Lil Lazy: from breakdanci​ng to building communitie​s

Ly's collection of event posters and photos showcasing the many travels over the years. © Bunthay Cheam

Originally published at
http://khmerican.com/2012/07/09/lil-lazy-from-breakdancing-to-building-communities/

SEATTLE, WA -- From its inception in the 1970s to its worldwide appeal in the present, breakdancing or “b-boying” has transcended boundaries: politics and geography, ethnicity, language, and even seeming to defy the laws of space and gravity. Seattle is home to the Massive Monkees, a world-famous breakdancing collective of over a dozen and half members, including Samnith Ly, also known as Lil Lazy.

Khmerican: What got you interested in b-boying and when did you start?

Lil Lazy: I think I was in the fourth grade, about eight or nine years old. At school, a friend named Jeff introduced me to breakdancing. I didn’t have much to do since all of my childhood friends were living in Seattle and we didn’t have video games, so I started breaking at home. I got ahold of the movie “Beat Street” and watched it over and over and tried to copy the moves. I would collect cardboard boxes and tape them together and practiced in our basement.

Khmerican: When did things start to pick up with regard to b-boying?

Lil Lazy: I was going to Meany Middle School and there was an after-school program where I met other breakdancers. One of the spots I used to practice at was the Union Gospel Mission. At the UGM, there was a counselor, Tim Scott, who created a breakdancing crew called Showcase. I started dancing with them, and I was battled in. Showcase was my first b-boy crew. That is where it all started and where everything popped off.

Andrew Hem: Paint like there's no tomorrow

http://youtu.be/pmTj4bO_x9c

29 June 2012
By Will Koenig/Khmerican
An original production by Khmerican

Artist Andrew Hem discusses how visiting his Cambodian homeland and traveling the world has inspired his art. A former graffiti artist, he has backpacked across Asia, South America and Europe. See his work at www.AndrewHem.com

His book, "Dreams Towards Reality," will be published by Zero Plus Publishing in August. Check it out at http://amzn.to/DreamsTowardsReality

Five Questions with... Prumsodun OK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7CEzRh5GiQ

Prumsodun Ok speaking at the TED Conference. Photo courtesy of James Duncan Davidson.

11.25.11
by Long Beach Post
Staff Reports

2:30pm | by Brian Addison | Prum is a local artist, activist, and teacher. His work within classic Cambodian dance, where he is wildly experimental and addresses LGBTQ issues, has earned him the prestigious honor of being a TED Fellow. He is also the Project Director and Executive Editor of VoiceWaves, a non-profit that encourages and focuses on youth-driven journalism and media projects that shed light on and provide narratives about Long Beach's less affluent and more marginalized areas.

How, exactly, does one become involved in such a specific art form like classic Cambodian dance?

"I feel in many ways the dance chose me. When I was four-years-old, I would wear my sister's red dress and I would imitate Cambodian dance movements from tapes my father had recorded in the 80s. My family would record me and eventually poke fun at me -- and this caused me to push away away from it. Not only was there no teacher in the area to help me refine my dance, it revealed so much of my femininity. I eventually was teased to such an extent that I became ashamed of it. When I was 16, my little sisters began dancing and I would watch them at their dance classes here in Long Beach. Eventually, even though I was terrified, I just asked their teacher if I could practice classical Cambodian dance -- their teacher being Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, who happened to be on her path to becoming one of the world's leading classical Cambodian choreographers. She's now a NEA Heritage Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, USA Knight Fellow, and a Nekkei Asian Prize recipient."

JL Jupiter - Resident Alien Album Review

By Phatry Derek Pan, The Khmerican
Originally published at http://bit.ly/resident-alien-review

JL JUPITER – RESIDENT ALIEN
Review of Camden artist’s debut album

Rap and R&B artist Jeff “JL Jupiter” Lek delivers in his highly anticipated debut album, “Resident Alien,”featuring the singles “Bad Guy,” “AlphaOmega,” and “I’m Still Here.”

