Members Untie... uh,Unite! Two provocative posts from WorldChanging: What is an NGO? What should it be? Go. Read. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001173.html http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003365.html

Kite seller in Phnom Penh.

Transit opening at Java Cafe

That's our Sopheap Pich standing in front of the painting.

And Michele Vanvlasselaer in the center here, discussing her work. A great night with many familiar and new faces checking out the art work! Click for more.

Logo Design Contest

Graphic Designer, Graphic Artists, Computer Lovers, and Web Enthusiasts

The Youth and Development project of the Open Forum of Cambodia is launching a logo design contest to provide a chance to win a small award. Please read this for further info: http://www.cambodiacic.org/announcement/ann.aspx?id=408

Please help forwarding this message to your friends and colleagues.

Thanks very much indeed! ThaRum

Cafe Khmao I was finishing up an iced coffee ('cafe khmao') and looking for change in my wallet when one of the teenage girls waiting tables pointed at something outside. "Khmao" (dark), she said. She and her co-workers were fascinated. The woman walking outside looked to be a tourist from the States, from the dreadlocks to the backpack. There's not a lot of Africans in Cambodia. (There is a tiny subculture/clique of expat Africans in Phnom Penh.) Still digging through my wallet, I talked with the girls in Khmer: -There's not many Africans in Cambodia, but there are plenty in the USA. -Really? -Yes, their families came from Africa long ago. -Are they different? -Well, it's ordinary to see dark skinned people in my country, there are many. I used to share a house with an african-american. -Really? -Sure. And Cambodia has Chams who came years ago and now are part of the country. And with that, my short effort at being an ad-hoc cultural ambassador was at an end. Nothing wrong with a little curiosity. It would be great to let this curiosity lead to friendships, rather than prejudice or fear.

C'est Jolie So Angelina Jolie has been granted citizenship? Quick, cue the media. Since her time filming Tomb Raider, the actress of the hour has embraced activism, Hollywood style. Better that than apathy. Interesting that she has chosen Samlot as a place to help out. It was the setting of a rebellion against the 1960s government (beginning with an attack on tax collectors), in what some cite as a flash point for the growth of the Communist party. It was one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge as well. It's now one of the poorest, most heavily mined places in the country. Maybe with her citizenship she should run for office, (joke!) so far she's created more change than many government officials. In Cambodia she's courted a low profile and worked with relatively good causes, donating money privately, without publicity. Much more than the country made from Tomb Raider, certainly. (Rumor has it that the actual contract for renting out the film location was pasted to one of the stone walls at Angkor, and quickly torn down.) Tomb Raider's title echoes Raiders of the Lost Ark, a film about another adventurer looting temples. I recall climbing up to Kbal Spean with a friend who'd written a few books on Cambodia. Even a scholar couldn't help but think of his climb up the steep mountain to be an 'Indiana Jones' adventure. Stories stick with us. Two years later, the 'river of a thousand linga' had one of its bas reliefs damaged by thieves, there were rumors floating around Siem Reap that it was an extortion attempt, even. 'Raiding' and looting indeed.. Who is doing the protecting? You might try the folks at Heritage Watch, or German Apsara. They don't wield guns, but cameras and toothbrushes. (The latter for stone restoration.) And having seen the filming helped deconstruct the story a bit for me. Tomb Raider has a cartoony sensibility throughout, whether the action is in London, Cambodia or Siberia. Ultimately? I'm looking forward to new films and stories, made by Cambodians themselves.

Faux 'Histoire' So what's the scoop on "L'Histoire", the Khmer Rouge themed restaurant? We saw some strong reactions to the idea from Beth, Manur, and Maytel among others. After discussing it with friends at lunchtime I had to see for myself. With a map (above) as my guide, I hopped on my motorbike and headed off. A quick poll of motodops and tuk-tuk drivers outside Tuol Sleng found... nothing. Perhaps all that ever existed was an advertisement. A hoax? A misprint? A stillborn business venture? I've passed on word to the Phnom Penh Post and Cambodia Daily, we'll see if any more info eventuates. And while it's easy to get worked up about waiters dressed in black, there are crimes against taste and crimes against humanity. There are plenty of *real* Khmer Rouge still alive. Just a few streets away from the Documentation Center of Cambodia's offices is a very luxurious villa owned by... Ieng Sary. While the restaurant may not exist, the echoes of the past are with us on a daily basis. There's a line that sticks in my head (if I can remember correctly) from Helene Cixous' play regarding Cambodia, about 'crimes that go beyond the human eye to become invisible'. Maybe we've acquired the habit of ignoring them, out of necessity, complicity, or ignorance. related link: http://www.krtrial.org Tags: cambodia khmer rouge

Jinja naked cellphone scandal What, did you think I was serious? 'Jinja' is what you call a small lizard here. Feel free to swap this extremely pornographic picture on your cell phone. OK, now that I have your attention, here are the suggestions for Cambodia Blog portal names. Jinja: www.khmerblog.net www.cambodiablog.net www.blogkhmer.org www.blog.net.kh www.blog.org.kh www.khblog.net Wanna: Khlog.com Beth likes "org.kh" www.khlogcommunity.org.kh www.cambodia-blogworld.org.kh www.cambodia-blogs.org.kh www.cambodia-blogworld.org.kh www.cambodia-blogs.org.kh Tharum favors: www.khmerblog.net www.cambodiablog.net www.blogkhmer.org www.blog.net.kh Wanna: khlog.com ANUSA.com / ANUKSA.com Tharum: blogcambodia.net CamerasforCambodia: www.khmerblog.net -------------------------------- Postscript: Cambodia4Kids provides another Jinja picture. And it ain't wearing no clothes. Shocking. http://beth.typepad.com/cambodia4kidsorg/2005/08/more_jinja_nake.html Tags: cambodia weblog

Khmer language blogs tool from KhmerOS The Khmer Software Initiative (www.khmeros.info)now has a *free* blogging tool available for the public. Bloggers can choose Khmer language or English. This is a great step forward, and could lead to a lot more direct expression. How many people will join the conversation? http://www.khmeros.info/drupal/?q=en/blog The system is still being tested - (in programming terms it is 'in beta'). The individual blogs can be linked to, but seem to have a group RSS feed. Looks like a lot of effort was put into preparing this. Don't these folks ever sleep? (Not that I'm complaining.) Tags: cambodia weblog khmer

Cafe Khmer Rouge

Tags: cambodia weblog khmer rouge

Imagine if you were, say, French. And all people knew about, wanted to ask about, was the Vichy French period. As if there were no other aspect of culture and history. Via Beth's Blog, I notice that there's a radio show slated about the very sexy topic of Cambodia blogs. http://www.radioopensource.org/cambodias-nascent-bloggosphere/ We're less interested in the, "hey! digital media technology is spreading to the Third World!" factor, and more interested in the notion that Cambodians are using online writing as a way of dealing with their painful, not often discussed past. Their blogs are recording personal and collective memory, sorting through the country's history of brutal repression under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and talking openly about wounds that have never really healed. "sorting through the country's history of brutal repression" "talking openly about wounds that have never really healed" Um, which blogs are these? I don't think I've seen them yet. Sounds like this story is already written. (Prove me wrong, guys!) My recommendation to our friends in the press: explore your story without preconceptions. You may find something new. Most local tech-savvy Khmer webloggers are under 30, and were born after the Khmer Rouge era. They're products of the postwar baby boom. Why is it that foreigners are so interested in the Khmer Rouge time? There are activists who would contend brutal repression is going on in the present day. There are plenty of wounds in a society that has huge difficulties with human trafficking, rural poverty, and laws that are poorly enforced. I find many projects from overseas want to focus on Cambodia's history of war, not its history of art, scholarship, and peace that has survived the very brief Khmer Rouge era and lives on today. The Khmer Rouge Tribunal is an extremely important issue that has some good people working on it. It certainly is horrific, but must it be used to frame every story? It's actually pretty difficult to find much about the KR time in contemporary Cambodian culture. This foreign interest comes with dollars attached. Cambodia is not a rich country. The result? Genocide Tourism.

After seeing the above advertisement in a locaI free tourist guide, I gave this number a ring yesterday, and asked about their meals, drinks and unforgettable songs. I was hurriedly told that "we don't do any more." L' Histoire. For whom?

