Cambodian artist's works to premiere at CSUDH exhibition

You Khin's "Untitled - Prayer 2" (2008), oil and strings on canvas. (You Khin)

11/29/2011
By Stephanie Cary Staff Writer
Dailybreeze.com (Los Angeles, California, USA)

I Have the Right
What: Exhibit of work by about 100 artists in a variety of media, centered around interpretations of human rights.
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday through late summer.
Where: PICTURE Cultural Art, ground floor of Cal State Dominguez Hills Library, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson.
Admission: Free; private tours are available.
Information: 310-243-2359.

PICTURE Cultural Art at Cal State Dominguez Hills is hosting the world premiere of work from Cambodian artist You Khin, in the current exhibition "I Have the Right."

Khin's art is on display along with the work of about 100 other artists , all representing interpretations of human rights including the right to love, the right to dream, the right to express yourself and the right to an education.

The exhibit will continue through late summer.

Khin left Cambodia to attend school in Europe a few years before the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975, prohibiting him from returning to his homeland.

Land of the walking dead

6 May 2011
Brendan Brady (Southeast Asia)
Khaleej Times

Peter Klashorst says it was just another regular day of heat, hawkers and honking in Cambodia’s capital when his walking paintings caused a stir on the street.

Portraits more than six and a half feet high and nearly four feet wide floated by – the large canvases cloaking the men carrying them – leaving pedestrians befuddled and even distressed.

The Dutch artist thinks some people recognised the iconic faces he had rendered: Those of prisoners tortured in the Khmer Rouge’s infamous S-21 prison. Memories of this death machine and its victims remain among the most indelible images of Cambodia’s nightmare revolution in the late 1970s, in which an estimated 1.7 million people perished.

Catch these shows before they wrap up

First snow by Mong Yen

March 1, 2011
Coquitlam NOW (British Columbia, Canada)

Two exhibits currently on display at Coquitlam's Place des Arts wrap up this weekend, while a third continues through March 18.

The first features the works of Mong Yen. Originally from Cambodia, Yen and his family fled to Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge uprising in the mid 1970s before again being forced to flee, this time to Thailand. From there the family ended up in Toronto in 1980, before Yen moved to Metro Vancouver in 1992.

It's those experiences, and the places he's seen in between, that have helped shape his exhibit of watercolour and egg tempera paintings, Quiet Path, which will be shown through Saturday, March 5.

A small Cambodian bronze exhibit at Getty is rich with meaning

Unknown Ganesha, 13th century Cambodian. (The J. Paul Getty Trust)

The 'Gods of Angkor' show of Hindu and Buddhist statuary and ritual objects is of great cultural importance.

February 20, 2011

By Suzanne Muchnic, Special to the Los Angeles Times

KI-Media Note: In you live in the Los Angeles basin area, you should try to visit this exhibit because admission to the Getty Museum and to all the exhibitions is FREE—no tickets or reservations are required for general admission. Therefore, we encourage all of you to take your children and loved ones to visit this exhibit of Khmer heritage.

For further information about the Getty Museum, click here

Thank you!

In numerical terms, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia" — opening Feb. 22 at the J. Paul Getty Museum — is a small exhibition. It consists of a mere 26 sculptural objects, about 4 inches to 40 inches tall, displayed in a single gallery.

But the cultural significance of the show is beyond measure. The selection of Hindu and Buddhist statuary and ritual objects includes some of the finest examples of historical Cambodian bronze work at the nation's primary art museum in Phnom Penh.

Elegantly refined and intricately detailed, the sculptures include a 10th-century likeness of Maitreya, a Buddha-to-be with eight arms, a lustrous patina and eyes of silver foil and black stone. A triad of figures made in the late 12th or early 13th century features a Buddha seated on a serpent coiled into a chair, with human embodiments of compassion and wisdom at his sides.

A Decade Brewing Coffee, and an Arts Scene

A painting displayed at the Java Café & Gallery, celebrating its 10 years anniversary. The cafe was established by Dana Langlois in 2000. (Photo: Courtesy of javaarts.org)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 10 December 2010

“I developed into a well-known artist in Cambodia and now I’ve become an internationally recognized painter.”

Cambodian artists say they owe a debt of gratitude to Dana Langlois and her Java Gallery and Cafe, which marks its 10th anniversary on Saturday.

Langlois, an American, opened her cafe, near Independence Monument, in 2000, creating a space for Cambodian artists to display their work and encouraging the growth of the arts, which were devastated under the Khmer Rouge.

“The dozens of young Cambodian artists who have exhibited at Java have played significant roles in the Cambodian art scene,” Langlois said in an interview.

Artists who have shown their work at Java have pursued subjects like culture, conservation, the environment and the daily lives of other Cambodians.

At least 20 different Cambodians have shown their work at the gallery. Chath Piersath, a painter, said Langlois was the “first foreigner” to concern herself with Cambodian art.

Leang Seckon, a painter, said Langlois had helped Cambodian art reach foreigners and encouraged younger artists to pursue more works.

“Java is a center for training professionalism in art and for counseling the establishment, innovation and exhibition of new works of art,” he said. It has also provided a venue for Cambodian artists to study works “from many countries,” he said.

“At this time, foreigners have come to see the development of Cambodian works of art, which began to rise up after the war,” he said.

Leang Seckon has shown 100 different works at the gallery over the past 10 years, fetching tens of thousands of dollars.

“I developed into a well-known artist in Cambodia and now I’ve become an internationally recognized painter,” he said. “I’m very happy for the art works that I have learned from paintings of different countries at Java, such as the United States, France and the United Kingdom.”

Oeur Sokuntevy, perhaps Cambodia’s best-known female artist, said Java helped artists train and develop.

“Ms. Dana has helped counsel Cambodian artists in painting and promoted their knowledge, understanding and wisdom of the Cambodian artists,” Oeur Sokuntevy said. “I have more understanding of technical painting, and the reason is the establishment of my art works at Java.”

So far, Oeur Sokuntevy has shown 55 works of art at Java, including paintings and sculpture, with price tags between $400 and $500. But it’s not about the money, she says.

“We do not hope to sell the paintings,” she said. “We show our art works, and we want our work recognized by the international community. It doesn’t mean that we just sell our work.”

While some work brings high prices, “for the artists, they think that they do not need the money, but they think of producing new innovations and strangeness in their works.”

SarinThan's "Seeking to Find my Identity": Master of Art Exhibition

‘Farmers & Freshies’ - Opening of painting exhibition on Thu 29/07/2010 at 6pm

Dear friends and art lovers,

Sa Sa Art Gallery is pleased to invite you to the opening of painting exhibition ‘Farmers & Freshies’ by Nov Cheanick and Ouk Sochivy on Thursday, 29 July 2010 at 6pm at our Gallery at #7, St 360, Phnom Penh.


Many thanks,
Lyno

Vuth Lyno
Sa Sa Art Gallery
www.sasaart.info

Baitong is located at # 7, Street 360, Sangkat Beoung Keng Kang I, Phnom Penh. Street 360 is opposite the Caltex on Norodom Boulevard (south of the Independence Monument)

‘Sight Lines’ Displays Two Different Artistic Visions

Drawing by Saphan
(Photos: http://www.noel-bazafineart.com/Noel-Baza_Fine_Art___India_Street_Gallery/SIGHT_LINES.html)Drawing by Tevy

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Friday, 18 June 2010

“I draw portraits of today’s Cambodian girls torn between tradition and modernity, of what their hearts desire against what society demands of them.”

