Vann Nath

Vann Nath, a Cambodian who painted to stay alive, died on September 5th, aged 65

 Sep 17th 2011
The Economist

WHEN he was 52, with a hand that still trembled, Vann Nath produced a painting of a young man lying under a blossoming tree. He was playing a pipe while, in the background, cattle grazed by green palms in some bucolic corner of Cambodia. It was meant to be a self-portrait, he said, a beautiful memory from his childhood. He wanted only to paint idyllic landscapes now, in the style of temple murals or the French Impressionists who had first inspired him to take up art.

That was because, in 1978-79, he had been made to paint quite different pictures. In those months he was interned in S-21 prison, a former French lycée in Phnom Penh which had been converted into a torture-compound for alleged enemies of the Khmer Rouge regime. Perhaps 14,000 people were sent to S-21 for a daily routine of electrocution, water-boarding and flagellation before being carted off for execution—a shovel or spade to the head—at the nearby “killing fields”. Mr Vann Nath was one of only six or seven prisoners to make it out alive.

Artist’s life a model for reconciliation

September 12, 2011
Emma Leslie
CathNewsIndia.com

Cambodia bade farewell last week to Vann Nath, well known as one of the seven survivors of the S-21 torture center known as Tuol Sleng. But for me, he will always personify the Cambodian capacity to remember, heal and reconcile its past.

Vann Nath was arrested in Battambang on December 29, 1977. One of his last paintings depicted his transportation by the Khmer Rouge to Phnom Penh, where he was incarcerated at S-21.

His abilities as an artist were identified, and he was put to work painting and sculpting images of the KR leader Pol Pot - a job that saved him from the fate of so many others at S-21 and enabled him to portray vividly the horrors he witnessed within the walls of the torture center.

Vann Nath funeral and cremation on 11 September 2011 - Video by Theary Seng

The following shows the loading of Lok Vann Nath's coffin into the truck for the funeral procession from his home to Wat Kambol in Khan Dangkao on Sept. 11, 2011. The video is followed by the installation of the coffin in the crematorium and the cremation ceremony at Wat Kambol.

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

Pol Pot’s portrait painter who captured the pain of a nation

September 9, 2011
Financial Times

Nothing brings home the industrial scale of the horror the Khmer Rouge inflicted on Cambodia as much as Tuol Sleng, the former high school in a leafy Phnom Penh suburb that became the centre of its cult of torture. The rusting implements of pain lie where they were abandoned and on the walls hang the photographs of thousands of victims – and graphic paintings of torture by Vann Nath, a former inmate.

Like thousands of prisoners before and after him, Vann Nath, an artist who died on Monday, aged 65, was photographed by his captors: a blank face, heavy eyebrows and a wispy beard, dressed in the plain black shirt that was the national uniform under the Khmer Rouge.

But Nath survived, one of only 14 people to emerge from the prison, to use the rest of his life to bear witness in paintings and words to the suffering of thousands of others less fortunate. He used the skills the Khmer Rouge had once employed for propaganda purposes to paint portraits of Pol Pot, to condemn his former oppressors and become an internationally recognised symbol of gentle dignity in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

Lenient Treatment of Tribunal Suspects is Upsetting for Some

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0EqNqGQjgA

Vann Nath, whose artistry allowed him to survive Cambodian prison, dies

September 6, 2011
By T. Rees Shapiro
The Washington Post

Vann Nath, a Cambodian artist who endured torture and near starvation as a Khmer Rouge political prisoner and who became a crucial witness to the regime’s atrocities through his later testimony against key officials, died Sept. 5 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Associated Press reported his death but did not include a specific cause. He had suffered from chronic kidney disease and had fallen into a coma in late August, his daughter Vann Chan Simen told the news service.

Mr. Vann Nath, whose age was variously reported as either 65 or 66, was spared from execution when a guard discovered his artistic talents and forced him to paint portraits of the Khmer Rouge’s despotic ruler, Pol Pot.

