It was only last month that a trial of the three surviving Khmer Rouge leaders got under way, reviving buried memories for many traumatized Cambodians.

In her meditation on the scars of war in Cambodia, “War Remnants of the Khmer Rouge” (Umbrage Books, October 2011), the photographer Maureen Lambray has chosen to emphasize portraits of badly maimed victims of the land mines that were mostly laid during the wars that preceded and followed the Khmer Rouge rule. The quiet mood of her carefully composed and lit portraits of land-mine victims, as they stare intently into the camera, belies the horror of their mutilation.

“I began documenting the people and haunted sites,” she wrote in the book’s preface. “It seems half the population are still missing arms, legs, fathers and mothers.”

Over the last three decades, land mines have caused more than 63,900 deaths and injuries, Helen Clark, the development chief of the United Nations, said at a major international conference on land mines now under way in Phnom Penh.

Apart from these broken bodies, Ms. Lambray’s camera also captures the desolation of ruined buildings and forbidding forests in a land populated by ghosts. In a more direct reference to Pol Pot’s atrocities, she shows an empty corridor at Tuol Sleg Prison, where thousands of people were tortured and sent to a killing field, enclosed by barbed wire to prevent them from jumping to their deaths.

Like her other work, Ms. Lambray’s photographs combine journalistic coverage — sometimes at personal risk — with artistic composition.

In 1979, Yassir Arafat invited her to Beirut for an in-depth look at the Palestine Liberation Organization. The following year, she covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, disguising herself at one point as an Afghan man. And in 1994, she was caught up in the Zapatista uprising in Mexico during a project to document obscure Indian tribes.

Her first encounter with Cambodia came in 1979 when she chronicled the lives of refugees in camps along the Thai border where hundreds of thousands of people had fled as the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed. She returned to Cambodia in 2003 and said she was stunned to see how little the country had recovered.

“The government has begun spiriting away the maimed Cambodians as more tourists flock to their country,” she wrote in her preface. “We need images as reminders of how quickly genocide can happen, and the past become the present.”

Photography and the article were taken from a piece by journalist, Seth Mydans, for the New York Times. The original article was originally released on December 1, 2011, at 1:00 pm.

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Ros Sereysothea (Khmer: រស់ សេរីសុទ្ធា) (1948 – 1977) was a famous Cambodian singer during the nation’s thriving cultural renaissance. She sang from a variety of genres but romantic ballads emerged as her most popular works. Despite a rather short career she is credited with producing hundreds of songs and even starring in a few movies. Details of her life and fate during the Khmer Rouge is relatively unknown but it is generally accepted she did not survive.

With the cultural upheaval by the Khmer Rouge, scant evidence of Ros Serey Sothea’s life remains. Her master recordings were either destroyed by the regime or deteriorated rapidly to the tropical environment due to lack of preservation. However, many vinyl recordings have survived and have gained reissues initially on tape cassettes and later on compact discs. Unfortunately many of these reissues are also remixed with extra beats usually overriding the original score. The vinyls from the master sources are thereby highly sought out by preservationist and collectors.

Nonetheless Sothea remained extremely popular even after her death in Cambodian communities scattered throughout the United States, France, Australia and Canada. Western interest in Sothea would not dawn until songs by Sothea, Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian singers of the era such as Meas Samoun, Choun Malai and Pan Ron, were featured on the soundtrack to Matt Dillon’s film City of Ghosts. Tracks by Sothea are “Have You Seen My Love”, “I’m Sixteen” and “Wait Ten Months”. The Los Angeles band Dengue Fever, which features Cambodian lead singer Chhom Nimol, covers a number of songs by Sothea and other singers from the short-lived but rich Cambodian rock and roll scene. The advent of the internet, undoubtly saved what was left of her discography while spreading and garnering interest in her music even after almost half a century later.

Biography Blog | Last.fm | Ros Serevsothea Film | Khmer Music Page

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* Love and Dread in Cambodia: Weddings, Births, and Ritual Harm under the Khmer Rouge

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The flood crisis over the past two months is Thailand’s worst in 50 years and has continued to affect one- third of the country’s provinces, with more than 400 people dead and damaged millions of homes.

People in the U.S. who wish to help flood victims in Thailand can donate through the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C. by sending a money order (payable to Royal Thai Embassy) to Consular Affairs Section, Royal Thai Embassy, 1024 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007. A donation box has also been set up in front of the Consular Affairs Section of the Embassy.

The Embassy has updated information on donation on their Facebook page (Royal Thai Embassy, Washington, D.C.) and Twitter (@ThaiEmbDC). Additional questions about the donation request can be addressed to First Secretary Nipatsorn Kampa at 202-285-1547.