The Nobel-Baza Fine Art Gallery in San Diego is hosting this month two Cambodian artists. The gallery represents international artists who are making an impact on the contemporary art scene.

The show is called “Sight Lines,” and it runs from June 3 to July 3.

Pierrette Van Cleve, the founder and president of the Art Cellar Exchange, told VOA Khmer that ‘Sight Lines’ focuses on Linda Saphan, who was airlifted out of Cambodia as a small child, and Oeur Sokuntevy who grew up in Battambang and has lived in Cambodia her whole life.

The show explores the difference in vision between the two artists.

“Linda Saphan looks back into Cambodia at the women who were there, and sees herself in every woman she sees on the street, because she grew up in the West with all these advantages,” Van Cleve said. “Whereas Tevy sees herself looking forward into this new world and into new ideas of the new role of the women and the new role of the artist.”

Saphan was born in Phnom Penh in 1975 and lived in Canada and France. She traveled to Cambodia in 2006 and saw women aged similar to her still in traditional clothing, cleaning the streets, working in markets, working in shops.

She photographed them and then copied the photos in ballpoint pen. The women in the images have kramas on their faces. The works are called “Incognito.”

“I felt like these women wore incognito in their lives, just going to their lives working traditionally in small jobs and small shops without the education and opportunity that I had,” Saphan said.

Oeur Sokuntevy, meanwhile, studied painting at the Phare Ponleu Selapak in Battambang province and moved to Phnom Penh in 2007 to pursue art. She has had much interest in her work as one of the very few female contemporary artists currently showing in Cambodia.

“Sokuntevy’s work is also on homemade paper made from fiber and a very rough homemade paper,” Van Cleve said “And she painted in bright color in a folk art tradition about things and stories happening in Cambodia and her life right now, a woman’s role in the family, a woman’s role in relationships, a woman’s role in the world and how they’re changing dramatically from the traditional role of women that took place not more than a few years ago.”

Oeur Sokuntevy said Cambodian women today face high pressure “to be at the same time modern among their friends and traditional for their relatives.”

“My artwork presents myself as an artist who is not distanced from contemporary society,” she said. “I draw portraits of today’s Cambodian girls torn between tradition and modernity, of what their hearts desire against what society demands of them.”

Van Cleve said collectors and curators have come to the show and are fascinated by the comparisons of the two women—who are nearly the same age but have very different experiences.

“I have spent hours explaining how Cambodia is now moving forward very quickly into the 21st Century, and it is growing and is embracing contemporary changing modern thing at a tremendous way,” Van Cleve said.

“Most of the people are extremely interested in both,” she added. “We have sold pieces from both Tevy’s work and Linda’s work to two different kinds of people. People either react to Tevy’s color and her subject matter or they react to the quiet refinement of Linda’s work.”

In February 2011, “Sight Lines” will be part of a large collaboration with the US Embassy, the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington—which is currently hosting a display of ancient bronze work from Cambodia’s National Museum.

“At that time, we are going to have a huge season of Cambodia and will present a dance festival, an art festival, a photography festival, a film festival, in conjunction all of Cambodian arts and films,” Van Cleve said. “I have decided to spend a good part portion every year in Cambodia promoting Cambodian artists and art works along with Dana Langois of Java Art Gallery.”

Artwork for “Sight Lines” can be found at www.noel-bazafineart.com or www.vcfineart.com.

Sokuntevy’s most recent solo exhibitions include ‘I Curl In Memory’s Belly’ at Java Gallery in 2010, ‘Family Ties’ at Java Gallery in 2009, and ‘Star Signs’ at Hotel De La Paix (Cambodia) in 2008.

This year Sokuntevy has been selected as the artist-in-residence for March at the New Zero Art Space (Mayanmar). In October, she will have a solo exhibition at the French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh.

‘Old Building’ - Photo exhibition by Chhin Taingchhea, opening Friday 11 June 2010 at 6:00pm

Dear friends and art lovers,

Sa Sa Art Gallery is pleased to invite you to the opening of photo exhibition ‘Old Buildings’ by Chhin Taingchhea’ this Friday, 11 June 2010 at 6pm at Sa Sa Art Gallery #7, St 360.

Many thanks,
Lyno

Vuth Lyno
Manager
Sa Sa Art Gallery
www.sasaart.info

Cambodia's Khmer culture is displayed in 'Gods of Angkor' exhibit

A figure of Vishnu holds, clockwise from upper right, a conch, a mace, a ball representing Earth and a discus. (National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh - National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh)

Friday, May 28, 2010
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post

It's hard to tell which celestial being is depicted in one of the bronze figures in "Gods of Angkor." After all, he has lost his head.

It could be the Hindu god Shiva. Or it could be Avalokiteshvara, a bodhisattva, or manifestation, of the Buddha. Both religions flourished, side by side, in Cambodia's Khmer culture.

Also missing: two of the figure's four hands, which might have once held clues to its identity. Another figure -- clearly identified because of what he's holding -- juggles Vishnu's trademark conch, mace, discus and ball, representing the Earth. Look behind him, and you'll notice what looks like a butterfly on his tush. A nearby statue of Shiva has one, too.

No, the butterfly doesn't stand for patience or some other virtue. It's probably just a palace fashion trend -- a fancy bow -- that found its way from the closets of the living to the closets of the gods. Which doesn't sound all that surprising when you consider that the face of one of the bronze Buddhas on view is said to bear a strange resemblance to the face of Jayavarman VII, the king of the Khmer empire under whose reign it was made.

Sackler Gallery exhibits 'Gods of Angkor' bronzes from Cambodia

The Sackler's 36-piece exhibition includes bronzes of Shiva's elephant-headed son Ganesha and a crowned Buddha, above, from the 12th century. (Images From National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh)

Friday, May 28, 2010
By Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer

There are only 36 works on display in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's latest exhibition, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes From the National Museum of Cambodia." Maybe twice that, if you count all the extra arms and heads.

Gods, you see, are not like us.

The show -- a jewel box of mostly smallish sculptures in three tiny galleries -- centers on devotional figures of Shiva, Vishnu and other Hindu deities, several of whom are depicted with anywhere from four to 10 arms, and as many as five heads. One, in the case of Shiva's son Ganesha, has the head of an elephant.

There are also several statues of the Buddha.

I know: Buddha is not technically a god. Still, he has often been revered as though he were one. And his various bodhisattvas -- the quasi-human, quasi-godlike embodiments of such virtues as wisdom and compassion -- are themselves considered to be deities. (In an interesting twist on certain Western stereotypes, wisdom, represented by the bodhisattva Prajnaparamita, is female; compassion, in the person of Avalokiteshvara, is a male.)

So Buddha makes the cut. The show, which also features two or three human figures, includes a number of rarely seen ritual objects from Buddhist and Hindu worship: a bell, a mirror, a lotus flower, a conch.

