The Blog
During April I met as many Cambodian Artists as possible. Here are a few…
Sokuntevy Oeur
I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon and a few evenings hanging out with the super talented Sokuntevy Oeur (aka Tevy). Tevy grew up in Battambang and went to a well known arts
school there called Phare Ponleu Selpak.
She’s been in Phnom Penh for about 5 years now and is fast becoming a successful and well known visual artist in the asia pacific region and the world through her regular exhibits in Phnom Penh, South Korea, USA and Singapore.
Tevy’s work could be interpreted as dark, dreamlike & surrealist. She jovially explained to me one hot and humid afternoon, how much she loves zombies and scary movies. There’s definitely an element of that in her work.
You can’t look, but you must. (Image: courtesy of Eleanore Sok-Halkovich)
Eleanore Sok-Halkovich
Tevy’s work has been featured in a web-doco, along with a whole gamut of talented Cambodian Artists, created by French-Cambodian journalist & now film-maker – Eleanore Sok-Halkovich.
“Swinging Phnom Penh” features some of Cambodia’s most provocative and exciting artists and art movements to date. The web-doco has a great teaser. We met while she was filming in April and she’s now back in Paris putting it all together. Looking forward to seeing the finished project. There are a few people making docos about Cambodian artists at the moment, but her idea to compile it all into a web-doco is really wise – so she can move between different genres, stories and styles.
http://youtu.be/UhSmRBJIEiM
Chov Theanly
Designer and painter, Theanly showed me his hometown Battambang and I filmed him prepare for an exhibition at JavaArts (my resident org). Apart from talking about where the Cambodian arts is at, Theanly and I spent a quite a bit of time riding around his city on his moped, eating really good Indian! and checking out some of the beautiful French inspired architecture and Buddhist temples. Theanly is strongly influenced by the old sign-painters of Battambang who used to paint beautiful realistic posters for old movie theatres in the 1960s. He also has a background in graphic design and a great taste in music. Sin Sisamouth and other musical masters are always playing in his studio. We listened to this Cha Cha Cha track quite a few times!
Theanly’s exhibition completely sold out at JavaArts and he also has a few commissions lined up. It was a landmark moment for him, launching his career into the spotlight. Theanly’s work was recently featured in a popular arts mag “Surface” showcasing the resurrection of Khmer Art since the late 1970’s. One of his main aims now is to travel overseas and have a chance to collaborate and learn with an international suite of artists.
Mao Viet | Make Maek | Battambang Collaborating Artists
JavaArts Director, Dana Langlois and I traveled back to Battambang to run a workshop in preparation for the 2014, Our City Festival. We met with about 20 young inspiring artists, all wanting to make their mark in some way. Mao Viet – owner of the Make Maek gallery hosted the event. It was the highlight of my first trip to Cambodia. A room full of great ideas and creativity, a chance for us all to share our thoughts, play with them and boldly propose some exciting projects for next years festival.
What struck me most, was everyone’s passion for history, the buildings and architecture, the temples & paintings, the local cultural knowledge; even the market was noted as a significant cultural space. We talked about space and things that they love about their city as well as the things really frustrating them, including the lack of government support to preserve and promote local cultural heritage and arts. Then we devised a plan to make some creative solutions to these problems, in the form of public art, performance, happenings, events etc. And this was all done with an English-Khmer interpreter! More photos on the Our City Festival facebook page.
Loven Ramos | Gallery 1961 | Siem Reap Collaborating Artists
After Battambang, Dana and I also visited Siem Reap, to run a similar workshop. We stayed at Loven Ramos’ Hotel 1961. Loven is a photographer, tour guide and gallery owner. The hotel is part gallery, with each room set up with a different theme. The 2nd community meeting was again, full of enthusiasm and great ideas for festival activities to engage locals, tourists and ex-pats! 
We drew up a a map of Siem Reap, the potential public spaces for local arts events, activities and happenings – and we did a bit of storytelling too.
Markets, Wats, Temples, the river, the street, old abandoned buildings, historical buildings & restored homes were all discussed.
More to come…
