Lauren Quinn
The Huffington Post
A note is scribbled over the pile of highlighted topographical maps: "A silence made from a mighty sound is still a sound."
Rattana Vandy knows silence well. He grew up during the era of Cambodia's silence, the deafening echo of that followed the Khmer Rouge regime.
Vandy's exhibition Bomb Ponds examines the remains of America's secret 2,756,941-ton bombing campaign in Cambodia during the Vietnam War: craters left in the countryside that, during the rainy season, fill with still-toxic water. In nine landscape photographs and a one-channel documentary, Vandy documents this unspoken history and challenges the culture of silence--both America's too-quiet recognition of the bombing and Cambodia's reluctance to educate its youth about their history.
Like most of the so-called "new generation," Vandy (b. 1980) grew up with little knowledge of his country's recent war history. Formal curricula about the Khmer Rouge was absent from Cambodian schools for some 30 years, leaving Vandy to piece together what he overheard from his parents and the facts read in the English- and French-language histories he personally sought out.
In 2008, a photographic assignment covering the country's rubber plantations took Vandy to an eastern province, abutting the border of Vietnam. As he photographed the landscape, he noticed a crater in the earth.
It struck him as strange: perfectly circular, meters wide, brimming with murky rainwater.
"What is that?" he asked a nearby villager.
"A bomb pond," the man replied casually.
The image returned with Vandy to Phnom Penh. He couldn't get it out of his head. The existence of these bomb ponds, physical evidence of a history kept silent, haunted him, and he resolved to seek out and document these bomb ponds.
It wasn't an easy task. "The bombings were done in secret, so there are no precise documents," Vandy says. "I started just blindly going out: looking at a map, thinking, 'There might be bomb ponds here,' going and talking to the old people.
"They all know. They pass by the bomb ponds everyday, and it seems like they've forgotten that they're there. But then you ask and they start talking, talking..." He waves his hands in the air, as though his fingers were words tumbling out of his own mouth.
Vandy hopes Bomb Ponds does more than document a silent history. "I want to inspire Cambodians to protest."
An exhibition of Bomb Ponds recently closed at Sa Sa Bassac, Phnom Penh's first independent art gallery. An upcoming exhibition opened April 14 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam at San Art.
11 comments:
These B-52 Bomb Ponds was dropped on the heads of the Vietcong who had stations in Cambodia sanctuary and violated the 1954 Geneva conference. There is nothing wrong with that.
US dropped bombs on Sihanouk's father Ho Chi Minh troops hidning from US forces along French invented eastern border of Cambodia with Yuon.
Doo mae ah skaer buong jeung Xihanouk!
Soon, China gonna drops more bombs, this time on Hanoi.
US Dropped Bombs and chased Vietcong into Cambodia territories because, vietcong who were hiding in Cambodia and were coward to fight face to face with the USA. Beside, hiding in the caves and hit and run attack like coward dirty scum terrors vietnamese son of the bitches.
I like to see Cambodia being bombs like Iraq, Afganistan and Gemany, Japan during the WII.
looks to me like this is cambodia's scar from the bygone war era of the past. now, it looks beautiful with rice planting all around it, etc! god bless cambodia.
9:20 PM,
Hanoi in Communist Vietnam needs to be bombed instead with a atomic/unclear bombs to destroy all the masters with master minds of evil wars and crimes against humanity. Those communist Hanoi masters should be destroyed by the NATO and powerful countries in the world along with the agreement with international communities and the UN because those Communist Hanoi bastards and bitches are the ones who started and created wars along with the killing fields initially in Cambodia, Khmer Krom (South Vietnam) and Laos. Pot Pot, Sihanouk, Khmer Rouges are not the ones who started the Killing Fields and wars initially, but they killed some innocent Khmer people. Communist Hanoi masters and Vietnamese secret agents have killed the millions of innocent Cambodian/Khmer people more than Pol Pot and his uneducated young armies (kids) of Khmer Rouges.
ECCC, the UN and International Communities should start the International Tribunal/Trial for fucking Communist Hanoi masters along witn CPP Yuon, Hun Sen and other Khmer Rouges leaders like Ieng Sari, Khiev Saphan, Heng Samrin, Chea Sim, etc
no wonder khmer people hated the youn thugs for wanted to steal and hurt cambodia! and they wonder why? go figure!
