PHNOM PENH, RESCUE ARCHAEOLOGY:
THE BODY AND THE LENS IN THE CITY
April 5th, 1:30-3:00pm
Phnom Penh, Rescue Archaeology: The Body and the Lens in the City presents a collection of five moving-image works rooted in critical engagements between the performative body and the transitional urban landscape of Cambodia’s capitol.
A rescue archaeologist reacts urgently, yet carefully, to a transitional moment that marks change and irrevocable loss. A screening program of performance-based video works was first conceptualized as one of many elements of the exhibition and book Phnom Penh, Rescue Archaeology: Contemporary Art and Urban Change in Cambodia, ifa, Berlin and Stuttgart in 2013, which reflected on the artist as rescue archaeologist at a critical time of rapid urban, social, economic and cultural change and continuity in Phnom Penh.
At the John Young Museum of Art at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Rescue Archaeology is an intimate selection of works positioned in dialog with the current exhibition Fragments & Empire: Cambodian Art from the Angkor Period. As such, while the conceptual and aesthetic practices presented by prominent Cambodian artists will offer insight into the relationships between urbanization and contemporary performance and video practices in Cambodia, the works will also converse with Fragments & Empire, drawing on notions of ruins, power and geographical fragmentation, the role of the artist past and present.
Phnom Penh, Rescue Archaeology: The Body and the Lens in the City at the John Young Museum of Art is curated by Erin Gleeson, curator and co-founding Artistic Director of SA SA BASSAC in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (www.sasabassac.com) and features artists Anida Yoeu Ali, Svay Sareth, Khvay Samnang (including a work with Nget Rady) and a co-production by Studio Revolt & Khmer Arts.
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Film Screening & Discussion: Phnom Penh, Rescue Archaeology: The Body and the Lens in the City
Discussion to follow by Erin Gleeson, curator and co-founding Artistic Director of SA SA BASSAC,
Dr. Jaimey Hamilton Faris, Associate Professor of Art History and Critical Theory, UHM, and
Dr. Paul Lavy, Associate Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art History, UHM
List of Works
Studio Revolt + Khmer Arts
Neang Neak (Serpent Goddess), 2012, Single-channel HD video, color, sound, 0:03:55
Svay Sareth (b. Battambang, 1972; lives in Siem Reap) Mon Boulet, 2011, Single-channel video, color, sound, 0:08:25
Khvay Samnang (b. Svay Rieng, 1982; lives in Phnom Penh) Untitled, 2011, Single-channel HD video, color, sound, 0:04:22
Khvay Samnang with Nget Rady
Where Is My Land? 2014, Three-channel HD video, color, sound, 0:13:28
Anida Youe Ali (b. 1974, Battambang; lives in Chicago)
Spiral Cyclo (2012), single-channel HD video, color, sound, 0:03:16
IMAGE: KHVAY SAMNANG, UNTITLED, 2011
SPONSORED BY: STUDENT ACTIVITY AND PROGRAM FEE BOARD , JOHN YOUNG MUSEUM OF ART, DEPARTMENT OF ART + ART HISTORY, AND CENTER FOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES.