Deux Faces: Séra

EXHIBITION / RENDEZVOUS
TWO FACES: By SERA

Centre Culturel Français, Phnom Penh
[translated from March/April Programme]
sera image

• Wednesday, April 4: Meeting with the author at 18:00
• Opening of Exhibition at 19:00 and author’s dedication at 19:30
• Duration of Exhibition: From April 5 to May 4, 2007

As a comic artist, aficionado of comics, painter, artist and teacher of comics, and a person who is involved with information technology,

“Séra has long been working in diverse areas. In fact, this combination of these is the true nature of Séra’s work. One of Séra’s comics which is ascribed to the artistic experience of his, turns visual narration into information technology in order to learn about multicultural experience. In a dozen books, he already explored numerous narrative and figurative subjects. There is a feeling there are more surprises to come. It is rare that a strip cartoonist becomes a reference. Such is already the case of Sera.
– Phillipe Morin PLG

Born in Cambodia in 1960, Séra has never ceased producing art with reference to the history of his country. Two years after the publication of Water and Earth by Editions Delcourt, Séra is working on his third graphic novel relating to the Khmer Rouge regime to presented by the same publisher: Following Days of Ashes dates back to the events in 1979 during which the Vietnamese troops moved in and invaded the country, and the end of the Pol Pot era.

As such, not only this dual-purpose exhibition will provide an opportunity to unveil some aspects addressed in the above work, and also other work of Sera in large format.

To present this new work of his in Cambodia, Séra is preparing for three public events in Phnom Penh. An additional event of interest for those who are amateur graphic artists or amateur comic artists is the premiere of the graphic novel Water and Earth (licensed from Editions Delcourt) published in Khmer language by Editions du Mékong.

[More information on Khmer Edition and Artists’ Workshop to follow.]

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COFFEE, PAST AND PRESENT



COFFEE, PAST AND PRESENT:

By TOR VUTHA
Opening March 7 at 18:30
Centre Culturel Français

Like the past, every person in this contemporary world is working so hard to earn their living. It is such a marvelous thing to take a short break with a cup of coffee, I think.

While casting my eyes at the coffee, my mind is filled up with variety of graphical pictures; that’s the real images of the past along with the inscriptions (stories, and Buddha’s motto) and the strong beliefs held in religious myths of the past.

My description will be about the movements in each icon along with the yantra paper spelled with Pali for protections, and golden sheets to bring happiness and prosperity.

In reality, Buddha’s motto serves as food to support and control of our daily life, more especially, the burned color and torn paper portrays a series of ongoing past events. I finally came up with a decision to invite Buddhist monks to bless and cast a spell into all the icons to make each of them full of spirits and might.

Time keeps passing but the taste and color of coffee always sticks to my mind. Thus, I hope you all will be enjoying the view of these images.

Duration of Exhibition: March 8 – 31

(courtesy Centre Culturel Français)
from: What’s On
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Cambodia Maps CD

Cambodia Maps on CD

Enjoying clicking through Version 1.0 of this compilation, collecting archival maps with a tremendous amount of detail.

You can get your copy at Phnom Penh’s Jungle Bar, all profits go to education efforts in Kep and Kampot.

The author is currently updating the CD with GPS coordinates and photo links.
Suggestions? Recommendations? Check the blog. http://cambodiamaps.blogspot.com

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Tattoo You

Tattoo You

Isett-21

From the early 1990s onward Stuart Isett has been documenting Cambodian gang youth, first in the USA, then back in Cambodia, for his series ‘Cambodian Gangs, Then and Now‘.

The first USA set hails from the early 1990s, showing the culture of California gang members, most of whom had been given ‘permanent resident’ status.

USA: http://flickr.com/photos/stuartisett/sets/72157594558926668/

Many Khmer arrivals, (and children of them) never completed navigating the Stateside bureaucracy to successfully claim full citizenship. While their families originally arrived as political refugees, there are now over 200 deportees who have been returned to Cambodia.

Cambodia: http://flickr.com/photos/stuartisett/sets/72157594564273845/

What is particularly interesting is their synthesis of USA street culture, while asserting Khmer identity. The omnipresent tattoos are a striking constrast to the traditional ones documented in Olivier de Bernon’s Yantra et Mantra (1998).

Photo above ©2007 Stuart Isett

Postscript March 16: Stuart will soon be presenting some work for Rajana Society.

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Recycling

Recycling

recycling 02 small

The environmental workers I met when living in Siem Reap weren’t your run of the mill vegetarian / natural fiber wearing / politically correct breed you find in Western countries.

Nope they smoked, drank, swore like sailors and drove some of the biggest and noisiest motorbikes I’d ever seen.

Many are gone now but fond memories remain, of inner tubing down rivers and trips all over the countryside and lake. Once at the Angkor What Pub* we had a long chat about recycling, East vs. West. One ecogeek contended that recycling was a hobby/fashion for the well off, and an economic necessity for working class folks rather than any effort to help out the community. Regardless of what country you are in. That thought’s stuck with me.

The Viridian Design movement recently declared victory. We’re going to see a lot more recycling around the world, often mandated by law as governments get their collective asses in gear about global warming.

Might as well be considered the hip new thing, and get these early trendsetters some props. (Above and below: recycling aluminum cans in Phnom Penh.)

recycling 01 small

*Back before shaking it on the bar top became a nightly event at the (new, tourist oriented) Angkor What, they’d get the party started whenever they felt like it. Tuesday night, if need be.

Postscript March 04: Washington Post jumps on the bandwagon. Tags:,

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