Yet despite its name, "Gods" isn't exactly a show about religion. Nor is it simply a celebration of the bronze-caster's art. Though it covers centuries' worth of art from the Khmer people -- from late prehistory through the Angkor period (802 to 1431 A.D.) -- there's precious little technical information about how the pieces were made.

Instead, the show is a tip of the hat from one museum to another. One favor in exchange for another.

In 2005, experts from the Sackler helped set up the National Museum of Cambodia's first metal conservation lab, with financial support from the Getty Foundation. Today, in conjunction with its ceramics and stone conservation shops, the Cambodian museum operates one of Southeast Asia's preeminent art conservation facilities.

The beautiful works in "Gods of Angkor" are evidence of that.

In other words, the National Museum of Cambodia got the gift, but here in Washington, we are the beneficiaries.

GODS OF ANGKOR: BRONZES FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CAMBODIA Through Jan. 23 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave. SW (Metro: Smithsonian). 202-633-1000 (TDD: 202-633-5285). http://www.asia.si.edu. Hours: Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission: Free.

Gender and Sexuality: Pride Art Exhibition 2010, opening Monday 10th May 2010 at 7pm

Dear friends and art lovers,

Sa Sa Art Gallery and organisers of Cambodia Pride 2010 are pleased to invite you to Pride Art Exhibition 2010 entitled ‘Gender and Sexuality’.

Please come join us at the opening on Monday, 10th May 2010 at 7pm at New Art Gallery #20, St 9 (next to Phsar Kabko).

Many thanks,
Lyno

Lyno Vuth
Manager
Sa Sa Art Gallery
www.sasaart.info

Impact of Cambodia Mines in UN Exhibit

(Photo: Robert Carmichael, VOA)

An exhibition on the effects of land mines and unexploded munitions in Cambodia wrapped up at the UN in New York Monday, having displayed some of the country’s achievements in both demining and art.

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
New York Monday, 12 April 2010

“Ten years ago, Cambodia was known as one of the most affected countries in the world, and now people look to Cambodia as one of the global leaders in mine action.”

An exhibition on the effects of land mines and unexploded munitions in Cambodia wrapped up at the UN in New York Monday, having displayed some of the country’s achievements in both demining and art.

The exhibit, “Impact,” was meant to raise mine awareness as well as highlight Cambodia’s achievements in dealing with the remnants of conflict.

“Ten years ago, Cambodia was known as one of the most affected countries in the world, and now people look to Cambodia as one of the global leaders in mine action,” Alex Hiniker, the main organizer of the exhibit, told VOA Khmer.

Cambodia was once littered with mines and ordnance from decades of war, where peace came only as recently as 1998. Clearance efforts have reduced the number of deaths dramatically, down for example from 450 in 2006 to 243 in 2009.

The country’s deminers now contribute to UN peacekeeping operations in places like Sudan.

“Impact” showcased the work of 10 Cambodian artists, including one woman, who met with villagers in mine-affected areas and places that had been cleared of mines and ordnance. They spoke to survivors of explosions, deminers and others, before creating paintings and sculptures for the exhibit.

One painting, “Aphorp,” depicts a wild cow with a broken leg standing amid barbed wire and mines.

“This painting is about the disaster caused by land mines, or the impact they have,” the creator, Srey Bandol, told VOA Khmer by phone from Phnom Penh. “The script on the mines, which says, ‘China,’ ‘US,’ and ‘USSR,’ represents countries from where [the mines] are imported.”

Srey Bandol also painted “Chhai You,” or “Success,” which depicts the work of demining agencies like the Cambodian Mine Action Center, the Mine Advisory Group and the government’s Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority.

Artist Chhon Dina contributed a sculpture called “This Shattered Life is Also Your Problem.”

“I made this sculpture from ceramics and iron,” he told VOA Khmer. “The bottom part is a defused mine. I made this sculpture to represent how it affects the mind of mankind—so landmine producers should stop producing them and peace should prevail.”

Suos Sodavy created a work featuring businesses that have arisen on land cleared of mines: a motorcycle repair shop, hair dresser, bakery furniture store and restaurant.

Hiniker said the exhibit was a chance for artists to share their work, “so that people know that Cambodia is not just a country affected by landmines, it’s a country with a thriving arts scene.”
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ពិព័រណ៍​ស្នា​ដៃ​សិល្បៈ​ខ្មែរ​នៅ​ក្រុង​ញូយ៉ក

ដោយ អ្នកប្រែសម្រួលលោក អ៊ូ ធូក
វ៉ាស៊ីនតោន ថ្ងៃច័ន្ទ, 12 ខែមេសា 2010

«ខ្ញុំ​គូរ​មាន​រូប​គោ​ព្រៃ​ ព្រោះ​ធម្មតា​នៅ​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ​យើង​គេ​ដឹង​ថា​ គោ​ព្រៃ​គឺ​ជា​តំណាង​ឱ្យ​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ​ដែរ»។

