological Inventory

The on-site archaeological inventory, led since 1990 by Bruno Bruguier (Professor) in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, came to an end in 2007. Since then, a significant publication program has been initiated - with the first product being a series of archaeological maps in French and in Khmer - along with the launching of a website. The inventory is based on archives, publications, photographs, and maps that have been gathered by researchers over more than a century.

Archeology outside Angkor - Social and cultural history of ancient Cambodia

The research programme directed by Eric Bourdonneau (Lecturer), in partnership the Ministry of Culture, has as its primary main mission the study and inventorying of the historical sources on Ancient Cambodia that exist outside the Angkor archaeological site. A number of themes are emphasized: "serfdom", "sacred sites" (an archaeological mission on the Koh Ker site in partnership with the APSARA authority), and "the formation of the state." The project, on the basis of data acquired in the fields of archaeology, the history of art and architecture, epigraphy and linguistics, works to promote dialogue on the topics selected.

Affiliated research programs:

Khmer Inscriptions Corpus Program (CIK)

Being run in Paris by Gerdi Gerschheimer (Professor, EPHE)
Associate Researcher:
Ang Chouléan Teacher of Ancient Khmer, URBA. Editor of the journal Udaya and the website "khmerenaissance".

Documentation

The EFEO Centre has access to the library of the National Museum of Cambodia.

The "Gabrielle" collection, 20,000 photos of sculptures, archaeological sites, conservation work, and epigraphy are available in the workshop of the museum in addition to a collection of rubbings of ancient Cambodian inscriptions.

A collection of local press reports is processed by the Centre on behalf of the BULAC library in Paris.