While many artists attempt to juggle multiple styles, only a handful can master them well enough to keep loyal fans and new followers entertained–a feat JL Jupiter achieves with his wide vocal range. Balanced with raw, yet honest lyrics and an all-star line-up of emerging producers, Camden’s finest emcee has triumphantly compiled an album that raises a new standard for production by independent artists.

Discography & Production

“Resident Alien” is a 15-track album that narrates the life and struggle of the 30-year-old artist. It’s a collection of real stories about family, history, and hope, themes that sometimes get sidelined and under-represented to mainstream music audiences. In this direction, JL Jupiter not only succeeds in painting a colorful portrait of himself as an artist, but also as a refugee who remains conscious of his roots.

Mixed under Life Lab Entertainment, “Resident Alien” is a collaboration of seven producers, six of whom are of Khmer descent. Highlights include R&B artist AP, who produced four tracks, and one by renowned Philly beat master Kornswagger of AZI Fellas. On the vocals side, the album features cameos by eight different artists from places as close as neighboring New York and as far as Washington state.

Cambodian artists make waves in art world

Svay Sareth made the canoe by hand without any boat-building experience

Svay Sareth is making a name for himself and for Cambodia

Svay Sareth's paintings of fighting fish

17 April 2011
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Siem Reap

The man with the boat clearly means business.

He is pushing the trailer-mounted vessel by hand down a red, dirt road - walking as quickly as a soldier barracked by a splenetic sergeant-major.

His choice of clothes matches the military theme: black from toe to neck, like the Khmer Rouge troops which took control of Cambodia's towns and cities in the 1970s.

A camouflage-green facemask completes the outfit, covering the boat-pusher's features, making him as inscrutable as Iron Man.

But Svay Sareth is neither a soldier nor a superhero. He is an artist, and this is part of his work - a performance and multimedia exhibition called Tuesday.

Is Phnom Penh ready to turn into a new center for arts in Southeast Asia?

INTERVIEW WITH RIEM EM, CAMBODIAN ARTIST AND OWNER OF AN ART GALLERY

09.01.2011
Von Luc Citrinot,
eTN

As Phnom Penh will play host to the ASEAN Travel Forum, Southeast Asia's largest international tourism event, eTurboNews Asia Senior Editor Luc Citrinot takes a look at the latest changes in the Cambodian capital in a series of articles.

PHNOM PENH (eTN) - Phnom Penh is a rapidly-changing city. Ten years ago, the Cambodian capital was seen as a laid-back destination where gardens, the Mekong River, and derelict colonial villas gave a distinctive atmosphere to the city. Less than a decade later, skyscrapers started to invade the city skyline, while the surviving colonial buildings were turned into luxurious hotels, trendy restaurants, or chic design shops. With Phnom Penh enjoying a new sense of wealth, a Cambodian art scene is slowly emerging with artists and gallery owners exhibiting promising young artists. Riem Em, a well-established designer and painter talks exclusively to eTurboNews about Phnom Penh's new art scene.

eTN: Do you think that Phnom Penh is a city giving a chance to young artists? Are there structures in place to showcase new talents?

RIEM EM: I do believe that Phnom Penh is a city offering a chance to young artists to create as the art scene is far [from] being saturated. We have little tradition in innovative contemporary art. This new spirit is a good source of creativity. However, we have a far too small number of venues to expose our works. I opened a gallery a few years ago [La Galerie, n°13, Street 178], which is probably the only "true" art gallery to date in Phnom Penh. It is opened everyday, and it is fully dedicated to exhibiting art. People can come and go as they want... Otherwise, some NGOs or some foreign cultural centers, such as the Alliance Française or the Meta House, offer spaces for art, or also Java Café and Gallery, which combines a coffee place with three exhibition rooms.

Artist on the move – yet again [-Ms. Khchao Touch]

Ms. Touch's Portrait (Photo Courtesy of Linda Saphan)

A painting from Touch Khchao’s Care series. Photo Supplied

Friday, 12 November 2010
Nicky McGavin
The Phnom Penh Post

SHE’S been tipped as one of Cambodia’s leading artists, and her work in Siem Reap has certainly been on the move – from one venue to another.