ពិព័រណ៍​ស្នា​ដៃ​សិល្បៈ​របស់​សិល្បករ​ខ្មែរ​ ស្តី​ពី​ការ​រស់​នៅ​លើ​ដី​ដែល​មាន​គ្រាប់​មីន​ និង​គ្រាប់​បែក​ចង្កោម​ ត្រូវ​បាន​យក​មក​ដាក់​តាំង​បង្ហាញ​នៅ​ស្នាក់​ការ​អង្គការ​សហ​ប្រជា​ជាតិ​ក្នុង​ទីក្រុង​ញូយ៉ក​ រយៈ​ពេល​១០​ថ្ងៃ​រហូត​ដល់​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១២ ​ខែ​មេសា​នេះ។
ការ​ដាក់​តាំង​នេះ​គឺ​ដើម្បី​បង្ហាញ​ពី​សមិទ្ធិ​ផល​នៃ​កិច្ច​ខិត​ខំ​ប្រឹង​ប្រែង​ដោះ​មីន​នៅ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ដែល​មាន​តាំង​ពីឆ្នាំ​១៩៩២​មក​ ហើយ​​ក្រុម​អ្នក​រៀប​ចំ​ពិព័រណ៍​ដែល​មាន​ឈ្មោះ​ថា «Impact» ឬ​ «ផល​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​»​នេះ​ សង្ឃឹម​ថា ​នឹង​​ទាក់​ទាញ​​បាន​​នូវ​ការ​គាំទ្រ​អន្តរ​ជាតិ​ឱ្យ​យល់​ដឹង​ថែម​ទៀត​ពី​តម្រូវ​កា​រ​​ដែល​នៅ​តែ​មាន​នៅ​ឡើយ​ក្នុង​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ទាក់​ទង​នឹង​ការ​បោស​សម្អាត​មីន។
កញ្ញា​ អាឡិច ​ហ៊ីនីគឺ​ ដែល​ជា​អ្នក​រៀប​ចំ​ឱ្យ​មាន​ការ​តាំង​ពិព័រពណ៍​នេះ​បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ថា៖
«គោល​បំណង​នៃ​ការ​តាំង​ពិព័រណ៍​នេះ​គឺ​ដើម្បី​បង្ហាញ​ថា ​តើ​កម្ពុជា​បាន​បោះ​ជំហាន​មក​ដល់​ណា​ហើយ​ក្នុង​រយៈ​ពេល​១០​ឆ្នាំ​កន្លង​មក​នេះ​ ព្រោះអី​ កាល​ពី​១០​ឆ្នាំ​មុន ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ត្រូវ​បាន​​គេ​ស្គាល់​ថា ​ជា​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ដែល​ទទួល​រង​ការ​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​ដោយ​សារ​មីន​ខ្លាំង​ជាង​គេ​នៅ​លើ​ពិភព​លោក​ ប៉ុន្តែ​នៅ​ពេល​ឥឡូវ​នេះ​ គេ​ក្រឡេក​មើល​មក​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ថា ​ជា​អ្នក​នាំ​មុខ​គេ​​ក្នុង​ពិភព​លោក​​ខាង​សកម្ម​ភាព​ដោះ​មីន»។
ពិព័រណ៍​នេះ​ជា​ស្នា​ដៃ​របស់​សិល្បករ​ចំនួន​១០​នាក់​ក្នុង​នោះ​ មាន​ស្រី​មួយ​នាក់។​ វិចិត្រ​ករ​ទាំង​១០​នាក់​បាន​ជួប​ជា​មួយ​ប្រជា​ពល​រដ្ឋ​ដែល​រស់​នៅ​លើ​តំបន់​ដែល​នៅ​មាន​គ្រាប់​មីននិង​តំបន់​​ដែល​បាន​ដោះ​មីន​រួច​ ជួប​ជា​មួយ​ជន​រង​គ្រោះ​ដោយ​សារ​គ្រាប់​មីន និង​ក្រុម​អ្នក​ដោះ​មីន​ដើម្បី​​ស្វែង​យល់​​ឱ្យ​បាន​ស៊ី​ជម្រៅ​អំពី​ស្ថាន​ភាព​របស់​ពួក​គេ​ ហើយ​រូបស្នា​ដៃ​សិល្បៈ​ទាំងនេះ​គឺ​ជា​ការ​បក​ស្រាយ​ពីការ​យល់​ឃើញ​របស់​ពួក​គេ​អំពី​សកម្ម​ភាព​មីន​នៅ​កម្ពុជា។
លោក​ស្រី ​បណ្តូល​ វិចិត្រករ​វ័យ​ ៣៧​ឆ្នាំ​ មក​ពី​​អង្គការ​ហ្វា​ ពន្លឺ​សិល្បៈ​ បាន​​គូស​គំនូស​មួយ​ដែល​​ដាក់​ឈ្មោះ​ថា ​«អភ័ព្វ» ។ ​វា​គឺ​ជា​គំនូរ​​រូប​សត្វ​គោ​ព្រៃ​មួយ​កំបុត​ជើង​ក្រោយ​ខាង​ឆ្វេង​ មាន​ទឹក​មុខ​ក្រៀម​​ក្រំ ឈរក្បែ​រក្បាល​គ្រាប់​ផ្លោង​ចាស់ៗ​ជាច្រើន​ និង​ឈរ​នៅ​ចំពី​លើ​ដី​ដែល​មាន​បង្កប់​គ្រាប់​មីន​ជា​ច្រើន។​ ពាស​ពេញ​លើ​ផ្ទាំង​គំនូរ​មាន​ព័ទ្ធ​ទៅ​ដោយ​រូប​បន្លា​លួស​ខ្វាត់​ខ្វែង។
លោក​បណ្តូល ​បាន​ធ្វើ​ការ​បក​ស្រាយ​ពី​រូប​ភាព​នេះ​ថា៖
«ខ្ញុំ​គូរ​មាន​រូប​គោ​ព្រៃ​ ព្រោះ​ធម្មតា​នៅ​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ​យើង​គេ​ដឹង​ថា​ គោ​ព្រៃ​គឺ​ជា​តំណាង​ឱ្យ​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ​ដែរ​ អញ្ចឹង​ខ្ញុំ​គូរ​គោ​ព្រៃ​បាក់​ជើង​មួយ​ហើយ​នៅ​ខាង​លើ​គោ​ព្រៃ​មាន​ ដូច​ជា​បន្លា​លួស​ហើយ​មាន​ដូច​ជា​មីន​ធ្លាក់​ចុះ​មក​ ហើយ​នៅ​ខាង​ក្រោម​មាន​មីន​កប់​នៅ​ក្នុង​ដី​មាន​បន្លា​លួស​ដែរ។​ រូប​នេះ​ខ្ញុំ​និយាយ​អំពី​មហន្ត​រាយ​ដោយ​សារ​មីន​ឬ​ក៏​ផល​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​ដោយ​សារ​មីន​ ហើយ​ក្នុង​ហ្នឹង​មាន​អក្សរ​ដូច​ជា​ចិន សហ​រដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក​ និង​មក​ពី​សូវៀត​ អីអញ្ចឹង​ ពីព្រោះ​ តាម​ខ្ញុំ​សិក្សា​ទៅ​ មីន​ភាគ​ច្រើន​មក​ពី​ប្រទេស​ពីរ​បី​ហ្នឹង​​ ...​គោ​កំបុត​ជើង​ចង់​មាន​ន័យ​ថា​ ​មហន្ត​រាយ​បាន​កើត​ឡើង​ដល់​ពល​រដ្ឋ​ដល់​ប្រទេស​ជាតិ​យើង​ដែល​មាន​មនុស្ស​ពិការ​ឬ​ក៏​ មិន​ត្រឹម​តែ​ពិការ​ទេ ​ចង់​និយាយថា​ វា​បាត់​បង់​អ្វី​ម្យ៉ាង»។
នៅ​លើ​ផ្ទាំង​មួយ​ទៀត​វិចិត្រករ​រូប​នេះ​បាន​ដាក់​ឈ្មោះ​ឱ្យ​ថា​​ «ជ័យោ» ដែល​ជា​ការ​រៀប​រាប់​ពី​កិច្ច​ខិត​ខំ​ប្រឹង​ប្រែង​របស់​ទី​ភ្នាក់​ងារ​ដោះ​មីន​មួយ​ចំនួន​ដែល​មាន​ដូច​ជា​ស៊ីម៉ាក់​ អាជ្ញា​ធរ​មីន​កម្ពុជា​ និង​អង្គការ​MAG ជា​ដើម​។
ចំណែក​សិល្បករ​ ឈុន​ ឌីណា​ បាន​ចូល​រួម​ការ​ជួយ​លើក​កម្ពស់​ពី​សមិទ្ធិ​ផល​នៃ​សកម្ម​ភាព​បោស​សម្អាត​មីន​បាន​រៀប​រាប់​ពី​ចម្លាក់​របស់​នាង​ថា៖
«នៅ​ខាង​ក្រោម​គឺ​មាន​គ្រាប់​មីន​ប៉ុន្តែ​គ្រាប់​មីន​ងាប់​ហើយ​ ហើយ​ខ្ញុំធ្វើ​ឡើង​ដោយ​បី​ចំណែក​។ ចំណែក​ទី​មួយ​មាន​ក្បាល​ហើយ​នឹង​ចំណែក​ទី​ពីរ​ដង​ខ្លួន​ ចំណែក​ទីបី​ជើង គឺ​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​ទៅ​នឹង​គ្រោះ​ថ្នាក់​ដោយ​សារ​គ្រាប់​មីន ​ពីព្រោះ​ចំណែកៗ​ហ្នឹង​ ពេល​គេ​គ្រោះថ្នាក់ ​ ពេល​ខ្លះ​គេ​អាច​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​ទៅ​ដល់​រាង​កាយ​គេ​គ្រប់​កន្លែង។​ ដូច្នេះ​រូប​ចម្លាក់​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​ធ្វើឡើង​គឺ​តំណាង​ឱ្យ​ការ​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​ដល់​ទឹក​ចិត្ត​មនុស្ស​ដែល​គេធ្វើគ្រាប់​បែក​ហ្នឹង។ ​សូម​កុំ​ឱ្យ​ធ្វើ​គ្រាប់​បែក​ហ្នឹង​ សូម​ឱ្យ​មាន​សន្តិភាព»។
ក្នុង​ចំណោម​ផ្ទាំង​សិល្បៈ​ដែល​ដាក់​បង្ហាញ​ក៏​មាន​ផ្ទាំង​ស្នា​ដៃ​មួយ​ដែល​រចនា​ឡើង​ដោយ​រូបថត​ជា​ច្រើន​បង្ហាញ​ពីសមិទ្ធិ​ផល​ដែល​កើត​ឡើង​ក្រោយ​ពី​ត្រូវ​បាន​ដោះ​មីន​រួច​រាល់​ ក្នុង​នោះ​មាន​ដូច​ជា​ កន្លែង​ជួស​ជុល​ម៉ូតូ ​កន្លែង​អ៊ុត​សក់ ​ហាង​លក់​នំ ​ហាង​គ្រឿង​សង្ហា​រឹម និង​ អាហារ​ដ្ឋាន​ជា​ដើម។​ នេះ​ជា​ស្នា​ដៃ​របស់​វិចិត្រ​ករ​ឈ្មោះ​ សួស ​សុដាវី។
កញ្ញា​ អាឡិច​ ហ៊ីនីគឺ​ ក៏​បាន​ផ្តល់​ការ​ពន្យល់​ថា​ ការ​ជ្រើស​រើស​យក​សិល្បៈ​ ធ្វើជា​យាន្ត​សម្រាប់​ការ​ផ្សព្វ​ផ្សាយ​នេះ​ ក៏​ដើម្បី​​ចង់​បង្ហាញ​ថា​ ​​ទន្ទឹម​ហ្នឹង​ពេល​ដែល​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​បាន​ងើប​ឡើង​វិញ ពី​ស្នាក​ស្នាម​សង្គ្រាម ​ហើយ​សិល្បៈ​ក៏បាន​រស់​ឡើង​វិញ​ដែរ ហើយ​វា​ជា​ឱកាស​មួយ​សម្រាប់​​ឱ្យ​​សិល្បករ​បាន​បង្ហាញ​ស្នាដៃ​របស់​ពួក​គេ។
«វា​គឺជា​ឱកាស​មួយ​សម្រាប់​សិល្បៈ​ករ​ចែក​រំលែក​ស្នាដៃ​សិល្បៈ​របស់​ពួក​គេ​នៅ​ជុំវិញ​ពិភព​លោក​ដើម្បី​ឱ្យ​គេ​បាន​ដឹង​ថា​ ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​គឺ​មិន​គ្រាន់​តែ​ជា​ប្រទេស​ដែល​បាន​រង​ផល​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​ដោយ​សារ​គ្រាប់​មីន​ទេ​ តែ​វា​ក៏​ជា​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ដែល​មាន​សិល្បៈ​កំពុង​រីក​ចម្រើន​​ផង​ដែរ»។
ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​បាន​រង​ផល​ប៉ះ​ពាល់​ដោយ​សារ​គ្រាប់​មីន​និង​យុទ្ធភ័ណ្ឌ​មិន​ទាន់​ផ្ទុះ​ បន្ទាប់​ពី​សង្គ្រាម​ក្នុង​ស្រុក​ដែល​បាន​អូស​បន្លាយ​ពេល​អស់​ជា​ច្រើន​ទស​វត្សរ៍​ ប៉ុន្តែ​បាន​ប្រែ​ក្លាយ​បទ​ពិសោធន៍​នៃ​ការ​ឈឺ​ចាប់​នេះ​ទៅ​ជា​ជំនាញ​នៃ​ការ​ដោះ​មីន​ដែល​ប្រទេស​នេះ​ចែក​រំលែក​ក្នុង​បេសក​កម្ម​របស់​អង្គការ​សហ​ប្រជា​ជាតិ។
ក្នុង​សន្ទរ​កថា​បើក​សម្រាប់​ពិព័រណ៍​​នេះ លោក Alain Le Roy​ អគ្គ​លេខា​ធិការ​រង​នៃ​អង្គការ​សហ​ប្រជា​ជាតិ​ទទួល​បន្ទុក​ប្រតិ​បត្តិ​ការ​រក្សា​សន្តិភាព​បាន​សរសើរ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ដែល​បាន​ចូល​រួម​ចំណែក​ក្នុង​ប្រតិ​បត្តិ​ការ​រក្សា​សន្តិ​ភាព​របស់​អង្គ​ការ​សហ​ប្រជា​ជាតិ​ ដោយ​បាន​ផ្តល់​កង​ដោះ​មីន​ទៅ​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ចំនួន​ដូច​ជា​ស៊ូដង់។
ក្រៅ​ពី​ទី​ក្រុង​ញូយ៉ក​ពិព័រណ៍​នេះ​ក៏​ធ្លាប់​បាន​ដាក់​បង្ហាញ​នៅ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​និង​ប្រទេស​កូឡំប៊ី​ផង​ដែរ៕

