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Celebrating the return of four ancient artworks to Thailand.
The shimmering sounds of a khim flowed through the Asian Art Museum’s first floor on the afternoon of December 8, 2025, as musicians from Fremont’s Buddhanusorn Thai temple set the stage for an official handover ceremony. Joined by the Mayor of San Francisco and members of the Bay Area’s Thai American community, museum leadership welcomed dignitaries from Thailand, the Thai consulate, and the National Museums of Thailand to this event finalizing the return of four ancient sculptures to their home country.
“It makes me proud to be part of this city and this community,” said attendee Kesinee Angkustsiri Yip, who praised the artworks’ return as “a powerful example of cultural heritage diplomacy and ethical leadership.”
These sculptures have been part of our story for many years, but their rightful place is in Thailand.
— Soyoung Lee, The Barbara Bass Bakar Director & CEO
It’s easy to see why the four sculptures of Buddhist deities had been highlights of the collection since their acquisition in the late 1960s. With their diminutive but elegant stature and timelessly charismatic faces, the 1,200-to-1,400 year-old bronze figures are both regal and relatable.
In recent years, evidence emerged suggesting the bronzes had been removed from Thailand illegally. The museum’s curatorial team worked with colleagues in Thailand and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate; they concluded that these sculptures had been taken from the ruins of a remote temple and sold on the international art market in the mid 1960s.
The museum’s governing bodies agreed that returning the artworks to the government and people of Thailand was the responsible path. Prior to the handover ceremony, the sculptures were displayed in Moving Objects: Learning from Local and Global Communities, an exhibition presenting the full account of the works’ journey and inviting visitors to share their own responses.
Dr. Soyoung Lee, The Barbara Bass Bakar Director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum; Nitaya Kanokmongkol, Executive Director of the Office of the National Museums of Thailand; Mayor Daniel Lurie; His Excellency Dr. Suriya Chindawongse, Ambassador of Thailand to the United States; Tor Saralamba, Thai Consul General in Los Angeles, with transfer documentation.
“These sculptures have been part of our story for many years, but their rightful place is in Thailand,” said Soyoung Lee, The Barbara Bass Bakar Director & CEO of the Asian Art Museum. “We are grateful for the partnership that made this return possible, and we look forward to continued collaboration to deepen understanding of the region’s rich artistic traditions.”
“While [an artwork’s] placement may shift from San Francisco to Thailand,” said the Ambassador of Thailand to the United States, H.E. Dr. Suriya Chindawongse, “its universal value and the right for all to enjoy it remains the same. This event reflects that cultural heritage is, in many ways, a heritage of all humankind, and for humanity.”
As cultural caretakers, the Asian Art Museum’s work of reexamining and reckoning with the history of its collection is active and ongoing. In the words of the Chinese American artist Hung Liu (1948–2021), whose work also appears in the collection: “History is not a static image or a frozen story. It is not a noun. Even if its images and stories are very old, it is always flowing forward. History is a verb.”
Find out more about provenance policies and research at the Asian Art Museum.
Top image and above: Installation view of Moving Objects: Learning from Local and Global Communities, 2025. Photographs by Kevin Candland, © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