Touch Khchao, 28, is a Battambang artist; a graduate of the Phare Ponleu Selpak school of Art. A series of her work, entitled Care, has been on display at The Red Gallery at the FCC Angkor complex on Pokambor Avenue for some time.

But the shockwaves from the recession still reverberate, making running the gallery unsustainable. It closed last month, and much of the work formerly displayed in the space – a showcase for Cambodian painters and artists living here – has been returned to the artists.

But the Heritage Suites Hotel is the happy, temporary holder of the Care series of paintings.

An exhibition of the same series was held at the Art Café on Street 108 in Phnom Penh last year, and at the time the artist explained the concept behind her work.

“Where is the care? Where is the love in our world? When I see husbands and wives fighting, old people abandoned and left to beg in the streets or children fighting with their parents, I hurt inside.

“Why don’t people care for themselves, each other or the planet that we all share? The purpose of these paintings is to transmute this negative energy into the positive energy of care and love,” she said.

The radiantly colourful, dreamy and surreally blended pots in the paintings are used to represent people and the relationships that count. As receptacles, we are able to both give and receive that care that holds us together and gives us value, Touch Khchao says.

According to the artist, that care and love “radiates this energy through colour and form to the viewer, and to the world at large”.

Touch Khchao has been a full-time artist since 2008, and first stepped into the spotlight of the Kingdom’s art scene with an exhibition of works at Comme à la Maison in Phnom Penh in 2007.

Since then, she has received commissions from Spain, the UK and Australia, and she has exhibited internationally in both France and California.

Her works have also been shown at the Ministry of Culture, and at the French Cultural Centre in the capital.

Now’s the chance to catch her work in Temple Town before it heads off to Phnom Penh again.

Care is on show at the Heritage Suites Hotel in Siem Reap.

Srey Thy: Living a better life as a Cambodian rock singer

House of the Rising Sun by the Cambodian Space Project

Srey Thy
The Cambodian Space Project from left to right: Davis Zunk Julien Poulson, Irene Choun, Dan Schwarzlose, Srey Thy, Scott Bywater, and Ken White.

We talk with Srey Thy about her escape from a life of poverty and abuse to become the lead singer of one of Cambodia’s hottest bands, the Cambodian Space Project

22 July, 2010
By Charlie Lancaster
CNN Go

Srey Thy is an artist struggling to make ends meet, but her confidence and beaming smile suggest that after years of difficulty she is finally on the right track. Hailing from Prey Veng, one of Cambodia’s poorest provinces, life has thrown Thy some curve balls.

At 19, she was kidnapped and brutally forced into the sex trade. She says her escape is one of the defining moments in her life. Another moment was a chance meeting with Australian musician Julien Poulsen. Together they formed The Cambodian Space Project, and their 1960s Cambodian-rock Western fusion has been rocking the capital ever since.

Having played 20 gigs in the kingdom, Thy, at 31, recently received her first passport -- to Hong Kong -- where The Cambodian Space Project played its first international gig.

CNNGo: When did music first become a part of your life?

Srey Thy: I used to listen to my mother sing as a child at home and at school, where she used to perform for the students during recess. My parents couldn’t afford singing lessons, but I practiced by trying to sound like her, and after a while, I was singing in local restaurants in my home province Prey Veng.

CNNGo: How did a girl from one of Cambodia’s poorest regions become a lead singer of one of the hottest bands in the country?

Thy: Just over five years ago, I moved to Phnom Penh to escape a life of poverty and a violent husband to pursue a career in singing. I began working in karaoke bars, but it was a difficult time. I earned less than US$100 a month and sent what I could back to my ageing parents and young son. I worked for different people, many of whom swindled me of my money. Then one day last year, I met Australian musician Julien Poulson while I was singing in a bar. We got talking and our mutual interests and talents led to the creation of the cross-over 1960s Cambodian-rock Western fusion style music that is the Cambodian Space Project.

CNNGo: Many people compare your voice to the 1960s legend Ros Sereysothea -- do you think this is a fair comparison?

Thy: I hope so. I love all the pre-war music and Ros Seretysothea is probably Cambodia’s greatest female singer. Cambodia was ahead of its regional neighbors before the Khmer Rouge killed many of the singers and destroyed much of their music, and I am pleased to honor their legacy while at the same time pushing musical boundaries within the country today.