Blog Meeting, Sunday, August 7 3pm-ish: A call from Psar Thmei: Cameras4Cambodia has arrived, for her first visit to Phnom Penh. She takes a moto down to the riverside and we talk about things blog and photo related. It's great to chat to another person who's so interested in local art. She will go to Thailand via Koh Kong the next day, for a break and to catch up with her fiancee. I take some time to catch up on my email. Email, the stream never stops coming. 6:00 pm: I go over to Hurley's Cantina and find KampucheaCrossings, ThePhnomPenh, and a new person: 'Danny's Blog System'. Also making an appearance is Bhasakhmer, who is happy to let us know KhmerOS will soon make Khmer Unicode blogging software available. KampucheaCrossings, Bhasakhmer, Tharum What is this 'Unicode' thing we keep talking about, like it's the holy grail? I spend a little time discussing the idea of Unicode (with Bhasakhmer's help) with KampucheaCrossings. She is mainly doing her blog for fun, and finds all this technical talk a bit amusing. Danny is still sorting out the blog landscape of Cambodia, and bemused by the whole experience. He and ThePhnomPenh are pretty advanced at technical issues, and enjoy swapping tips. Tharum ,ThePhnomPenh, Cameras4Cambodia. Tharum comes by, and soon after Cameras4Cambodia. Now we have seven bloggers at the table. That's three more than last time. Missing in action: Lux Mean and Kalabird. Oh well, maybe next time. Tharum also knows Bhasakhmer as they're both quite involved in the world of Cambodian 'IT' - information technology. Cameras4Cambodia and KampucheaCrossings are happy to finally meet in person. They spend a bit of time catching up and discussing how they blog. Tharum is quite happy to see the progress since the last meeting: the Global Voices listing is growing. There's been articles in the Cambodia Daily, Phnom Penh Post and Wired. Meanwhile, Khmer language blogs have been started, both by Cambodians and foreigners. And we are learning about all kinds of new things, such as video blogs and blogger meetings. I take out my laptop to help explain who does which blog. I don't have a wireless connection, just use my browser's cache. Being able to see the sites helps quite a bit. (Maybe next time we should bring a printed page.) ThePhnomPenh activates his Macintosh and wireless connection and shows off his alpha geek skills - in about 3 minutes he uses www.blogger.com to set up a test Khmer language blog. I askCameras4Cambodia to lend me her camera and snap off a few shots. Tharum and I discuss future plans. He would like to make it easier for ordinary people to do blogs. After talking with Bhasakhmer and ThePhnomPenh some more, we start to assemble a rough list. Here's my notes, anyway. ------------------------------------------------ 1. Our own portal site. Tharum suggests the 'front end' be Khmer language. But what should the name be? Khmer domains are about $50 with registration fees. International domains are much cheaper, but more names are taken. Tharum also recommended we each think of a 'domain name' and vote on it. For example: www.khmerblog.net www.cambodiablog.net www.blogkhmer.org www.blog.net.kh Anyway, something short. ThePhnomPenh suggests one segment could be a rss-feed sourced page, mixing different posts from different Cambodia related blogs. I recommend we have a sidebar of blog tools, including Khmer templates for major blog portals: Blogger, Typepad, WordPress, Movable Type, Blogware, Radio Userland, etc. We could web them up as text files. Paste them into your 'template' and you are ready to blog. 2. Everybody wants to get a Khmer Unicode keyboard. Hong says there is a shipment of keyboards on the way from China. Those will go fast. KhmerOS also (apparently) has stickers and key covers. (Before everyone goes rushing over to the KhmerOS office, maybe it is better to email and ask, I don't know if they are for sale!) 3. KhmerOS CD: because it takes forever to download programs in Cambodia. Even though these programs are still in early stages, it would be nice to have some CDs available with fonts, font breaker programs, installation instructions, everything. These should be available in places like CD World and the Russian Market. Then people could install programs directly. I would like to see a CD of KhmerOS programs, I'd make many more copies for my friends! I suggest that they should design a nice cover to make it look like a commercial CD. If it looks like a commercial product, the local CD shops would copy it immediately. Bhasakhmer laughs at that idea. (If I was an expat Khmer shopping in the Russian Market, I would grab a KhmerOS CD right away. We know Khmer font CDs are already fairly popular.) 4. T-shirts! Most of us would love to see a Mekhala t-shirt. And maybe t-shirts and stickers for the proposed portal site. ------------------------------------------------ KampucheaCrossings leaves around 8, and soon after Bhasakhmer has to head out. I apologize to Cameras4Cambodia for all the techie talk. "This time is style, next time will be content." Around 9:00 people start to fade. The last to go are me and ThePhnomPenh, at 10:00. More developments soon! Tags: cambodia weblog