- International Red Cross: Both the Cambodian Red Cross and Thai Red Cross are accepting donations for relief efforts though their respective websites.

- Royal Thai Embassy: Donations to flood victims in Thailand are being accepted through the embassy. Send checks or money orders (payable to Royal Thai Embassy) to Consular Affairs Section, Royal Thai Embassy, 1024 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20007. See the embassy’s Facebook page (Royal Thai Embassy, Washington, D.C.) for donation updates or call the embassy’s First Secretary Nipatsorn Kampa at 202-285-1547.

- Save the Children: International aid organization is accepting donations for flood relief in Thailand through its Thailand Floods Children in Emergency Fund. See the Save the Children website.

- Royal Embassy of Cambodia: Contact the embassy at 4530 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20011; phone 202-726-7742.

- World Vision Cambodia: International aid group is distributing rice to affected communities where rice fields and other food sources have been compromised by flooding. See the Save the Children Cambodia website.

http://www.cseashawaii.org/wordpress/2011/10/photography-thailand-flood/

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* Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam
* A Glimpse of Vietnamese Oral Literature: Mythology, Tales, Folklore
* Cambodian Folk Stories from the Gatiloke
* In Grandmother’s House: Thai Folklore, Traditions, and Rural Village Life
* Indonesian Folktales

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Noy Vanneth (born 1964) is singer in Cambodia who has been performing for more than twenty years. He sings for Rasmey Hang Meas and other productions. His genres are pop, ram vong, cha cha, lam lao, in particular the songs of Sin Sisamouth.

Cambodian pop music, or modern music, is divided into two categories: ramvong and ramkbach. Ramvong is slow dance music, while ramkbach is closely related to Thai folk music. In the province Siem Reap, a form of music called Kantrum has become popular; originating among the Khmer Surin in Thailand, kantrum is famous for Thai and Cambodian stars like Darkie. Modern music is usually presented in Cambodian Karaoke VCDs, usually of an actor, actress or both making the actions, usually by mimicking the lyrics to the background song by moving their mouth as if they were actually singing the song. Noy Vannet and Lour Sarith are some of the modern singers who sing the songs for use with the Karaokes usually of the songs composed by Sin Sisamouth or others, in addition to the songs sung and composed by Sin Sisamouth himself. -from Wikipedia

Facebook | Last.fm Page | Wikipedia | Youtube Karaoke Videos

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The World History Association, in conjunction with Pannasastra University of Cambodia, is issuing a call for papers for a symposium on the world-historical significance of Southeast Asia. The symposium seeks to generate dialog among scholars within and outside of the region regarding its place in world history. It also seeks to stimulate discussion of world history methodology as well as pedagogy while identifying those world history processes that have application to the region’s past, present and future.

Among the topics that may be addressed at the symposium within or beyond a Southeast Asian context are: the nature of world history; the processes of indigenization, localization, and syncretism; the decline and fall of classical societies; Diaspora and gender studies; the colonial experience; nationalism; conflict and post-conflict studies; trade; economy; language, religion and culture; art; regional questions in global perspective such as borderlands; regional diplomatic relations; investment, tourism and resource management issues; the environment; comparative genocide; and models for World History and global studies in terms of scholarship and instruction. These topics are examples only and should not be taken to exclude proposals on other topics. Scholars from all disciplines are encouraged to submit proposals. Select refereed papers from the conference will be published in the e-journal World History Connected (University of Illinois Press) and a book project is planned to which attendees will be encouraged to submit contributions to be considered for publication.

The symposium will be held minutes from the Archeological Conservation Area that includes Angkor Wat. Pre/post and concurrent symposium activities will be structured so as to permit tours of these and other local sites which connect them to the wider region and the world.

Panels will meet in air conditioned rooms on the newly-built PUC Siem Reap campus. The time limit for presenting papers will be 20 minutes, and the deadline for submitting papers to the session moderator is three weeks in advance of the conference. Individual paper proposals must include a 100-200 word summary with the title of the paper, name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, phone and fax numbers, and brief curriculum vitae, all integrated into a single file, preferably in MS-Word. Proposals for entire sessions or panels must contain the same information for each participant, as well as contact information and a brief C.V. for the moderator if you suggest one. (The program committee can help find moderators, if necessary.) There is a limited number of AV-equipped rooms available so it is essential that you indicate your need for audiovisual equipment (and what kind) in your proposal. All meeting rooms are air conditioned.

Please send your completed proposal with the following in the subject line of the email: WHS, followed by your last name (family), and then your first name, then short paper/panel name to the WHA symposia coordinator, Maryanne Rhett, at mrhett@monmouth.edu.