CNNGo: While you sing covers from the 1960s, you mainly write your own music. Please talk a little more about your music and the symbolism of your lyrics.

Thy: My voice suits rock music -- I’m not so good at love ballads for example -- which is why I sing rock. To some degree or another, all my songs are related to family problems, love, dishonesty and desperation. Sometimes, I use traditional folklore to address some of these issues while the message in other songs isn’t as subtle! CNNGo: You mentioned desperation, what have been the most desperate moments of your life?

Thy: Being in an abusive relationship and being kidnapped. When I moved to Phnom Penh, I was duped into working in a brothel posing as a massage parlor. I still have a scar on my wrist from being handcuffed in a room. But I was lucky, as one of the other girls helped me escape and gave me US$2.50 to run away with. I don’t know what has happened to her since.

CNNGo: How has the band changed your life?

Thy: I am more famous now, happier and my English has improved. The public support has given me hope for a better life. But I am still struggling to make a decent living; my income depends on the number of gigs we play.

CNNGo: What are the challenges of playing in Cambodia?

Thy: There is a real thirst for live music in Cambodia, but the live [English-language] music scene remains largely neglected. It is a small city, so it is important to balance a need to make a living while avoiding over-exposure.

CNNGo: How many gigs have you played to date and which were the most memorable?

Thy: Since we started in December, we have played over 20 gigs in all sorts of locations from private parties to concerts. I’d say as far as unusual goes, singing at an elephant’s 40th birthday party probably tops the charts. Playing in my hometown was an amazing experience -- the whole village came. I think they liked the music, but the pink suit drummer Scott Bywater was wearing distracted many people! And of course playing at the Hong Kong music festival 2010 was special.

CNNGo: Yes, you recently got your first passport, boarded your first flight and played your first international gig in Hong Kong -- how did it feel?

Thy: I was nervous checking in for both flights. I was scared. It was my first time flying and I cried all the way to Hong Kong.

CNNGo: How did performing in Hong Kong compare to performing in Cambodia?

Thy: It was very different. I found it hard to express my feeling or emotions, perhaps because everything was so new to me. Unlike in Cambodia, the audience didn’t know who I was and weren’t familiar with Khmer music. I didn’t enjoy the first or second day, but by the third day the audience applauded me and enjoyed the music, so I was much happier. I didn’t see any Khmer people there.

CNNGo: What are your ambitions?

Thy: To pay back all my debt to my mother; to own a house; and to have a happy family.

CNNGo: What can we look forward to in the coming months?

Thy: More gigs, I hope, and possibly a tour to France in August -- if I can get a visa.

For more information on the Cambodian Space Project and their upcoming gigs check out: myspace.com/thecambodianspaceproject

Male bellydancer shaking things up

April 23, 2009 — Nath Keo & Sacred Centre Dance - Walla Marra

Nath Keo is a male bellydancer performing at triPOD dance's Bounce cabaret. (Photograph by: Handout, timescolonist.com)

Born in a refugee camp, performer will help launch Bounce cabaret

June 4, 2010
By Grania Litwin
Times Colonist

ON STAGE

• What: Bounce Dance Cabaret
• Where: Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Broad St.
• When: 8 p.m. Sunday
• Tickets: $11/$9 at the door

The triPOD dance collective is kicking off its seventh Bounce Dance Cabaret with a sensational male bellydancer called Nath Keo.

The performer, who was born in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Cambodia, came to Canada at age nine and began shaking it up. Today he is a writer, singer, songwriter, model and dancer known for an exciting fusion of East Asian and Middle Eastern styles.

"We are really excited about this evening because Nath is an absolutely thrilling mover," said Treena Stubel, who founded Bounce and is organizing this event.

"To my knowledge he is the only guy doing what he does. He lives here, tours a lot and is bringing his Sacred Dance Centre Company to the cabaret as well. He is a unique and inspiring artist, and he does this fantastic Asian bellydance fusion."