Les Artistes Du Theatre Brule

Transit Dear friends, This coming Wednesday, August 17 at 6pm, Michele and Sopheap will have an art exhibition in Java Cafe and Gallery. You will find enclosed an invitation which will allow you to have a small look on their works. There will be installation, sculpture, drawing and painting. Looking forward to see you there, Best to you, Chers amis, Ce mercredi 10 aout a 18h, Michele et Sopheap vont avoir une exposition d'art a Java cafe et gallery. Ci-joint une invitation avec des images de leurs oeuvres. Il y aura des installations, des sculptures, des dessins et peintures. Au plaisir de vous voir a l exposition, Bien a vous, -- Linda Saphan http://saklapel.org/gallery/Linda%20Saphan/ [from 'What's On']

Down at the Cantina Well, we had our blogger meetup this last Sunday at Hurley's Cantina. Lots of good discussion, and three new faces. Once I have a picture from Cameras4Cambodia I'll do a proper writeup. For now, I'll share a tip from Manur.org who (like some tech-savvy foreigners) is doing his own Khmer language blog for practice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Jinja a écrit : > This is a good technical tip, I think I should post this bit of code. No objection. For putting a bit of Khmer in a western blog, are you familiar with CSS ? I'd suggest adding a class to the stylesheet, like : .khmer { font-family: "Khmer OS Freehand", "Khmer OS", "Khmer OS System"; font-size: 1.5em; line-height:1.5em; } And then, surrounding the khmer sentences with < class = "khmer"> khmer stuff here < /span > Please note that the "font-family" takes the first font available on the client's computer in the list (from left to right). People will want to modify this list for their own design. Voila!

Strange Visitors are something Phare is used to, they are open to collaboration and have done some quite unique works. In addition to the comics project, paintings, and regular art classes, a new circus show is opening tonight. (Do they ever sleep?) Lisa and I take care of a few errands and have a small goodbye dinner with some of her friends in town. She's leaving tomorrow morning. But we make sure to finish dinner fast to see the 8pm premiere of the new show! It's great and I'm impressed by the preparation and presentation. Am especially impressed by the art and backdrops, it's truly professional and I regret not bringing my camera. (All prior pics are borrowed from Lisa's camera.) Ah well, next time. Early to bed and in the morning, it's back to Phnom Penh! Tags: Comics Theatre Cambodia

Paintings @ Phare While Lisa is typing up her 'Masterclass' proposal for next year, Srey Bandol invites me to take a look at his latest paintings. I have no idea what's in store until I see the pile of paintings. He's done over fifty HUGE boards utilizing dirt and sand, truly multimedia. They are the story of his life as a child in the refugee camps. The text is written in sand, it's very... tactile. It's taken him over a year to do this, in the evenings when he hasn't been teaching at Phare. There is an exhibition slated for later this year (October), more news when I hear of it! And the boards will probably be accompanied by a publication. As I goggle over the art and the effort involved, Bandol and his friends discuss the idea of taking the boards on the road when he goes to France. (The big problem: transportation and wear. What if the sand rubs off?) Absolutely stunning. Lots of geometric imagery from 'youn', local good luck charms. And he's mulling over doing a comic later of his experiences as well. This is all you get to see for now, the full size art will blow you away! OK, this is a book I really want to read. Time to knuckle down and continue studying my written Khmer. Tags: Comics Cambodia