Individuals wishing to moderate a session should send a statement of interest, contact information, and a brief C.V. to the program coordinator.

Questions regarding program events and content only may be directed to the Program Chair, Marc Jason Gilbert at mgilbert@hpu.edu.

Important Notes and Information
* All panelists must register to be on the program.
* A rolling acceptance process will be in place to assist panelists to solicit travel support from their home institutions and organizations.
* The language of the conference is English.
* The conference rooms are in a four story building with no elevator and not ADA accessible. Please email tehwha@hawaii.edu for further ADA limitations.
* The conference does not have funds to subsidize scholars’ travel and lodging at the meeting.
* The deadline for the submission of paper and panel proposals is September 1st, 2011.
* Registration rates, benefits of registration for WHA members and waivers for Cambodian teachers, members of Teachers Across Borders and others will be posted on the WHA registration site shortly at http://www.thewha.org/future_wha_conferences.php. The full registration fee, without waivers or discounts, will be $125.00, including conference lunches.

Please check the World History Association website (http://www.thewha.org/) for final registration information, low-cost housing options and both conference and optional touring logistics information (to be posted shortly). Excellent inexpensive lodging, food, shopping and entertainment are all available close to the conference site. Local transportation is available in the range of $2.00 per ride and can be arranged for $20.00 for an entire day. The weather in Siem Reap in early January is ideal: dry with cool mornings, high in the mid 80s at mid-day. Siem Reap is famous for its Pub Street district, a five minute walk from the conference site. It features sidewalk restaurants, cafes and shops; most visitors make evening strolls there a habit. Siem Reap still has the flavor of a small town, albeit flooded with both backpackers and traditional tourists whose presence has led to widespread spoken English and Western-style supermarkets. Heath and crime issues are minimal (See State Department advisories and your travel medicine specialist before undertaking any travel). Tourist visas are inexpensive.

Siem Reap’s international airport is serviced by a variety of airlines from most Asian hubs. Most international travel passes through Seoul or Bangkok’s international airport. Because of the International Dateline, attendees departing January 4 will be able to make connections permitting participation at the American Historical Association in Chicago later that week.

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Ros Sereysothea (1948–1977) was a famous Cambodian singer during the nation’s thriving cultural renaissance. She sang from a variety of genres but romantic ballads emerged as her most popular works. Despite a rather short career she is credited with producing hundreds of songs and even starring in a few movies. Details of her life and fate during the Khmer Rouge is relatively unknown but it is generally accepted she did not survive.

Growing up relatively poor, Ros Sothea was the second youngest of five children and displayed vocal talent around the age of three or four. Her talent would remain relatively hidden until she was persuaded by friends to join a regional singing contest in 1963. It is believed that Im Song Seurm, a singer from the National Radio heard of Sothear’s talents and invited her to the capital, Phnom Penh in 1967.

In Phnom Penh, she adopted the alias Ros Sereysothea and became a singer for National Radio performing duets with Im Song Seurm. Her first hit, Stung Khieu debuted the same year and she quickly attracted fans with her clear and high pitch voice. Recognized as a national treasure she was honored by King Norodom Sihanouk with the royal title of “Preah Reich Theany Somlang Meas“, the “Golden Voice of the Royal Capital“.

By the 1970s, Sothear began experimenting in other genres. Her high, clear voice, coupled with the rock backing bands featuring prominent, distortion-laden lead guitars, pumping organ and loud, driving drums, made for an intense, sometimes haunting sound that is best described today as psychedelic or garage rock. And like the leader of the music scene, Sinn Sisamouth, Sothear would often take popular Western rock tunes, such as John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary” and refashion them with Khmer lyrics.

Her career would continue until the Khmer Rouge captured the beleaguered capital, Phnom Penh in April 1975. Like everyone else when the Khmer Rouge took over, she was forced to leave Phnom Penh. There are many speculations regarding her fate from a variety witnesses. Her sisters insist that Sothea along with their mother and children were taken to Kampong Som province and executed immediately following the Fall of Phnom Penh.

With the cultural upheaval by the Khmer Rouge, scant evidence of Ros Serey Sothear’s life remains. However, many recordings have survived and have started to gain exposure through reissues on cassette and CD.

Songs by Sothea, Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian singers of the era, Meas Samoun, Chan Chaya, Choun Malai and Pan Ron, are featured on the soundtrack to Matt Dillon’s film City of Ghosts. Tracks by Sothea are “Have You Seen My Love”, “I’m Sixteen” and “Wait Ten Months”. Also “I’m Sixteen” was taken for the soundtrack of the 2010 movie of Detlev Buck “Same Same, but different”

The Los Angeles band Dengue Fever, which features Cambodian lead singer Chhom Nimol, covers a number of songs by Sothea and other singers from the short-lived Cambodian rock and roll scene. –condensed from Wikipedia biography.