Show features Cambodian artists

Artist in Residence Sokhorn Meas from Phnom Penh sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia is in Long Beach on a 3 month visa to create his art. Meas is creating a sculpture using seven thousand chopsticks and wire. The piece, along with others by 33 artists from Cambodia, the U.S. and Korea will be displayed at Hancock University beginning Friday through May 7. (Brittany Murray / Press Telegram)

04/08/2010
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LONG BEACH - It's called "Self-portrait as a Needle." And artist-in-residence Meas Sokhorn's art piece, which sprawls nearly from floor to ceiling, certainly qualifies as a work in his specialty, called large-scale installation.

While Meas' work may be a kind of centerpiece, it won't be all that's on display. He is one of 33 artists whose work is to be shown at an exhibit opening today with a free public reception at Hancock University from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., entitled Global Hybrid II.

The show builds on a July 2009 show called Global Hybrid I in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that featured Cambodian, Cambodian-American and French artists with Khmer connections.

It is also an outgrowth of a show in Long Beach last April at the 2nd City Council Arts and Performance Space, called Transformation II: Bringing Contemporary Khmer/American Art to Long Beach.

The series of shows are part of an ongoing collaboration between several groups of artists and arts supporters, including Lydia Parusol, the art manager and curator of the Meta House gallery in Phnom Penh, and Denise Scott, who is also curating the exhibit and splits time living in Cambodia and the U.S.

Like last year's show, the current exhibit is a kind of a moveable feast in sculpture, paint and multimedia of contemporary art and artists both from Cambodia and abroad.

