This
exhibition presents three artists working in different areas of the
traditional visual arts: silversmithing, traditional painting, and
mask making. We display their work in order to celebrate the achievement
of their lives and to show their ongoing commitment to their art.
As those who carry with them living traditions in the form of a certain
way of practicing, these artists help to raise the question of how
to build Khmer visual arts in the future. As Cambodia jumps ever more
quickly into modernity, one wonders what resources can be used to
allow sustainable evolution of the visual arts. It seems to us that
the artists presented here form a continuous strand, drawn up from
a long and rich past, which should not be broken. The difficult and
delicate problem is to understand that development does not necessarily
mean rupture with and opposition to the past. On the contrary, sustainable
development relies on continuity. The training of the next generations
is a fundamental component of the practice of each of the artists
presented here. We find therefore that transmission and education
is a crucial element in preserving the fragile string of continuity
and we hope that our exhibition participates in this process.
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