Cultural Revival
Cambodia Reclaims Its Treasures

By Jody McPhillips
The cambodia daily

For so many years, Cambodia has been linked to images of disaster in the world’s mind. Starvation. Piles of skulls. Guns and black-clad soldiers. And misery.

By 2000, the shooting had finally stopped and something else was happening, as people began to revive their culture.

From classical Khmer dance to modern karaoke videos, talented Cambodians were once again putting their stamp on the kinds of performing and plastic arts that were all but destroyed during the Khmer Rouge years.

Traditional crafts such as silk weaving, stone carving and pottery have revived to create fledgling industries employing artisans and art school graduates alike.

Some of this is tied to the tourism industry, as Cambodia’s weavers and woodcarvers find a market turning out silks, cotton scarves and musical instruments.

But it’s more about reclaiming the treasure that was so nearly lost. Students at the Royal University of Fine Arts work to master the skills of Bassac and Yike musical theater—a specialty dear to the hearts of rural Cambodians, but not likely to land them high-paying jobs.

Dancers, singers and musicians spend years mastering the skills needed to perform the classical dance repertoire.

Recent Cambodian films range from boisterous remakes of supernatural favorites like “Child of the Giant Snake” to Rithy Panh’s somber examinations of the Khmer Rouge atrocities—and their continuing impact on the Cambodian people.

Toward the end of my time in Cambodia, this talent and energy began to spill into the business world, as more shops and vendors began selling Cambodian-made products of real style and elan.

Art—which a few decades ago was enough to get people killed—is part of everyday life again in Cambodia, which gave the world the exquisite temples of Angkor.