Var Kim Hong does recognize that Cambodia, if compared to the colonial Service Geographique de l’Indochine scale map 1/100,000 and the 1985 delimitation treaty, will loses 9,000 hectares; and compared to U.S Army Mapping Service scale map 1/50,000 with the 1985 Treaty, would lose about 7,900 hectares to Vietnam. This statement was confirmed by Var Kim Hong to Mr. Touch Bora Esq through a telephone conversation on 30 August 2002 at 4:30 p.m. (Sydney time), which Mr. Touch Bora Esq wrote in his letter dated on 9 September 2002 sent to Sam Dach Ta Noroudom Sihanouk concerning over border affairs.
In fact, the loss is absolutely more than the 1000 square kilometers stated by MP Sam Rainsy in his statement, if we add the size of the historical water of 30000 square kilometers awarded to Vietnam under the 1982 Agreement which has been into affect and now already become under the full control of Vietnam. And this would not be the last if the equidistance principle be used to delimit the maritime boundary, Cambodia will lose an additional area of sea and seabed measuring at least 860 square nautical miles from the Brevie Line to the north, analyzed by Mr. Touch Bora Esq or another 10000 square kilometers confirmed by Mr. Sean Pengse, the President of the Cambodian Border Committee Worldwide, which exclusively include another Koh Poula Wai to Vietnam added to the previous lost islands- Koh Tral (Dao Phu Quoc) and Koh Poulo Panjang (Dao Thu Chu).
This is why sVar Kim Hong said in front of Students´s Movement for Democracy (SMD), and Sam Dach Ta Norodom Sihanouk on 22 Janaury 2000 during our audience with him concerning the border resolution with Vietnam that; “If we want peace, we must sacrifice our flesh to the tiger.” The truth is discovered now that, “Sacrifice the flesh to tiger actually means cutting our land to the Viet.” This word was clearly spoken out from his mouth and there were Sam Dach Ta as witness and 31 members.
We must condemn this Var Kim Hong for his role in helping the traitorous regime of Hun Sen.
Smart Khmer Girl Ms. Rattana Keo,
Koh Tral Island must not be forgotten
By Ms. Rattana Keo
Why do Koh Tral Island, known in Vietnam as Phu Quoc, a sea and land area covering proximately over 10,000 km2 [Note: the actual land size of Koh Tral itself is 574 square kilometres (222 sq miles)] have been lost to Vietnam by whose treaty? Why don’t Cambodia government be transparent and explain to Cambodia army at front line and the whole nation about this? Why don't they include this into education system? Why?
Cambodian armies are fighting at front line for 4.6 km2 on the Thai border and what's about over 10,000km2 of Cambodia to Vietnam. Nobody dare to talk about it! Why? Cambodian armies you are decide the fate of your nation, Cambodian army as well as Cambodian people must rethink about this again and again. Is it fair?
Koh Tral Island, the sea and land area of over 10,000 square kilometres have been lost to Vietnam by the 1979 to 1985 treaties. The Cambodian army at front line as well as all Cambodian people must rethink again about these issues. Are Cambodian army fighting to protect the Cambodia Nation or protecting a very small group that own big lands, big properties or only protecting a small group but disguising as protecting the Khmer nation?
The Cambodian army at front lines suffer under rain, wind, bullets, bombs, lack of foods, lack of nutrition and their families have no health care assistance, no securities after they died but a very small group eat well, sleep well, sleep in first class hotel with air conditioning system with message from young girls, have first class medical care from oversea medical treatments, they are billionaires, millionaires who sell out the country to be rich and make the Cambodian people suffer everyday.
Who signed the treaty 1979-1985 that resulted in the loss over 10,000 km2 of Cambodia??? Why they are not being transparent and brave enough to inform all Cambodians and Cambodian army at front line about these issues? Why don't they include Koh Tral (Koh Tral size is bigger than the whole Phom Phen and bigger than Singapore [Note: Singapore's present land size is 704 km2 (271.8 sq mi)]) with heap of great natural resources, in the Cambodian education system?
Look at Hun Sen's families, relatives and friends- they are billionaires, millionaires. Where did they get the money from when we all just got out of war with empty hands [in 1979]? Hun Sen always say in his speeches that Cambodia had just risen up from the ashes of war, just got up from Year Zero with empty hands and how come they are billionaires, millionaires but 90% of innocent Cambodian people are so poor and struggling with their livelihood every day?
Smart Khmer girl Ms. Rattana Keo,
Mr. Sam Rainsy is the sun that shine bright in all Cambodians heart and mind unlike Dr. Hun Sen murdered thousands khmer lives and cut off 30 000 km2 of Cambodia to Vietnam as personal gift.
So Who is the bad guy now?
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