Showing posts with label Reconciliation attempt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reconciliation attempt. Show all posts
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Video Conference Bring Victims and Khmer Rouge Killers Together
Cambodian-Americans in Long Beach, California meet the former Khmer Rouge killers for the first time via video conference. The producers of the award-winning documentary 'Enemies of the People' hope the meeting will help start the process of healing and reconciliation.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Cambodian Reconciliation Explored at Symposium
Ieng Sithul (Photo By Patrick Verel)Contact: Patrick Verel
(212) 636-7790
verel@fordham.edu
Fordham University (New York, USA)
Can theatre help a country overcome the mental anguish of mass murder?
That was the question explored on Sept. 20 and 21 at a symposium dedicated to the role of theatrical arts in healing Cambodia’s national psychological wounds.
“Theatre and Peace-Building in Cambodia,” was sponsored by Fordham Theatre at the Lincoln Center campus.
It brought playwright and actress Chhon Sina and actor/musician Ieng Sithul from Cambodia to New York City. They collaborated with Fordham acting students and Dawn Akemi Saito, artist-in-residence at Fordham, on Sina’s new play, Phka Campei.
The collaboration began with an open rehearsal of the full play and finished the next day with a staged reading of a single scene. The play tells the story of a sex worker and victim of domestic violence who lives in a slum and struggles to come to terms with the evils her father exacted on her and her mother.
Afterward, Sina and Sithul discussed the unique responsibilities they bear as artists in Cambodian society, at a panel with three Fordham professors.
Sithul, who sang selections from a contemporary Cambodian opera, said many tensions still exist in Cambodia. An estimated two million of the country’s eight million citizens were killed from 1975 to 1978 during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, and many former regime supporters still live with those who suffered its abuses.
Sina compared an artist on stage to a soldier on the battlefield who needs protection from above. Music and dance are largely left alone, but theatre productions are considered a “sharp weapon” in Cambodian society.
“We do not have the artist protector. So artists feel intimidated to do their work, because they are not the people who hold the power in the ministries,” she said through interpreter Rithisal Kang.
Still, she said, they persist even with little funding and occasional flare-ups from audiences, like when she played a killer in a play called Breaking The Silence.
“How can we overcome these challenges, and how can we, as the elder teachers of theatre in Cambodia, transfer our knowledge to the younger generation?” she said. “We don’t want to bring our knowledge to the grave.”
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre at Heythrop College in the United Kingdom.
That was the question explored on Sept. 20 and 21 at a symposium dedicated to the role of theatrical arts in healing Cambodia’s national psychological wounds.
“Theatre and Peace-Building in Cambodia,” was sponsored by Fordham Theatre at the Lincoln Center campus.
It brought playwright and actress Chhon Sina and actor/musician Ieng Sithul from Cambodia to New York City. They collaborated with Fordham acting students and Dawn Akemi Saito, artist-in-residence at Fordham, on Sina’s new play, Phka Campei.
The collaboration began with an open rehearsal of the full play and finished the next day with a staged reading of a single scene. The play tells the story of a sex worker and victim of domestic violence who lives in a slum and struggles to come to terms with the evils her father exacted on her and her mother.
Afterward, Sina and Sithul discussed the unique responsibilities they bear as artists in Cambodian society, at a panel with three Fordham professors.
Sithul, who sang selections from a contemporary Cambodian opera, said many tensions still exist in Cambodia. An estimated two million of the country’s eight million citizens were killed from 1975 to 1978 during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, and many former regime supporters still live with those who suffered its abuses.
Sina compared an artist on stage to a soldier on the battlefield who needs protection from above. Music and dance are largely left alone, but theatre productions are considered a “sharp weapon” in Cambodian society.
“We do not have the artist protector. So artists feel intimidated to do their work, because they are not the people who hold the power in the ministries,” she said through interpreter Rithisal Kang.
Still, she said, they persist even with little funding and occasional flare-ups from audiences, like when she played a killer in a play called Breaking The Silence.
“How can we overcome these challenges, and how can we, as the elder teachers of theatre in Cambodia, transfer our knowledge to the younger generation?” she said. “We don’t want to bring our knowledge to the grave.”
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre at Heythrop College in the United Kingdom.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
NRP officials: Lu Laysreng’s letter to Ranariddh was a sign of reconciliation attempt
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The recent sending of a birthday wish letter by Lu Laysreng, Funcinpec No. 1 vice-president, to Prince Norodom Ranarridh for his 65th birthday, is considered by high-ranking NRP officials as a sign of reconciliation attempt and a past error admission. Noranaridh Anandayath, special advisor to the prince, told RFA on Monday that: “this is an attempt made to reach a reconciliation and an absolution of the errors committed.” Noranaridh Anandayath said that the prince already received the letter and he plans to send back a reply. However, Lu Laysreng commented about this letter, saying that he sent it in the name of friendship dated from 20 years ago, as well as from one of the prince’s former underlings, in addition to his capacity as a private citizen. On 31 December 2007, Lu Laysreng sent a birthday well-wishing letter and a video cassette to the prince. This sending created a stir among the journalists who commented on this letter.
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