Meas, for example, is in the midst of a three-month residency supported by the U.S. State Department. He has been working for seven weeks on "Self-portrait" which is an abstract, flowing sculpture constructed from about 7,000 chopsticks.
The day before the show opened, Meas was still filling in his piece and bemoaning the time constraints.

"The more time I have, the longer the song I can sing," he said with a smile as he snipped off the end of a chopstick.

In another part of the large open space, Parusol displayed a multimedia piece by artist Chath Piersath, an artist, who fled Cambodia after the Pol-Pot regime to Massachusetts but has since returned to his homeland.

The interactive piece is a collection of blocks that can be flipped and rearranged, like a puzzle, to create different faces and identities.

Parusol said the piece is metaphoric in many ways of the changing faces of Cambodia and the country's struggle to find and shape its own identity. This becomes particularly challenging as the once closed nation continues to grow into and be shaped by the global community.

Parusol says in Cambodia, young artists who don't paint Buddhas or classical dancers have a hard time being recognized. Art education is nearly non-existent in schools and there is virtually no funding for the arts and very little interest among the country's leadership, she says.

As a result, many artists use "found objects" or discarded materials to create art and tell stories.

One artist whose work is on display is Sokemtevy Oeur, a 26-year-old woman who has stirred the art scene in her home country with her portrayal, on canvas and in her own life, of women.

Global Hybrid II and other efforts by places like Meta House are trying create avenues for emerging artists.

Parusol says in Cambodia's younger middle class there are flickers of knowledge and appreciation of modern art.

"It's happening slowly, slowly," Parusol said. "But, you know, it's small steps, step by step."

Not unlike what can be made of 7,000 chopsticks.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291
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Want to go?
What: Global Hybrid II art exhibit
Where: Hancock University, 1600 Long Beach Blvd.
When: Monday-Friday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. until May 7, or by appointment at 562-591-7080.

On the Web
See more photos at presstelegram.com.

Leang Seckon's First European Solo Exhibition Opens at Rossi & Rossi

Leang Seckon, Golden Flower Skirt (2009) Mixed media on canvas, 150 x 130 cm.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
ArtDaily.org

LONDON.- Rossi & Rossi present Leang Seckon in the artist’s first European solo exhibition. Among the foremost members of the emerging Cambodian contemporary art scene he was born at the onset of the American bombings of Indochina and grew up during the rise of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. As a result of these tumultuous years he was left without a birth certificate and unable to verify his exact age.

In this exhibition the artist will present some twenty paintings and collages centered around a sculptural installation, all based on the theme of the skirt his mother wore during pregnancy and his infancy. Each work contains an allegory wrapped in the memories and personal narratives of Seckon’s childhood and chronicles an undocumented Cambodia. Within the omnipresent spectre of warfare and violence Seckon depicts, there is an irrepressible fire of the spirit and culture of the Cambodian people.

The painting Golden Flower Skirt presents a patchwork of grain silos, flowers and pagodas recalled by the artist as the “golden times” of childhood. The idyllic pastoral scene is overcast by the outline of an American aircraft which he recalls bombing a Buddhist ceremony, killing a monk in the process. Whilst the recollection is visually lush and joyous, the plane’s shadow leaves an indelible and threatening mark.

The Singing Soldier depicts a visceral experience the artist had while viewing his first musical performance in 1982. At the climax of the concert a row of government soldiers who were providing security fired off a salvo of bullets above the heads of the crowd. Although no one was harmed, the event quickly dissolved into chaos. This memory, depicted through a collage of appropriated images and drawings of Cambodian and western pop singers, both past and present, fades almost cinematically into a drawing of an assault rifle juxtaposed next to the artist, dressed in military uniform, singing into a microphone.

As a final example, the installation Heavy Skirt (pictured), which anchors the exhibition, presents a skeleton dressed in a uniform constructed from materials signifying numerous roles in Cambodian society. Both hero and villain, he stands on a pedestal surrounded by the mother’s skirt. Representative of all Cambodians, he is nurtured and cared for by the mother only, inevitably, to grow and change over the course of life into someone she no longer recognises.

Leang Seckon was born in Prey Veng province, Cambodia, in the early 1970s. A 2002 graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, his works have appeared as illustrations throughout Cambodia and the United States. Noted exhibitions include the 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale in Japan in 2009, the ASEAN New Zero Contemporary Art Exchange, Yangon, Myanmar, also in 2009, and his Rubbish Project (2008) a public project in Phnom Penh.

Faces of Cambodia

25/03/2010
Ploenpote Atthakor
Bangkok Post

Dutch artist Peter Klashorst is preparing for a painting exhibition to be held in Cambodia's notorious Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum next month. The opening of the exhibition will coincide with the museum's reopening after renovations, with support from Unesco. He talks with 'Outlook' about his work and hope of pursuing his latest art scheme.

How and why did you get involved in this project?

I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and took pictures with my mobile phone. The whole atmosphere moved me. That same day I flew back to Bangkok with those faces still in my memory. That evening I painted their portraits. I was intrigued by this time in history and wanted to do an exhibition regarding this topic, so eventually I got in contact with Unesco, which is renovating part of the museum. They were very interested in the idea of art being part of the project. Joining Unesco to our team also makes it easier for us to look for external funding for the project.

Will you paint more in Phnom Penh?

Yes, I am now in Phnom Penh. At the moment, I am experimenting with different methods of painting, different canvases. ... I have visited the killing fields a few times and the museum to take further pictures and sketches.

Will all the paintings be portraits of female victims?

No, portraits are only a small part of the work. I don't know how many paintings I will make. I always work a lot, and the whole situation is very inspiring and gives me a lot of energy. It will be like an avalanche of paintings. It's true that most of my subjects are female. When you make a portrait of someone, the person is still alive, so somehow you become like that person. When you paint a person with a nervous twitch, you almost catch the same twitch from them. You become one with the person and the poser becomes the painter in a way. You make the portrait together. So every portrait you paint is also a self-portrait and a portrait of the whole world. These were painted from photographs taken on my mobile phone, but they put shivers down my spine. It was as if these people were helping me make the paintings the same way as if they were alive and with me in my atelier. Thai people believe in reincarnation and ghosts, so my Thai friends who visited my studio said they would never want to sleep in the same room as the paintings. The strange thing is that I have a daughter who is 5 years old, and one of the children I painted looks exactly like her. It could have been my own child, so maybe reincarnation is true.

Have you changed your normal working process for this project?

The work process is different for this project because of the its complex historical and political context. I'm trying to gather as much information as possible about Southeast Asia, and, of course, the Khmer Rouge period in particular. I will let it all soak into my system and spit it out on canvas, and let my instincts do the rest. I'm not a politician, but an artist. I live through my emotions.

Are there other activities in the project apart from the exhibition?

There will be a documentary film and a workshop for art students. All are non-profit. I am paying for the whole project out of my own pocket and we are waiting for different parties (apart from Unesco) to contribute financially. The paintings that are shown here were sold to an English collector for 300,000 baht, which went back into the project.

Is 'Faces Cambodia - Never Again' the exhibition's title?

There is no title yet. I will have to discuss that with Unesco and the potential funders, depending on their role.

