Reimaging Community, Art, and Social Transformation in Cambodia
Academic Year:
2021 - 2022 (June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022)
Funding Requested:
$500.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
Overview of the Project:
My upcoming special exhibition, “Angkor Complex: Cultural Heritage and Post-Genocide Memory in Cambodia” (scheduled to open at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in January 2024) will showcase the work of contemporary artists who exemplify trends in how Cambodians are responding to the still-fresh wounds inflected by the Khmer Rouge regime and related upheavals that have shattered the country. Since several contemporary artists are engaging with the forms and functions of ancient Khmer temples and sculptures and are trying to position them at the intersection of trauma and healing, I shall include several ancient architectural fragments and sculpture in my exhibition. Travel to Cambodia is currently almost impossible, because of pandemic related travel restrictions and closures. Thus, I hope to bring into the classroom, via Zoom, the voices of women and men from diverse walks of life: contemporary artists based in Cambodia and in the diaspora, monks, Khmer Rouge survivors, community organizers, primary school teachers, world renowned scholars, and prominent collectors, many of whom I have gotten to know in recent months while conducting field research for the exhibition. These short-guest lectures will help foster greater respect for justice, common humanity, and diversity, and help my students critically appreciate the role of the arts in suturing post-genocide societies.