Laos: Sovereignty as a key issue for a landlocked country

Conference by Anne FORT, Chief Heritage Curator, responsible for the Central Asian and Southeast Asian collections at the Cernuschi Museum.

As part of the annual trip organized by the Friends of the Cernuschi Museum, Laos is the featured country this year. Nestled in the mountainous forests of Southeast Asia, landlocked, modern-day Laos reflects the multitude of influences from the great kingdoms that have succeeded one another on its territory. Within the sphere of influence of the Champa kingdom and then the Khmer kingdom in its early history, Laos found itself, from the 11th century onward, at the heart of the Thai cultural sphere. Incorporated into French Indochina at the end of the 19th century, the country suffered Japanese occupation and American bombing during the 20th century, while simultaneously navigating internal political struggles and the covetousness of its Thai and Vietnamese neighbors.