In your proposal, it says this is not a political project. How can you avoid that since it is apparent that the Hun Sen government makes use of Tuol Sleng and the killing fields for political gains over its enemies?

I never said that art is non-political. I think art without political or social context only serves as mere decoration and, although I cannot judge my own work, I hope it will stir people's thoughts; otherwise it has failed. However, I'm not part of any political movement, only my own paint and brush movement. Of course I realise that a museum like this always has a political background and politicians will always try to exploit it for their own means, but I have no part in that and believe that such a macabre place will always stir up controversy. Concerning the remains of the victims, although we cannot ask them, I think they would have agreed to have themselves shown in this way. Although it may may seem cheap and disrespectful, it attracts people to their story, and those people's thoughts will be with them. In a way, the same goes for the photographs. These people were never asked to be photographed and never gave their permission to be displayed. When people look at a photograph or a skull, it helps them identify with the victims and I hope my paintings can help people reflect on what happened here. Art will be here forever and governments will come and go. Vita Brevis Ars Longa (Life is short; art is forever).

Dance tells story of Cambodian exile

Rawbzilla, Nicholas Heitzeberg, Joe Schenck, and Jones Welsh, from left, with the Los Angeles base dance group Collage Dance Theatre, tells the story about domestic voilence and internal strife on Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel with a performance on scaffolding sponsored by the Long Beach Arts Council. (Diandra Jay/Press-Telegram)

03/18/2010
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LONG BEACH - The scaffolding looks to have been haphazardly assembled in the middle of the empty and dusty rock-strewn lot. Hardly the setting one would expect for a world class dance troupe. Or, for that matter, stylized dancing once reserved for kings.

Students performing highly ritualized and precise movements, followed by young men seemingly flinging themselves across and up and down the structure is not the kind of pairing one would typically consider.

But that's part of what organizers hope will make a success of the inaugural event in the "A lot" series presented by the Arts Council for Long Beach.

On Friday and Saturday nights this week, the Collage Dance Theatre of Los Angeles and Long Beach's Khmer Arts Academy will join forces for a couple of dances titled "Expulsion."

Heidi Duckler, the choreographer and creative force behind the Collage group, said her group was commissioned to do the piece by the Arts Council. The arts group paid $10,000, using grants from Los Angeles and the Redevelopment Agency, according to executive director Craig Watson.

The two pieces will explore the notions of strife and families torn apart by both external and internal strife.

Cambodian families were ripped apart by the genocide that engulfed the country beginning in 1975. "Expulsion" looks at their journey into exile in the United States and their eventual reunification.

The second part of the show, done by four dancers from Duckler's troupe is a frenetic and free-flowing telling of the saga of Cain and Abel and Adam and Eve leading to Cain's exile.

Duckler, whose troupe celebrates its 25th year, has been heralded for her highly innovative work. Duckler has choreographed what are called site-specific dances and performances, in which the movement reacts with and conforms to the setting and architecture. She first gained notice for this style in "Laundromatinee," performed at the Thrifty-Wash Laundromat in Santa Monica.

Duckler said she was thrilled to get a chance to perform in the vacant lot at the corner of Walnut Avenue in the 1500 block of Anaheim Street in the heart of Cambodiatown.

She said she was intrigued by using the openness and the sky in creating her piece.

She is also intrigued by the chance to learn from another culture and its art forms. She jokes that she didn't even know how to pronounce Khmer (kuh-my) when she first met with the dancers from KAA.

"They're very formalized and our (style) is improvised," Duckler said. "I love the process of getting to know each other. It's been a pleasure."

Watson said the public, outdoor arts experiences are important to the Arts Council and will be a continuing part of the "A lot" series. The next project on the docket, tentatively scheduled for May, will be on Ocean Boulevard and feature sculpture with some very Long Beach specific messages.

Performances of "Expulsion" are this Friday and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. at the lot at 1546 E. Anaheim St. The Friday performance will be followed by a discussion with an open microphone. Parking will be available at the Mark Twain Library, 1401 E. Anaheim St.

Information is available by calling the Arts Council at 562-570-1930 or online at www.artslb.org.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

A coming of age for Cambodian artists

"Prison Guard," by Leang Seckon is one of the works on display in a Hong Kong exhibition of contemporary Cambodian art at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery. (10 Chancery Lane Gallery)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
By Alexandra A. Seno
International Herald Tribune (Paris, France)

"Perhaps the Hong Kong show's most intriguing work - though not for sale - is by Than Sok, born in 1984. He constructs houses out of bright yellow incense sticks as installations, and then burns them, a commentary on how people become disposable commodities - once to the Khmer Rouge, now to eviction enforcers and factories."

HONG KONG: In this crucial year for Cambodia, a show in Hong Kong - entitled "Forever Until Now: Contemporary Art from Cambodia," and running until April 25 - is a rare and thoughtful cultural survey exploring the country's journey from tragedy to hope, seen through the evolution of its art.

The show, at the 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, along with several other events, mark a turning point for an international affirmation of Cambodian artistic life today. In December Cambodian artists will be represented for the first time at the sixth Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia, and a few weeks before, the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial in Japan will again showcase the Southeast Asian nation.

As the United Nations conducts its trials in Phnom Penh to seek justice for atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, it seemed fitting - though it was not deliberately timed - that the international art world should be giving special recognition and visibility to Cambodia now. Under Pol Pot's rule in the 1970s, up to a fifth of the population of eight million perished - including 90 percent of the country's artists.

Because organizers are playing down the commercial side of the art, the Hong Kong show is left to focus more on the themes present in Cambodia life.

The gallery's owner, Katie de Tilly, worked as a fund-raiser with Médécins Sans Frontières and visited Thai refugee camps holding Cambodians in the 1990s.

The exhibit takes over the Chancery's Central District gallery and a space in the Chai Wan factory building, 25 minutes away by taxi. "Forever" features video, photography, painting, sculpture and installations by 14 of Cambodia's most important artists. It has something for everyone: decorative, serious, escapist and sophisticated.

"When I went to visit in June, I could feel Cambodian art was at the beginning of something," said de Tilly, and so she decided to document it. A longtime Hong Kong resident, she represents luminaries like Huang Rui, a leader of China's 1980s avant-garde movement, and the American painter Julian Schnabel.

At about the same time Russell Storer, the contemporary Asian art curator at the Queensland Art Gallery, a government museum that organizes the Asia Pacific Triennial, took his own research trip to Cambodia, and came back "very excited about the artists," he had met, he said. "Forever" includes the three artists selected by Mr. Storer for Brisbane.

Erin Gleeson, an American historian of Asian art who lives in Cambodia, curated the Chancery exhibit, conscious that it needed to go beyond what she called "the two Ts" - temples and trauma - that most people reflexively associate with the nation. Though those themes provide a starting point for some of the pieces, making them accessible, Ms. Gleeson keeps it all interesting by highlighting the merit and context of each work.

At the entrance of the main gallery, to set the mood, she hung "Pray for Peace," an eerie but optimistic 2008 oil-on-canvas by Vann Nath portraying Cambodians worshiping under a stormy sky. Now very ill and in his 60s, Mr. Vann Nath is one of only seven survivors of Tuol Sleng, the notorious camp where Pol Pot's functionaries killed up to 20,000 people.