Vann Nath's Funeral Schedule

(Photo: Heng Sinith, AP)

Chers Amis,

Pour rendre hommage à Vann Nath vous pouvez venir vous recueillir auprès de son cercueil, chez lui, toute cette semaine.

Voici l'adresse : 33B, rue 169, Sangkat Mittapheap, Khan 7 Makara, à l¹est du Ministère de la défense nationale.

Samedi 10 : Bainsokol, cérémonie bouddhiste à 15h, chez Vann Nath.

Dimanche 11 : La cérémonie de la crémation.

RDV à la maison de Vann Nath à 7h

Départ du convoie à 8h

Crémation à 13h30

Lieu : Pagode Wath Kambol, Khan Dangkor

Prenez la route nationale n°4, 300 m après le tribunal CETC.

La famille de Vann Nath et moi-même, nous vous remercions pour tous les messages de soutiens et de condoléances.

Sincèrement,

Rithy Panh

------------

Unofficial English translation:

Dear Friends,

To honor Vann Nath, you can come to visit his remain at his home all week long. Here is the address: 33B, Street No. 169, Sangkat Mittapheap, Khan 7 Makara, East of the Ministry of Defense.

Saturday 10 September: Baingskol Buddhist ceremony from 3PM at Vann Nath’s house.

Sunday 11 September: Cremation ceremony.

Meeting at Vann Nath’s house at 7AM

Funeral proceeding will leave at 8AM

Cremation at 1PM

Location: Wat Kambol Pagoda at Khan Dangkao

(Take National Road No. 4, 300m after the ECCC building)

Vann Nath’s family and I would like to thank you for all your support and condolence messages.

Sincerely,

Rithy Panh

Respects paid to S-21 survivor Vann Nath

A painting of S-21 chief Duch, with the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s verdict at his feet, by Vann Nath at his gallery yesterday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Vann Chan Simen, daughter of recently deceased Tuol Sleng prison survivor Vann Nath, burns offerings yesterday at the family's home in Phnom Penh. Vann Nath, who testified at the trial of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, died on Monday at the age of 66.Many of Vann Nath’s works remain on permanent display at the prison, which is now a genocide museum. A dozen hung at his gallery yesterday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Wednesday, 07 September 2011
Thomas Miller and Phak Seangly
The Phnom Penh Post

“He wanted to show that in Cambodia, there was a real Pol Pot regime, because the next generation – some of them – they don’t believe it” - Vann Chanarong

Family and friends of artist and Tuol Sleng survivor Vann Nath gathered at his home in Phnom Penh yesterday to pay their respects and lay his soul to rest.

Vann Nath, one of just a handful of people known to have survived the infamous prison, died on Monday at the age of 66. He fell into a coma last week after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Kith Eng, the painter’s widow, said she would remember Vann Nath for the way he treated his family and the suffering he endured.

“He was a really good husband ... In the family, he paid respect to everyone,” she said.

Peace at last for man who painted Khmer Rouge hell

Vann Nath with one of his paintings at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh in 2007 (EPA)

Vann Nath's extraordinary artwork documented the horrific suffering at Tuol Sleng prison

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

By Andrew Buncombe

The Independent (UK)

"Vann Nath was not only a national and international treasure, a well-respected icon of dignity and humility, but a friend of all survivors and victims." - Theary Seng

The horrors endured by Vann Nath during the dark years of the Khmer Rouge's tyrannical rule stayed with him until the very end. Indeed, they most likely hastened his demise.

The 66-year-old artist, one of little more than a dozen known survivors of the regime's infamous Tuol Sleng torture camp, died this week after suffering a heart attack and slipping into a coma. He said his health never recovered from the year he spent behind the barbed wire of the jail in Phnom Penh, where he was repeatedly interrogated and tortured and where he witnessed countless other prisoners dispatched to their deaths.