Keo, a Buddhist monk, was a featured instructor in 2008 and performed at the International Bellydance Conference of Canada. He was also a judge at the World Bellydance Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

Bounce cabaret was founded to promote new work by independent dance and physical theatre artists.

"We're into our second year and the audience is building," said Stubel, who notes they frequently focused on contemporary dance in the first year, but are branching out now.

Sunday's event will also include hip hop by Jesse Nordwall and Danielle O'Reilly, contemporary moves by Kelly Tyerman, plus other dancers and styles. It is being hosted by actor Ingrid Hansen.

"She's working on a new show and bringing this new character to the cabaret. Ingrid is a real mover, too, a very physical performer who always brings an electrifying physical presence to the stage." Performers range in age from early 20s to late 30s.

"Our mission is to create a place where professional, dedicated, serious dancers can do their new work in front of an audience," said Stubel, who noted dancers have fewer performance opportunities than actors.

"It's a chance to cultivate an idea for five or 10 minutes in front of an audience, and get some feedback. And the cabaret has a nice, casual atmosphere where you can buy a drink and relax. Dancers typically have large gaps between performances, but at Bounce we aim to increase the momentum and the creativity."

glitwin@tc.canwest.com

Show The World We Exist (Census 2010 PSA) - By Phanith Sovann, a talented Cambodian-American

Originally posted by Rasmey
at http://www.cambodianforum.org/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=590



The following are two more songs, one in Khmer and one in English, that Phanith sang at her church in Long Beach, CA.

English Song: http://cambodianharvest.org/files/PN07-29-07E.wmv

Khmer Song: http://cambodianharvest.org/files/PN12-23-07.wmv

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.

Leang Seckon, Cambodian Freedom Artist

Leang Seckon (Photo: CAMB(L)O(G)DIA)

The Personal Is Political: Q&A With Leang Seckon, Cambodian Freedom Artist

Monday 29 March 2010
By Anne Elizabeth Moore
t r u t h o u t | Interview

Leang Seckon, one of Cambodia's foremost contemporary artists, will see his first European solo exhibition, The Heavy Skirt, opening March 31 at London's Rossi & Rossi gallery. Unlike depictions of his homeland that you might come across in the US, Seckon's work presents a rich and complex view of Cambodia, involving elements of performance, collage, painting and illustration. But it can be confusing, like speaking with the artist himself.

"A problem is me, not perfect English," Seckon tells me when I turn on my tape recorder. But I disagree: The problem is how rarely we take the time to listen.

And Seckon's work is worthy of a close listen. He calls himself a freedom artist and this is no slight pronouncement. Born during Nixon's secret bombing of his homeland, he grew up against the background sound of civil war, spent adolescence under the Khmer Rouge and watched his country's subsequent occupation by the Vietnamese fade into a damaging UN presence and the country's first violent, but democratic elections. His work, whatever the medium, is autobiographical. His freedom and his country's have been hard earned. But neither is complete and Seckon does not shy away from describing the limits to Cambodia's freedom of expression. Yet, he clearly loves his homeland.

"Will you leave the country if the show is successful?" I ask him. His answer is firm.

"Stay in Cambodia," he says.

After all, he honed his skills at Phnom Penh's Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA), taking two Bachelor's degrees in place of the BFA and MFA he might have pursued were the Cambodian higher education system not struggling to catch up to his artistic vision. After finishing school, he held exhibitions throughout Phnom Penh, with group and solo shows at emerging galleries in the city and exhibitions in nearby tourist centers like Phuket, Thailand and Siem Reap, Cambodia. He quickly made the leap to international cities with established art scenes like Fukuoka, Japan and Hong Kong. Back home, his work has been endorsed by two kings.

Still, his first solo exhibition in Europe is a significant milestone for the accomplished Cambodian artist. He gave me a preview in his studio on the doomed Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh.
Anne Elizabeth Moore: Where did the title of the exhibition come from?

Leang Seckon: The Heavy Skirt is the meaning from the life of my mom. When I am a child in the stomach, she wore the skirt, the skirt cover the stomach and cover me. The skirt is of course the time of war. We cannot go out, she have just only one clothes, one [heavily quilted] skirt. So her body heavy and the skirt heavy. When I am born, the time of bomb, heavy life.