Next to the piece, on a continuous loop, is "S-21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine," the 2003 multi-award-winning documentary on Tuol Sleng, by a film festival favorite, Rithy Panh. The painting is for sale for 55,000 Hong Kong dollars, or about $7,100; the video is not, though it is widely available from DVD retailers.

Seven paintings by the late Svay Ken (from 75,000 to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars) occupy a place of honor in the Chai Wan gallery. They are scenes from daily life, made in the naïve, folk style for which he became known. Mr. Storer, who chose him for the triennial, said that "Svay Ken was a senior painter, self-taught, who lived through the turbulent history of the country and represented it through his work." He died in December at age 75. "Forever" also includes three amateurly rendered canvases by his 25-year-old granddaughter, Ouk Sochivy, who only began painting last year.

Back in Central, four colorful collages by Leang Seckon, who was born in 1974, are memorable for their crowd-pleasing appeal. Leang Seckon is the best-known artist of his generation, and Cambodians recognize him for his art collaborations with a 1960s pop icon named Dy Saveth, as well as for his solitary work. In "Prison Guard," he narrates the life of Duch, the man in charge of Tuol Sleng who, while awaiting trial, converted to Christianity and became the only Khmer Rouge leader to publicly repent.

Perhaps the Hong Kong show's most intriguing work - though not for sale - is by Than Sok, born in 1984. He constructs houses out of bright yellow incense sticks as installations, and then burns them, a commentary on how people become disposable commodities - once to the Khmer Rouge, now to eviction enforcers and factories.

Ms. Gleeson estimates that there are only 40 working artists in Cambodia and that this is a special, nearly innocent, moment in time because they seem to make things almost purely out of a need to express themselves. "There is no art market because this is just the beginning. Artists do not produce for the market," she said.

Yet validation happens. Sopheap Pich was born in Battambang in 1969 and left Cambodia after 1975, passing through a Thai refugee camp. His family resettled in the United States, and he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, finishing a Master of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999.

Returning to Cambodia in 2003, he switched to sculpture. His rattan and bamboo pieces made an impact among the video and high-concept installations at the prestigious Best of Discovery section at Shanghai's "SHContemporary" art fair in 2008. Mr. Sopheap Pich was chosen for Fukuoka and Brisbane this year. He is also finishing a commission for a university in Saudi Arabia and preparing for a November solo exhibit at the Tyler Rollins Fine Art gallery in New York.

Ms. Gleeson credits him for helping raise international interest in Cambodian culture. "Sopheap is an icon for the younger artists," she said. Childhood memories of woven local baskets and handcrafted toys inspire works made out of natural materials, like "Cycle" and "The Duel." Yet he employs a very contemporary approach Storer called a "highly sophisticated yet a deeply grounded response to place and personal experience."

Vandy Rattana, another artist in the show, has a series of large, documentary photographs of a Phnom Penh slum as it burned down last April. Of his art, he said simply, "I need to tell a story."

Before financial bubbles and busts, this was the reason artists lived - for art's sake.

Cambodian artist brings works to RI (Indonesia)

Paiting by Chhim Sothy (Photo: Saklapel.org)

August 01, 2008
Claudia Seise, Contributor, Yogyakarta
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)

One of Cambodia's few well-known artists, Chhim Sothy, will showcase his work in Yogyakarta for a month.

Sothy, whose works have been collected by several embassies and ministries in Cambodia and selected to be shown in the Beijing Biennale 2008 in China, will display his work at the Tembi House of Culture in Yogyakarta.

Cambodia, compared to Indonesia, cannot show off a young and exciting art scene. Exhibition openings are rare. And modern or contemporary Cambodian art is rare.

Few artists survive. With the help of NGOs and other foreign institutions, young Cambodian artists have started to experiment with traditional painting styles, usually depicting Angkor Wat, the Cambodian landscape of rice fields and palm trees or the famous classical Apsara dancers.

Expressionistic styles have found their way into traditional themes and abstract paintings can be viewed in a few galleries around the capital of Phnom Penh.

However, paintings are mostly found in small commercial galleries that sell artwork as a souvenir for a minimum price.

Within the last year, exhibitions, showing artwork away from handicraft and souvenirs, were launched and young Cambodian artists started showcasing their works.

Chhim Sothy, however, does not belong to this group of young artists.

He is one of the few artists that established their career after the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge regime most artists and intellectuals were killed.

Sothy belongs to the generation that experienced the horror of the Khmer Rouge as small children.

Sothy paintings are full with Cambodia's colors of monk orange, flower beige and red. His themes are Cambodian culture and tradition. One can even find the Cambodian version of Rama and Sinta from the Ramayana epic in many of his paintings.

While Sothy preserves the refined motives and gestures of the Cambodian Apsara dancers and Ramayana characters, he is not shy to mix traditional styles, which are usually handed down by monks from Buddhist monasteries, with contemporary styles.

Sothy's style of painting is rare in Cambodia and it is probably for this reason why people stand in line to buy his artwork.

His exhibition at Tembi House of Culture in Yogyakarta belongs to an intercultural exchange project between Indonesia and Cambodia, initiated by Tembi House of Culture and Art Caf‚ Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

Before Sothy was invited to show his work in Indonesia, two young Indonesian artists -- Askanadi and Karina Putri Haryanto -- exhibited their works at the Art Caf‚ in Phnom Penh.

The project's aim is to strengthen cultural relations with the idea that Southeast Asian countries should not only look westwards but see their immediate neighbors as well.

For Sothy, it is his first exhibition and visit to the country.

He was chosen to participate in the project since he is probably one of Cambodia's most active artists. He never rests -- always painting, taking part in international competitions and ready to launch yet another exhibition.

During a recent visit at his studio in Phnom Penh, the amount of paintings and the creative chaos were overwhelming. The love to his tradition and culture make every one of his paintings special.

Chhim Sothy Solo exhibition Open Aug. 1 - Sept. 1, 2008 At Tembi House of Culture Yogyakarta Jl. Parangtritis km. 8, 4 Tembi, Timbulharjo, Sewon Bantul Yogyakarta

Local Painter's Exhibition Sees Life Through Skin

Magical Medicine - Painting by Leang Seckon (Photo: JavaArts.org)

By Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
10 March 2008

A new exhibition by local artist Leang Seckon seeks to teach its viewers more about themselves through their own skin, and the skin of others.

"All people stand in front of mirrors to see their faces, complexion and appearance several times a day, and they always notice the unsatisfactory defects," Leang Seckon said, opening his exhibition, "Skin," which opened March 6 and will continue through the month of March.

The show incorporates paintings on several types of skin, including snake.

Only 30 years old, Leang Seckon, has long had experience in painting and is recognized by the international community.

His paintings hang in the national museums of the US and Singapore, and he has sold paintings to patrons from many countries.

Reactions to his latest exhibition varied on Thursday's opening.

Hor Vireak said at the exhibition opening he didn't understand the paintings and maybe needed one month more to do so.

Fleur Smith, from New Zealand, said that the skin sent a message, that even though we have different skin and different colors, we can all be friends and should not discriminate.

Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said that the paintings were good for foreigners as well as Cambodia's young generation.