"I saw a lot of things during my year in the prison," he said in an interview two years ago at his gallery in Cambodia's capital. "It was [worst] during the day. They were interrogating new prisoners who'd come. There was torture, screaming, lots of activity... It is so hard for me to tell you. I suffered so much from that prison; that is why I have been so sick."

Death of a Cambodian

September 6, 2011
By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat

In Cambodian life, Vann Nath was an extraordinary figure. As an artist, he survived the full horrors of Pol Pot from behind the gates of the Tuol Sleng torture and extermination centre. In peacetime, he emerged as a great proponent of justice in a nation that was in desperate need of some.

He died Monday, aged 65.

When Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen sought help from the United Nations in establishing the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, the bureaucrats in New York held up the legal process of post-apartheid South Africa as a possible role model. This included a truth and reconciliation commission.

The idea of such a commission was rejected. Behind closed doors, it was argued that Cambodia lacked a leader of the same ilk as a Nelson Mandela. Someone who stood above the politics, was gracious with an overwhelming interest in finding justice for past wrongs, and who would provide a much needed link in resolving the bloody differences of history.

KSAEM KSAN’s Condolence with Mr. VANN Nath’s family

Funeral for Lok Vann Nath on 06 September 2011

Cambodian Painter Used Art to Show Khmer Rouge Brutality

Cambodian painter Vann Nath (Vandy Rattana File Photo)

September 05, 2011
Kate Woodsome | Washington
Voice of America

Click here to listen to Kate's full interview with Youk Chhang (MP3)

Click here to listen to Kate's full interview with Sopheap Pich (MP3)

Funeral preparations are underway for one of the most famous survivors of the brutal Khmer Rouge government. Cambodian painter Vann Nath passed away Monday after a long illness. He was 66 years old.

Vann Nath could easily have been one of the more than 12,000 Cambodians killed at the notorious Khmer Rouge prison, S-21. Instead, his gift of painting served as a gift of life. His jailers spared him to paint portraits of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader.

Vann Nath was one of only seven survivors to leave the prison when Vietnamese forces pushed the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979. He spent the rest of his life painting, speaking and writing about the abuses that took place there.

Vann Nath, Artist and Cambodia Torture Survivor, Dies at 65

Vann Nath visiting Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2007. (Mak Remissa/European Press photo Agency)

September 5, 2011
By SETH MYDANS
The New York Times

Vann Nath, an artist who was one of only a handful of survivors of the Khmer Rouge torture center Tuol Sleng, and who lived to testify two years ago at the trial of his jailer, died Monday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was 65.

The cause was cardiac arrest, his family said, adding that he had been in a coma for three days. He had suffered from kidney disease and other ailments for years.

Shackled and tortured along with other prisoners when he was arrested at the end of 1977, Mr. Vann Nath was spared by his jailers to paint portraits of the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot. His more recent paintings of scenes of torture now hang on the walls of Tuol Sleng, now a museum.

Vann Nath, Witness to Atrocities, Succumbs in Hospital

In this photo taken on Aug. 9, 2010, a Cambodian survivors, Vann Nath, 66, is seen at Tuol Sleng genocide museum, formerly Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Nath lapsed into a coma in late August, 2011, after developing breathing difficulties, and his daughter Vann Chan Simen says he passed away on Monday, Sept. 5. Monday, 05 September 2011 (Photo: AP)

Monday, 05 September 2011
Reporters, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“I very much regret losing Vann Nath.”

Vann Nath, a Khmer Rouge prisoner who survived by painting portraits of Pol Pot, died in Phnom Penh on Monday, following an 11-day coma brought on by a heart attack, family members and health officials said.

Vann Nath, who was born in 1946 into a poor family in Battambang province, survived the Khmer Rouge’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison and had been an ardent supporter of victims’ justice at the UN-backed tribunal.

He served as a witness in Case 001 at the tribunal, which put Kaing Kek Iev, the supervisor of Tuol Sleng prison better known as Duch, on trial for atrocity crimes.