PHARE Comics Workshop 2005 Lisa Mandel comes to meet me at Sunrise Cafe, just a few blocks from the bus station. Her recent travel was fun, she wants to see more of Cambodia. We have a coffee and long chat. Lisa is ready to take comics to the next level here, and I'm only too game to help. We brainstorm some draft plans for teaching next year, and some follow-up publishing as well. Then we head out to see how the students are doing. It's always fun to visit PHARE art school. Check out this funky house the teachers live in. Tor Vutha is away in France this time, but Srey Bandol is helping out as always. Lisa is here for her fourth year to teach comics to the students. She and Sylvain-Moizie originally came out in 2001 to teach, and that first session resulted in the book 'Sept Mois Au Cambodge'. After catching the 'Cambodia bug' they have returned regularly to help at Phare art school and have facilitated some impressive student work. Sylvain can't make it this year but is publishing a new book of Cambodia comic memoirs in France. Collectively the teachers have facilitated some impressive comics, and this time the theme is 'ghost stories'. For the first time in several years, they've actually been given some money to print! Lisa and Srey Bandol have prepared French and Khmer language versions of the comic, which will be assembled with the help of Libellus Association. But their scanner isn't working. I set up my laptop and scanner and get moving. The students are putting the last touches on their work. The scanner is a bit wobbly at first. Lisa needs some samples to take back to France, and we should have backups of the art. Finally I realize the voltage is incorrect, so I connect using a power regulator and the scanner starts to work. The students watch me for a while but once they realize how tedious scanning really is most drift away. I want to scan not only the student work from this year but also earlier comics. There is some amazing art at the school that needs archiving. Some luscious full color pages here. It's great to see the students flex their art muscles, they incorporate elements from their own lives that really make these works engaging and fun. After a scanning stint, Lisa uses my laptop and writes a draft proposal for next year. My French is not perfect but I'll use the writeup as homework for my next tutoring session. I will take the finished comic art (text will be added later) down to Graphic Roots in Phnom Penh, and share art and ideas with our small world of publishers and funders. The scanner I'll leave at Phare for a future visit and more scanning, it's three years old and I don't think it'll survive another bus trip. Tags: Comics Cambodia

What's cooking at Phare Art School? A heap of hefty drawing effort going on at Phare Ponleu Selpak Art School in Battambang. Just what are they up to? That's why I'm taking the 7:00 am bus (and my laptop, and my scanner). Battambang may be the second largest city in Cambodia, but it used to be the third largest. In the 1970s and 1980s the high population in the Thai border refugee camps ranked it number three. Like most provincial capitals, Battambang is an island of urbanization amidst a sea of agriculture. We'll see what fish can be caught. Many of the students at this school complete their drawing/music/circus classes and go directly back to farming. Looks like some good comics are being produced; - our Lisa Mandel seems to have been busy. More details to follow. Tags: Comics Cambodia

Cambodia: Land of Open Source A welcome surprise in August 02's Cambodia Daily: 'Project Promises Free Khmer Software by 2006' an article on the Khmer Open Source Project by Matt Reed, detailing how Cambodia rewriting open source programs to operate in non-romanized language. They've already rewritten Open Office programs comparable to Word, Powerpoint, and a web browser (Firefox) and email program (Thunderbird). Thanks to these efforts, learning English is not a prerequisite to learning how to use a computer. It's quite an ambitious project; check the links below and you'll see that it involves an enormous amount of coding work. It looks like Cambodia is one of the leaders in translating this technology. But will people choose these new programs over their pirated Microsoft programs? In the States a copy of Frontpage costs over $100. Here at any CD shop it's $2 or less, bootlegged. But it's not in Khmer. Part of KhmerOS's priority is developing culturally appropriate images and terminology so that these programs will be easily adopted. Then people won't face the eventual challenge of paying exorbitant rates to license software, in a country where the average income is around $2 a day. They've got beta versions for download, as well as keyboard stickers and a shipment of Unicode keyboards on the way. And besides all this techie stuff, just look at the icons! Here's the browser, 'Mekhala', and 'Moyouriea' I'd buy a t-shirt if they make 'em! ------------------------------------------------ Khmer Operating System: www.khmeros.info Open Office: www.openoffice.org Khmer Operating System Conference report http://tinyurl.com/cezd9 Khmer Localization Case Study: http://www.knowprose.com/node/2385 Linux World News Article: http://www.linux-magazine.com/issue/58/ NiDA: National Information Communications Technology Development Authority Javier Sola Profile http://www.tacticaltech.org/node/219 *KhmerOS Contribution Page*: do your part! http://www.khmeros.info/Khmeros_donations.html Tags: Open Source Cambodia

350 (Click for larger image) Hello, Douglas Pierre Baulos, Matthew Posey and myself will have an exhibition opening this Friday August 5th in Siem Reap at the Linga at 6:30pm(near to the Red Piano bar). Here enclosed the invitation, hope to see many of you there. Best regards, -- Linda Saphan [more arts happenings at What's On blog]

Art Auction: Success and $ for Visual Arts Open! Click below for artist info. http://saklapel.org/vao/funds/ PP Post writeup on the event. http://www.phnompenhpost.com/full/papers/is1415/is1415/art.htm (Photos to follow!)