Reyum Publications

Reyum Publications

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KHMER SILVERWARE

By Kong Vireak
Separate Khmer and English versions

Sample pages: Khmer - English

Soft cover, 120 pages, 15 x 21 cm
Full color photo illustrations

This book explore a variety of objects that made out of silver; ranging from everyday use objects such as plates, bowl to ceremonial objecs used by the Royal Palace as well as touristic objects. This book divides into four chapters. The first is to discuss about the exploitation of silver and its use in world and in Cambodian context. Chapter 2 will look more closely on the silver in Khmer society culturally and economically. Chapter 3 will exclusively present the process of the silverware making and traditional knowledge transmissions. The last Chapter will focus on the silverware business for both local and international markets.

LAKHAOUN KHAOL
AT VAT SVAY ANDET

By Preap Chanmara
Khmer version

Soft cover, 44 pages, 12.5 x 17.5 cm
Full color photo illustrations

This book surveys a dance performance called the Lakhoan Khaol performed by the villagers at Vat Svay Andet, Kandal province. The survey also inlcudes a brief historical account as well as an analis of beleifs related to this particalar form of performance.

KHMER CINEMA

By Ly Daravuth and Ingrid Muan
Khmer version

Soft cover, 20 pages, 12.5 x 17.5 cm
Full black and white illustrations

A brief introduction to the history of Cambodian cinema since its early stages till the 1990's.

MEASUREMENT IN KHMER SOCIETY

By Chea Narin
Khmer version

Soft cover, 72 pages, 18.5 x 25.5 cm
Full color photo illustrations

This book explores some of traditional measurements found in Cambodian society. There were many ways in which time and space is measured and objects counted. Most commonly parts of human body were used as a reference to measurements, for instance the wrist, thigh, the stretch of an arm designated a specific distance or length. These measure were called with specific names as well, for example one hat stands for a stretch of forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger). Objects are also very widely used as references to measure volume, quantity, distance and weight. For example, to express the idea of something high, one would refer to the height of a coconut tree: “…it is as high as a coconut tree…”

TRANSPORTATION IN CAMBODIA

By Kem Sonine
Khmer version

Soft cover, 148 pages, 18.5 x 25.5 cm
Full color photo illustrations

This book explores different modes of transportation in the Cambodia society. Divided into two sections: 1) land transport and 2) waterways transportation, this book give survey traditional means of transportation (oxcart, elephants, horse carts...) as well as modern vehicles such as motorcycles, cars, boats.

FOOD IN KHMER CULTURE

By Chea Sopheary
Khmer version

Soft cover, 140 pages, 18.5 x 25.5 cm
Full color photo illustrations

This book explore the meaning of food in Khmer culture from its cultural and social point of view. It is not a cookbook, though we provide examples of ingredients of fresh vegetables and herbs, condiments, meat, and fresh fish used to prepare dishes, preserved food and some example of different of types of dishes.

IN TRANSITION

Bilingual, Khmer and English

Soft cover, 80 pages, 20 x 20 cm
Many color illustrations

This exhibition catalogue presents the work of fifteen young contemporary artists who graduated from the Reyum Art School in 2006. The artworks include photographs, paintings, sculptures and video installations dealing with topics related to social, religious and historical issues as well as intimate personal stories.

Guide archéologique du Cambodge: Phnom Penh et les provinces méridionales

by Bruno Bruguier and Juliette Lacroix
French version

Soft cover, 280 pages, 15 x 21 cm
Map and color illustrations

A guide to unpublished archeological sites of Cambodia in the provinces of Takeo, Kampot, Preyveng, Svay Rieng and Phnnom Penh area.

CHINESE POLITIC

by Jean François Tan
Khmer version

Soft cover, 120 pages, 14.5 x 21 cm
Some black and white illustration

History and Analysis of Chinese foreign policies based the series of radio shows hosted by Jean-Francois Tan on Radio France Internationale (RFI).

STUDIES ON THE ART OF
ANCIENT CAMBODIA
Ten articles by Jean Boisselier

Translated and edited by Natasha Eilenberg & Robert L. Brown
English version

Soft cover, 360 pages, 19 x 26 cm
Some black and white illustration

The important of Jean Boisselier’s scholarship on the Hindu and Buddhist sculpture of Southeast Asia cannot be overstated. He wrote on art and architecture from both Mainland and Island Southeast Asia, but with particular focus on art from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. His surveys of Thai, Khmer, and Cham sculpture remain the standard texts today. In addition, Boisselier wrote extensive and numerous scholarly articles on both sculpture and architecture, producing a steady stream of studies until his death in 1996. He created with these studies the foundation of our present-day understanding of the art history of Southeast Asia. The purpose of this volume is to translate into English ten of his most important scholarly articles originally published in French.

WAT PAINTING IN CAMBODIA

By San Phalla
Khmer version

Soft cover, 252 pages, 19 x 25.5 cm.
351 Color illustrations, May 2007

Wat Painting in Cambodia is a result from the survey of traditional and modern paintings found in more than 600 monasteries throughout Cambodia. The book examines mural paintings for their religious and historical significance and analyzes how representational paintings are depicted and selected to transmit the teachings of Cambodia’s two main religions, Buddhism and Brahminism.

CONTEMPORARY KHMER
LITERATURE

Khmer version

Soft cover, 232 pages, 13 x 18 cm.
November 2006

A collection of 15 contemporary novels which won the prize of the Contemporary Khmer literature contest co-organized by Reyum Institute and the Kasumisou Foundation in 2002. The Authors include well-known Khmer writers as well as students, monks, teachers, and farmers.

THE BUTTERFLIES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE LIGHT

Illustration by Khun Sovanrith and text written by Ly Daravuth
Separate Khmer and French versions

Sample pages: Khmer - English - French

Softcover, 20 pages, 12 x 18 cm. Richly illustrated, August 2006

Adapted from a popular oriental tale, set in an imaginary land of butterflies, the story is a parable of the quest for knowledge, courage and truth. Suitable for children as well as adults.

LOOKING AT ANGKOR

Drawings by Srey Bandol and Text by Ashley Thompson
Separate Khmer, English and French versions

Sample pages: Khmer - English - French

Hard cover with jacket, 36 pages, 20 x 20 cm.
Many black and white pencil drawings, May 2006.

Looking at Angkor is a collection of pencil drawings depicting Angkor Wat as seen through the eyes of artist Srey Bandol. Accompanied by an essay by Dr. Ashley Thompson on the looking/looting at Angkor, it offers alternative ways to see and understand these ancient monuments. The publication is printed in two editions, Khmer and English.

KBACH
A Study of Khmer Ornament

Drawings and Photographs by Chan Vitharin.
Bilingual, Khmer and English

Hard cover with jacket, 550 pages, 27 x 21cm. 400 color illustrations; more than 1200 black and white drawings, March 2005.

"Kbach: A study of Khmer ornament" tries to understand Khmer basic ornament (Kbach) by describing how they developed from from simple basic forms into complex ornaments. Written with short and simple texts, combined with color photographs and drawings, this publication is meant for a general public.

CAMBODIAN MUSIC

By Keo Narom
Bilingual, Khmer and English

287 pages, 203 pictures include drawings
and photographs. Softcover, 27 x 21 cm.

The author, a musician and music teacher, for several years, has documented and described musical instruments of Cambodia. She focused especially on rare instruments. This publication presents the result of her work.

CALLING THE SOULS

By Ashley Thompson
Bilingual, English and French

Softcover, 169 pages, 26 x 19 cm. Many color illustrations, February 2005

This publication was prepared in conjunction with an exhibition entitled Calling the Souls, curated by Dr. Ang Choulean and the Author, which opened at Reyum, in August 2004. Introducing the Hau Pralung (or the "Calling the Souls") ritual and poem, Dr. Ashley Thompson describes and analyses its meanings.

BRAH LING

By Ang Choulean
Trilingual Khmer, English and French

Softcover, 176 pages, 26 x 19 cm. Many color illustrations, August 2004.

This exhibition catalogue illuminates ritual acts associated with pralung, the “souls” or vital forces believed by the Khmer to animate people as well as certain animals and things. It is easy for some pralung to be lured away or lost from the person or thing to whom they belong. Thus, many types of rites have developed in which pralung are called, gathered, and reintegrated. The catalogue Brah Ling opens with a brief introductory essay on the concept of pralung. A richly illustrated photo essay, based on fieldwork throughout Cambodia, provides many examples of pralung as seen through their representations in various ritual contexts. A concluding essay offers an interpretation of the term Brah Ling based on the preceding representations of pralung.

SEAMS OF CHANGE
CLOTHING AND THE CARE OF THE SELF IN LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY CAMBODIA

Bilingual, Khmer and English

Sample pages

Softcover, 304 pages, 21 x 27 cm. Many black and white illustrations, 9 color illustrations, December 2003

This richly illustrated book presents a broad overview of habits of dressing and caring for the self in late 19th and 20th century Cambodia. Types of fabric and kinds of clothing worn at the turn of the century are described, while traditional ways of cutting, sewing, caring for, and storing clothing are detailed. A final chapter illuminates various indigenous ways of caring for and decorating the hair and the skin. Local ways of painting the lips, fingernails and eyebrows are also discussed. In tracing these topics from the late 19th to the 20th century, the book illuminates the transition from a time when clothing and beauty products were made locally, usually by hand, to a time when clothing and beauty products are manufactured in faraway places and bought in stores.

THE SOVANNASAM CHEADOK

Bilingual, Khmer and English

Softcover, 80pages, 27 x 21 cm. More than 50 color illustrations, July 2003.

This richly illustrated catalogue explores the story of Sovannasam, a Jataka tale recounting one of the former lives of the Buddha. The catalogue results from a collaboration between researchers working at Reyum and the children of the Reyum Art School. Although the story of Sovannasam is often painted in temples throughout Cambodia, it is usually only represented by a few scenes. Working with researchers who have been studying temple painting in Cambodia, the students of the Reyum Art School created scenes illustrating the entire narrative of the Sovannasam Cheadok in all its detail. This visual narrative is accompanied in our catalogue by a textual synopsis of the story as well as an illustrated essay on temple painting in Cambodia which sets the paintings of Sovannasam into the larger context of contemporary Cambodian temple painting.

SELECTED PAPERS ON KHMEROLOGY

By Saveros Pou

Foreword in Khmer and English, Introduction in English and French by Grégory Mikaelian; Articles in French or English

Softcover, 488 pages, 19 x 26 cm.
Some black and white illustrations

This volume offers reprints of articles written by Dr. Saveros Pou, the preeminent Khmer linguist, over a scholarly career spanning more than 30 years. Assembled from a variety of periodicals and journals, the articles in this edition offer a comprehensive overview of Dr. Saveros Pou's work. By means of a systematic re-reading of available sources – from ancient inscriptions and later manuscript texts to contemporary Khmer expressions – Dr. Pou offers her readers a history of words, understood as a continuity from Ancient to Modern Khmer. In traversing this history, she illuminates ancient, middle and contemporary Khmer society, paying particular attention to religious contexts. Articles in this edition are presented in their original language of publication (French or English) with transliterations of the Khmer words discussed.

MODERN KHMER CITIES

By Vann Molyvann
Separate English and Khmer versions

Sample pages: Khmer - English

Softcover, 235 pages, 19 x 25.5 cm.
Many black and white illustrations
July 2003

This book offers an analysis of urban planning in Cambodia by the preeminent Cambodian architect and urban planner, HE Vann Molyvann. The urban areas of Angkor / Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and Sihanoukville are examined through rich layers of historical, geological and ecological analysis. Problems of present urban development in these three regions are described and considered, and each case study ends with a prescription for future development over the next two decades. Bringing almost fifty years of experience to his analysis, Vann Molyvann offers a broad and accessible portrait of the state of three of the largest urban areas in Cambodia today.

IN THE LAND OF THE ELEPHANTS

Drawings by Srey Bandol
Bilingual Khmer and English

Hard cover with jacket, 52 pages, 21 x 29.7 cm. Richly illustrated , 2003.

This book offers a beautifully poetic visual narrative of development and change in Rattanakiri Province, Cambodia. Long ago, a group of hunters set off into the jungle to catch young elephants and tame them for riding and dragging logs, taking with them a young boy who is out on his first elephant hunt. During a storm in the jungle, the boy is lost and cannot find the other hunters. After traversing the jungle for an indeterminate time, the boy comes to a magical cave where he stays with a monk who will eventually show him the way home. By the time the boy comes home however, his village is unrecognisable, and the boy and his elephant decide to return to the jungle which, through their wanderings, has become familiar.

VISIONS OF THE FUTURE
An Exhibition of contemporary Cambodian art

Bilingual Khmer and English

Sample pages

Softcover, 92 pages, 20 x 28 cm.
Richly illustrated with more than color illustrations
December 2002

This catalogue presents a collaborative project in which a group of Cambodian artists decided to take the theme of the Future as the subject for their work. The catalogue offers examples of the work created during this project as well as artist statements about their work, artist biographies, and a short reflective essay on the project by Dr. Ashley Thompson. As a whole, the work presented in the catalogue considers both the future of Cambodia as well as the concept of the future in general. The artists involved make use of a wide variety of styles and forms in order to represent their individual visions of the future. Artists featured in the catalogue include Khun Sovanrith, Chan Lay Heng, Chan Vitharin, Chhoeun Rithy, Chim Sothy, Duong Saree, Tum Saren, Pech Song, Prom Vichet, Phy Chan Than, Vann Nath, Venn Savat, Sa Piseth, Say Saret, Soeung Vannara, Suos Sodavy, Som Sophon, Svay Ken, Hen Sophal, Long Sophea and Ok Bunnarath.

THE REAMKER
Painted by Chet Chan

Bilingual Khmer and English

Hardcover, 156 pages, 22 x 28 cm. Richly illustrated with more than 150 color illustrations,
September 2002

This book considers painted representations of characters from the Khmer version of the Ramayana, the Reamker. The book opens with an edited version and translation of the Reamker, written in the early 20th century by Thiounn, Minister of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, to celebrate the painting of the famous Reamker murals on the Palace walls. A catalogue of more than sixty individual characters from the Reamker, painted by Chet Chan (a contemporary painter trained at the School of Fine Arts in the 1960s) follows. This catalogue of characters is accompanied by a illustrated essay discussing ways to differentiate and recognise individual characters. A final photo essay details the process through which Chet Chan makes one of his tempera and gold-leaf paintings on silk.

CULTURES OF INDEPENDENCE:
An Introduction to Cambodian Arts and Culture
in the 1950s and 1960s

Bilingual Khmer and English, some French

Soft cover, 358 pages, 26 x 26 cm. Extensive illustrations, color and black and white,
January 2002

This book considers forms of self-consciously "modern" art which developed in Cambodia during the two decades following independence. The book surveys "modern architecture", "speaking theater", "Khmer film", "modern painting", and "modern music". A final section of the book traces the development of the Royal University of Fine Arts, which institutionalised many of these "new" forms when it was established in 1965. The book includes a series of in-depth interviews with surviving participants of each art form, as well as reprinted articles and reviews from the 1950s and 1960s.

PREAH CHAN KAORUP

Drawings by Khun Sovanrith
Bilingual Khmer and English

Sample pages

Soft cover, 60 pages, 15 x 21 cm.
Richly illustrated
2002

This book presents a richly illustrated Khmer and English language version of a famous Cambodian legend. The legend tells the story of Prince Chan Kaorup, his marriage to the beautiful daughter of the serpent King, and their long separation due to the treachery of a female monster.

PREAH KO PREAH KEO

Drawings by Khun Sovanrith
Bilingual Khmer and English

Sample pages

Soft cover, 40 pages, 15 x 21 cm.
Richly illustrated
2002

This book presents a richly illustrated Khmer and English language version of the famous Cambodian legend, Preah Ko Preah Keo, which tells of the adventures of a magical cow and his younger human brother. Even today, the pair are believed to bring great luck to the country in which they reside.

TOOLS AND PRACTICES
Change and continuity in the Cambodian countryside

Bilingual Khmer and English

Sample pages

Soft cover, 88 pages, 20 x 30 cm.
73 color illustrations; more than 100 black and white drawings,
February 2001

This publication considers tools and practices in the Cambodian countryside. An catalogue of 50 tools, richly illustrated with black and white drawings, describes the use of each tool and the way in which the tool is locally made. A separate section of photo essays traces changes which three practices (palm juice collection, banana leaf wrapping, and fishing net floats) have undergone as modernisation proceeds. An introductory essay locates both sections of the book within the larger context of contemporary Cambodia.