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About the Conference
In collaboration with the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap) National Authority of Cambodia, and with the support of the UNESCO Phnom Penh Office, the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore and the Greater Angkor Project or the University of Sydney, Australia are pleased to announce the convening of a conference entitled Angkor and Its Global Connections in Siem Reap over three days 10-12 June 2011.

The aim of the conference is to examine the history of the Khmer polities which were centred in and around the Angkor region, the development of their urban centres, and the links between these polities and other political and cultural centres in Southeast Asia, East Asia and beyond. It is hoped that the papers presented, selections of which will be subsequently published in an edited volume, will offer a state-of-the-field overview of Khmer polities, their urban development and their relations with other polities and cultural centres, including Tai, Thai, Cham, Viet, and Chinese polities, the Arab and Persian worlds and maritime Southeast Asia.

The need for such a conference is obvious. While there are annual ICC-Angkor meetings held in Siem Reap under the auspices of APSARA and UNESCO, these relate mainly to the preservation and maintenance of the monuments of the Angkor region. It has often been the case, however, that these ancient cities have been examined in splendid isolation, without sufficient reference to their external links which, it must be affirmed, are integral and essential elements for any functioning metropolis in history or today.

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Before ancient objects enter a museum collection, they often travel 
vast distances and endure various periods of use, disuse, loss, and 
rediscovery. Their original meaning and function can become lost or 
obscured. For this reason, museums conduct extensive research on all
 objects entering their collections. Curators and conservators 
faithfully survey objects for any hints about their origins and
 provenance to ensure their overall general health, factual
documentation and preservation. Where Art Meets Science: Ancient 
Sculpture from the Hindu-Buddhist World, a focused exhibition of
 primarily Cambodian sculpture from the Norton Simon foundations’
 permanent collections, examines the connoisseurship and conservation 
involved in identifying and preserving these ancient objects.

A collaboration between the museum’s assistant curator of Asian art, 
Melody N. Rod-ari, and its conservator, John Griswold, this small
 installation explores how the place of origin and date of an object
can be determined by the rendering of drapery pleats, hairstyles and
 ornaments of iconic statuary from South and Southeast Asia dating from
the 3rd through 13th centuries. Furthermore, analytical methods to 
help identify traces of pigments, binders, and applied organic
 materials will be introduced, as will a discussion about 
distinguishing ancient tool marks from later ones.

Website: www.nortonsimon.org/where-art-meets-science-ancient-sculpture-from-the-hindu-buddhist-world

Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia

Getty Center, Los Angeles
Through August 14, 2011

The ancient capital of the Khmer people at Angkor, in northwest 
Cambodia, was once the heart of a large sphere of influence that
extended over much of mainland Southeast Asia. The bronzes in this 
exhibition’ masterworks from the collection of the National Museum of
 Cambodia represent the achievements of Khmer artists during the Angkor
 period (the ninth through the 15th centuries).
Bronze, a mixture of metals consisting primarily of copper and tin,
 was a preferred medium for giving form to the Hindu and Buddhist
divinities worshipped in Angkor and throughout the Khmer empire. The 
Khmer have always viewed bronze as a noble material, connoting
prosperity and success, and it has played a deeply meaningful role in 
their culture over many centuries.

Website: www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/gods_angkor/

The Way of the Elders: The Buddha in Modern Theravada Traditions
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles

Through March 25, 2012

Theravada, or “The Way of the Elders,” is the school of Buddhism practiced today in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. Central to Theravada worship is the historic Buddha, Shakyamuni (circa fifth century BC). Shakyamuni was born after numerous rebirths, which are recounted in jatakas, or birth stories, the last ten of which are of paramount importance. These ten are depicted over and over on manuscript pages, textiles, and monastery walls. The last of these popular stories is the one concerning the Buddha’s final life as Shakyamuni, the lifetime in which he reaches enlightenment. Works in this exhibition illustrate a range of media produced in Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand from the eighteenth century to the present. They represent the Buddha in a variety of forms, as figures in his previous births, as the Buddha with monks and lay worshippers, and as symbols, such as the Buddha’s footprints. Contemporary Southeast Asian artists continue to draw inspiration from traditional Buddhist imagery, as in a painting by the Thai artist Kamol Tassananchalee which will be on view as part of this exhibition.

Website: www.lacma.org/art/ExhibInstallations.aspx#woe

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