Jean-François Hubert - The Art of Champa

SandstoneGarudaintheThp-Mamstyle
(1 2 th Century), standing in f r ont of the
V ietnam History Museum (Hanoi).

Evokin g Champ a mean s glorifyin g death , sanctifying r emnants , magnifyin g clues , singin g th e praise s of mourning , an d r econstructin g histo r y . Champ a onl y exists no w i n th e memorie s o f a diminishin g collectio n o f livin g people wh o desi r e eterna l life , i n a half-audibl e melod y necessaril y exotic tha t i s humme d b y a fe w disquiete d spirits.

Y et , i n defianc e o f time , hel d i n compassio n b y it , w r eaking r eveng e o n th e injustic e o f th e inevitable Cha m statue s bear witnes s t o thi s civilisatio n tha t wa s swallowe d u p i n th e meanders o f histo r y , p r ofan e chil d o f th e divin e wor k o f destruction.

Civilisation s die , bu t al l a r e fecund . The y leav e i n ou r collective memory those fundamental notions, impossible to a r ticulate, which a r e ir r esolutel y infinit e an d unattainabl y absolute.

Pe r haps , howeve r , th e Cha m civilisatio n i s a littl e mo r e los t t o us tha n others : deat h i s no t a stat e o f bein g bu t a discourse , and Champ a ha s lon g lacke d orator s an d a n audience . Still , wha t a gestu r e ! A mysteriou s bi r th , a stateles s ideal , a gloriou s decadence, a deat h announce d i n th e nam e o f impossibl e otherness . Champ a is five hund r ed years of myster y , a thousand of destruction, and th r ee hund r e d o f bein g fo r gotten.

Th e mos t e f ficien t app r oac h t o it s r ediscove r y wa s t o captu r e its vestiges , it s abandone d towers , it s fo r gotte n sculptu r es , it s sublime site s whe r e th e divin e wanders ; a pleasan t tas k fo r th e willing travelle r , arme d wit h th e learne d indication s o f th e g r ea t ancients an d attentiv e t o th e unbiase d attractio n o f discove r y . Examinin g a statue, carrying out an authentication, is to inter r ogate condensed histor y . Al l the statue s illustrate d in thi s boo k we r e closely examined , measu r ed , inspected , an d authenticated . Al l f r o m private collections , ofte n he r etofo r e unpublished , the y brin g ne w bloo d to th e obse r vation : i n a r t , nothin g i s mo r e dange r ou s tha n inb r ed model s an d limite d field s o f vision.

Cham a r t in general and Cham sculptu r e in pa r ticular is p r ofoundl y original . I t wa s r ediscove r e d b y th e F r enc h an d ha s now bee n r epossesse d b y th e V ietnames e a t th e beginnin g o f th e twenty- first centur y .

P r ofoundl y origina l becaus e eve n i f a fe w stylisti c comparisons ca n b e made , origin s r efer r e d to , o r influence s noted , Cha m sculptu r e di f fer s f r o m al l othe r school s o f sculptu r e pas t o r p r esent.

Rediscove r e d b y th e F r enc h durin g th e perio d o f F r ench administratio n i n Indochin a (whic h include d V ietnam ) i n the secon d hal f o f th e nineteent h centur y , it s scientist s an d explo r ers suppo r te d b y th e governmen t o f th e da y . Explo r ers , suppo r te d by a r chitects , epigraphist s an d a r chaeologist s no t onl y garne r e d a uniqu e fun d o f knowledge , combinin g documentatio n and commentar y , bu t als o carrie d ou t th e majo r wor k o f conse r ving Cha m sites . I n a worl d whe r e th e us e o f F r enc h i s declining , i t is no t insignifican t t o not e tha t F r enc h r emain s th e languag e of r efe r enc e fo r th e stud y o f Cha m a r t : n o p r ecis e r efe r ence , no seriou s stud y coul d eve n toda y escap e f r o m th e detailed examinatio n an d attentiv e r eadin g o f document s draw n f r o m the bes t sou r ces , al l writte n i n F r ench , ove r th e las t fiv e hund r ed years.

Vo-CanhInscriptionStandinginfrontof
theVietnam HistoryMuseum(Hanoi).
Date d f r o m th e rd and th Centur y , it r emainins
pivotal in much r esea r ch although its
being of Cham origin is uncertain.

Thes e document s hav e bee n r epossesse d toda y b y the V ietnames e becaus e the y hav e bee n able , afte r the demand s o f years o f wa r , to inte r es t themselve s in a n a r t that, fo r man y , r emains fo r eign . Afte r all , in the collectiv e conscienc e that cement s a nation, the Cham s we r e , consciousl y , the enem y to the south, thos e who pillage d the no r th, an d who , afte r Chines e occupatio n until the tenth centu r y , appea r e d a s the obstacl e to a n expansio n to the south (Na m T ien) that the no r th s demographi c g r owt h r ende r ed inevitable . Subconsciousl y , the Cham s we r e als o a sou r c e o f guilt fo r the majorit y Kinh , havin g ir r eversibl y dest r oye d a loca l cultu r e tha t wa s ove r a thousan d year s old , r educin g a peopl e to assimilation . Roughl y 100,00 Cham s stil l liv e in V ietnam , liste d in the invento r y o f fifty-fou r minoritie s in the count r y , livin g mainly nea r Pha n Ran g an d Pha n Ri , o r nea r Cha u Doc , al l in the southern pa r t o f moder n V ietnam.