PAINTED STORIES
The Life of a Cambodian Family
from 1941 to the present

by Svay Ken
Separate versions in Khmer and English versions

Sample pages: Khmer - English

Soft cover, 48 pages, 19 x 26 cm.
117 color illustrations
June 2001

This book tells the story of the family of Svay Ken from 1941 to the present. The text is accompanied by the author’s own paintings which portray moments described in his text. A number of "official" histories have been written about Cambodia from the 1940s to the present. This book instead offers an account written from the perspective of an ordinary family as they move from the country to the city and back again in order to survive various political regimes. The details which are important to such an ordinary life are often quite different than those highlighted by more general histories of the period.

KHMER ALPHABET FLASHCARDS

Drawings by Nam Keang
Khmer version

Sample pages

33 Flashcards in a laminated paper box
Full color
2001

These flashcards present the 33 consonants of the Khmer alphabet. Each consonant appears on a flashcard along with the picture of an object whose name begins with the particular consonant. The name of the object is written on the back of the flashcard. These flashcards can be used by children as well as foreigners learning Khmer.

CERAMICS FROM “LOR POK”

Bilingual Khmer and English

Soft cover, 48 pages, 15 x 21 cm.
More than 60 black and white illustrations
October 2000

This catalogue offers a simple description of the process of preparing clay and making various kinds of ceramics. Richly illustrated with step-by-step black and white illustrations, the catalogue serves as a manual for students and the general public interested in learning basic techniques of ceramics as practiced by the Pok kiln.

PEOPLE AND EARTH

by Dr. Ang Choulean
Separate English, Khmer, and French versions

Sample pages: Khmer - English - French

Soft cover, 58 pages, 15 x 21 cm
23 black and white illustrations; 20 color illustrations
March 2000

This catalogue, by the anthropologist Dr. Ang Choulean, examines the form which the neak ta (or village spirits) are given when they are materialised at sites of worship in contemporary Cambodia. Written in phrases accompanied by photographs, the text traces the range of forms which the neak ta takes, from amorphous mounds of earth to fully sculpted anthropomorphic figures.

THE LEGACY OF ABSENCE:
A CAMBODIAN STORY

Bilingual Khmer and English

Soft cover, 38 pages, 27 x 20 cm. Full color (more than 30 color illustrations), January 2000.

This catalogue was published in conjunction with an exhibition which considered absences resulting from the Khmer Rouge era. Participating artists were asked to ponder how the missing and murdered affect the present, and how - as time goes on - the killings and their causes are remembered or forgotten, repressed or made into myth. A catalogue essay is accompanied by statements of intention by each artist, as well as color illustrations of some of the work made specifically for this exhibition.

ILLUSTRATED KHMER ALPHABET

Drawings by Doung Saree
Khmer

Sample pages

Soft cover, 34 pages, 15 x 15 cm.
Richly illustrated full color, 2000.

This book presents the 33 consonants of the Khmer alphabet. Each consonant appears on one page along with a picture of an object whose name begins with the particular consonant. The book can be used by children as well as by foreigners learning Khmer. The final page of the book presents a key to the objects pictured.

KOLAP PAILIN

by Nhok Them / Huol Sophon
Khmer version

Sample pages

Soft cover, 60 pages, 15 x 21 cm.
Black and white illustrations
2000

A comic book version of Kolap Pailin, a 1943 novel by Nhok Them in which traditional customs of arranged marriage clash with the love story of the central characters.

LAKHAOUN KHAOL

Bilingual Khmer and English

Sample pages

Soft cover, 52 pages, 15 x 21 cm
23 black and white illustrations
October 1999

This exhibition catalogue describes a particular form of masked dance called Lakhaoun Khaol. The catalogue offers a brief history of the dance form and then details the practices of performing Lakhaoun Khaol in the village of Svay Andaet, Kandal Province. The catalogue also includes a technical description of the techniques used to make the lacquer masks used in performances of Lakhaoun Khaol.

THE FOX AND THE CHICKEN

by Raoth Sarim
Khmer version

Soft cover, 15 pages, 17 x 17 cm.
Richly illustrated full color, 1999

This short story was recently written by Rot Sarem and illustrated by Chea Chieng. Attractive full-page color illustrations combine with an easy-to-read text, making The Fox and the Chicken a suitable book both for individual readers and for reading aloud to groups of children.

Click here to see a book distribution trip in the countryside sponsored by Oxfam Hong Kong