I was born in the countryside, Prey Veng Province. I was a buffalo boy. I spent nearly ten years as a buffalo boy. During that time, I wanted to learn art and be an artist. But during that buffalo boy time I never ... during that buffalo boy time, we were poor. We not have anything. We not have bicycle. We not have enough rice. We not have enough clothes, we not have enough anything for living. So I spent the time at the rice field with the buffalo, then when I come to learn art, it was very very very different.

AEM: When did you first come to Phnom Penh to study and leave the rice fields?

LS: I came to Phnom Penh city for the first time in 1992, to learn art at RUFA. I studied traditional painting and interior design for five years. I finished my degree in 2002. Then that year I start to find a way to make art. In 2002 I had [my first] opening at Java Cafe.

AEM: One of your paintings depicts the American bombing of Cambodia. You are a toddler, abandoned in the middle of a rice field, while the countryside burns around you.

LS: The story my mom told me was that when the bomb come from the sky and around the house, she and my brother were in the bunker. She tried to get me but cannot, so she just left me alone outside of the bunker. That is real story of my life. This is story from the mother. But, you know, the sound from the airplane, the sound from the car, the sound from the bomb or the gun, [when I hear them today] I am very shocked and scared. I think this is feeling from that time.

AEM: You also depict the Pol Pot years with collaged images from photographs of Tuol Sleng victims and bodies wrapped as if in cocoons.

LS: Because people were like mummies. I add the black and white scarf, what normally the Khmer Rouge were wearing in Pol Pot time. They wrap the body but they keep the head for getting breath. Like the body cannot move [he acts this out] maybe the face and just they eyes can move and breathe. Everything else is still. Like stuck. Not a freedom at all. Stuck everything. This is what I mean.

I was very very very young. I'm very scared and cry. And very shocked. I compare it to [spending time around] the living dead.

AEM: Several of your previous projects including The Rubbish Project [http://therubbishproject.blogspot.com/] and some works in this exhibition focus on environmental concerns, which are frequently ignored as the country develops.

LS: I spent nearly ten years as a buffalo boy and I love nature so much. I need nature, I need water, I need [he breathes deeply] fresh air for free. I heard from the TV a few days ago, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Samdech Hun Sen, he's very upset when the people cut down the tree. He's very supportive of finding the money and people to look after the tree. He very upset. Especially for the fish in the big lake, too.

So I am here, my studio on Boeung Kak Lake, the most important lake in Phnom Penh. But [laughs] the government destroy. Not the government, but the company buy the lake and destroy the lake. I not feel happy at all because I spent 8 years on the lake to get energy for make my art work. So I can relax to make a painting.

AEM: The arts are still re-emerging in Cambodia, but in the realm of journalism, reporters who criticize the government are regularly threatened or worse. Does this make you nervous?

LS: My art is respect. I don't want to attack back. I want to say something gentle and not attack, but let people know that they did something wrong. But I don't want any people - any people - hurt by me. I just try to make you understand that what you did to me is painful and you try to understand by yourself that this is what you did to me. History is treachery. It is already done, but I want to show the people what happened in past time and they can understand more deeply about the present in art.

Between good luck or bad luck is activity, what activity they are doing. I can say to you, like, I respect you, but behave toward you like I'm trying to kill you. This is the meaning, you know?

Cambodia is worried. It's not very safe at all right now. What I want to focus on at this point is about my mom's experience and my life's start and how I grew up until now. Because I have never used my own experience in artwork. This is my own language and my own experience and my own life. But all of this work is of course about war, about the environment, about life and about culture.

Sopheap Pich, Sculptor... - Photos by Stéphane Janin

September 24, 2009
By Stéphane Janin

Based in Phnom Penh, Sopheap Pich is a Cambodian artist. He was born in Battambang in 1971 and has emigrated to Amherst, Massachussets, USA in 1984, with his parents and his three brothers. During his College years, Sopheap eventually traveled, studied and lived in Miami, Chicago, France and Boston where he received his Masters of Arts.

Click here to see Stéphane's photo gallery

Click here to watch Stéphane's multimedia story

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