Catch a glimpse of Leng Seckon's interpretation of what life in Cambodia is like today.By June Cheong
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 2006-03-18
Cambodian painter Leng Seckon is no stranger to controversy.
He once made his mother cry after he showed her one of his paintings, which he intended to display in public. It depicted apsaras, which are heavenly nymphs found on the walls of Cambodian temples, as modern-day bar girls.
His Mum was afraid he would offend not only the authorities in their country, but also their countrymen's religious sensibilities.
The painting went on display in Cambodia.
The 32-year-old says: "I think it shows the situation in Cambodia today."
He is exhibiting seven of his paintings at Art-2 Gallery at the Mica building from March 16 until April 1.
The works of three other Cambodian artists, Chhim Sothy, Svay Ken and Suos Sodavy, are on exhibition, too.
Ken, who, at 74, is the oldest among them, says: "I've always wanted to paint but I couldn't choose my job under the Khmer Rouge regime. People couldn't paint or study. We all had to work in fields. It was very hard."
The Khmer Rouge was a communist organisation which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
In 1993, Ken quit his job as a hotel waiter after his wife died and became a full-time painter.
He says: "I like to paint people and daily life to talk about life as we know it."
On the opposite end of the artistic spectrum from Ken is Sothy, whose abstract paintings are dashes of colours which merge into familiar figures.
The 36-year-old says: "My work is all about form, colour and lines. Where I come from, the countryside, all we look at is the scenery. Sooner or later, the roads and train tracks become lines to my eyes."
A fine art graduate of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh since 1996, he has always craved to differentiate himself. He says: "In school, the teacher taught us traditional ways of painting and I always wanted to find some way not to follow him.
"I hope that people can feel what I put on the canvas."
While the artists were forthcoming about their art, they became more reticent when asked about their experiences with the Khmer Rouge regime.
History buffs and amateur anthropologists should head down to the TheatreWorks home at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road.
From March 16-19, TheatreWorks is presenting Seams Of Change, an exhibition tracing the social history of Cambodia in the late 19th and 20th century through their clothes and recorded oral histories.
The exhibition was begun by the Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture in Cambodia in 2002 when it embarked on a Cambodian Memory Bank project to record oral histories of its elderly citizens.
Tay Tong, 42, the managing director of TheatreWorks, says: "Cambodia's memories are kept in the bodies of its older people. Like any developing nation, there's a constant sense of progression and having to move on. There's a collective amnesia of what it was like back then. I hope the exhibition provokes questions of our own heritage, our own culture."
The exhibition on the four Cambodian artists - Chhim Sothy, Svay Ken, Leng Seckon and Suos Sodavy - is on at Art-2 Gallery at the Mica building from March 16 until April 1. The opening hours are 11am to 7pm, Mondays to Saturdays.
Seams Of Change is on at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road from March 16-19. The opening hours are noon to 8pm today to Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sunday.
He once made his mother cry after he showed her one of his paintings, which he intended to display in public. It depicted apsaras, which are heavenly nymphs found on the walls of Cambodian temples, as modern-day bar girls.
His Mum was afraid he would offend not only the authorities in their country, but also their countrymen's religious sensibilities.
The painting went on display in Cambodia.
The 32-year-old says: "I think it shows the situation in Cambodia today."
He is exhibiting seven of his paintings at Art-2 Gallery at the Mica building from March 16 until April 1.
The works of three other Cambodian artists, Chhim Sothy, Svay Ken and Suos Sodavy, are on exhibition, too.
Ken, who, at 74, is the oldest among them, says: "I've always wanted to paint but I couldn't choose my job under the Khmer Rouge regime. People couldn't paint or study. We all had to work in fields. It was very hard."
The Khmer Rouge was a communist organisation which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
In 1993, Ken quit his job as a hotel waiter after his wife died and became a full-time painter.
He says: "I like to paint people and daily life to talk about life as we know it."
On the opposite end of the artistic spectrum from Ken is Sothy, whose abstract paintings are dashes of colours which merge into familiar figures.
The 36-year-old says: "My work is all about form, colour and lines. Where I come from, the countryside, all we look at is the scenery. Sooner or later, the roads and train tracks become lines to my eyes."
A fine art graduate of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh since 1996, he has always craved to differentiate himself. He says: "In school, the teacher taught us traditional ways of painting and I always wanted to find some way not to follow him.
"I hope that people can feel what I put on the canvas."
While the artists were forthcoming about their art, they became more reticent when asked about their experiences with the Khmer Rouge regime.
History buffs and amateur anthropologists should head down to the TheatreWorks home at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road.
From March 16-19, TheatreWorks is presenting Seams Of Change, an exhibition tracing the social history of Cambodia in the late 19th and 20th century through their clothes and recorded oral histories.
The exhibition was begun by the Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture in Cambodia in 2002 when it embarked on a Cambodian Memory Bank project to record oral histories of its elderly citizens.
Tay Tong, 42, the managing director of TheatreWorks, says: "Cambodia's memories are kept in the bodies of its older people. Like any developing nation, there's a constant sense of progression and having to move on. There's a collective amnesia of what it was like back then. I hope the exhibition provokes questions of our own heritage, our own culture."
The exhibition on the four Cambodian artists - Chhim Sothy, Svay Ken, Leng Seckon and Suos Sodavy - is on at Art-2 Gallery at the Mica building from March 16 until April 1. The opening hours are 11am to 7pm, Mondays to Saturdays.
Seams Of Change is on at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road from March 16-19. The opening hours are noon to 8pm today to Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sunday.
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