© Anne-Laure Porée

The Memory Workshop

The pieces are dark, harsh, but they also contain the intensity of a new awareness and the colors of a legacy, a message sent by ten young Cambodian artists to their tormented elders. The artwork is the result of two workshop sessions dedicated to linking memory and inspiration. Two sessions during which painters Vann Nath and Sera coached young artists from Phare Ponleu Selpak, from the Royal University of Fine Arts and from the Reyum School of Art. And emotions and excitement were fierce!

Displayed at the Bophana Center, the artwork used audiovisual material and archives to convey the strong impression of a rich collaboration between generations. The pieces reveal group intimacy through a common reflexion; they speak of sharing and transmission of knowledge; they demonstrate how dynamic, strong and innovative Cambodian artistic creation can be, once one takes the time to think over the past and what to make with it.

Exhibition Cambodia, the Memory Workshop, November 19th – December 26th at the Bophana Center