More than 12,000 Cambodians were tortured and sent to their deaths at the prison, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21. Vann Nath was among seven known Tuol Sleng survivors. He said later he had been spared in order to paint portraits of Pol Pot, and he went on to pen a memoir about his time at the prison.

Artist Vann Nath, Khmer Rouge Survivor, Dies at 66

Paintings by human rights icon and artists Vann Nath depicting how torture devices were used hang on the walls of Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, June 2011. (Photo: VOA - D. Schearf)

September 05, 2011
VOA News

Cambodia's Vann Nath, one of only seven survivors of a vast and notorious Khmer Rouge torture center, died Monday at age 66.

The human rights icon and artist was hospitalized late last month after heart problems and has been in a coma for days. His son-in-law called his death "a big loss for the history of Cambodia."

Vann Nath was one of only a handful of people to emerge alive from Phnom Penh's infamous Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 12,000 people died in the 1970s under Khmer Rouge rule. He later became a leading advocate for victims of Khmer Rouge atrocities.

'Killing Fields' Painter Dies

Vann Nath shows one of his paintings at an exhibition in Phnom Penh, July 12, 2007. (RFA)

The death of a key witness to the Khmer Rouge's brutal era will be a big loss to Cambodia's history.

2011-09-05

RFA

“The trial has been delayed and the victims are dying one by one," he said. "And by comparison, the accused persons have been receiving more support for health and security or safety than the victims.

Vann Nath, a noted Cambodian artist who survived the Khmer Rouge's torture and execution centre by painting portraits of its brutal leaders, died on Monday aged 66, his family said.

Vann Nath, whose paintings later exposed to the world the horrific torture committed by the hardline communist movement between 1975 and 1979, had been battling kidney and lung ailments for several years.

He fell into a coma late last month after suffering a heart attack, his immediate family members said.

"He had been long suffering from kidney failure and lung disease," his son, Vann Chanarong, said. "My father died around 12.45pm [Cambodian time]."

Cambodian artist who survived Khmer Rouge prison dies

Monday, Sep 05, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A prominent Cambodian artist who was one of the few survivors of the Khmer Rouge's main torture centre, where he painted portraits of leader Pol Pot, died Monday aged 66, his family said.

Vann Nath, who struggled for years with ill health including kidney problems, had been in a coma since suffering a cardiac arrest on August 26, his son-in-law Lon Nara told AFP.

"He passed away. It's a big loss for the history of Cambodia," Lon Nara said, adding that Vann Nath had helped to tell the world about the atrocities committed by the hardline communist movement between 1975 and 1979.

Vann Nath was one of just a handful of people to survive the Tuol Sleng detention centre, where around 15,000 people were killed as the paranoid movement sought to eliminate perceived enemies of the revolution.

Survivor of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge prison dies

Vann Nath (2nd from left) explaining one of his paintings

Monday, September 05, 2011

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A relative says one of the last three survivors of Cambodia's most notorious Khmer Rouge-era prison has died at the age of 66.

Vann Nath lapsed into a coma in late August after developing breathing difficulties, and his daughter Vann Chan Simen says he passed away on Monday.

Nath was jailed in the Khmer Rouge's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21, in 1978 and kept there until the regime collapsed about one year later.

Up to 16,000 people were tortured before being executed at S-21, but Nath was spared because he was asked to paint and sculpt portraits of the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot while behind bars.

The regime's radical policies left about 1.7 million people dead through overwork, disease, malnutrition and execution.

Condolences to Lok Vann Nath's loved ones and friends

Vann Nath (Center)

Testimony during Duch's trial

 

05 Sept 2011
KI-Media

Dear Readers,

We learned with deep regret from Phnom Penh that Lok Vann Nath, one of the seven survivors of S-21, has passed away today at 1 PM.

We would like to present our sincere condolences to his family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this very difficult time

We sincerely regret that he did not live to see the final sentence in Case 001 against Duch, the man who tortured Lok Vann Nath in S-21.

KI-Media