The Sovannasam Cheadok
Jul 10th, 2003 by Jinja
The Sovannasam Cheadok
An exhibition of new paintings by the students of the Reyum Art School
Opening at Reyum on July 9, 2003 5-8:00 pm
#47 Street 178, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Reyum is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibition and the
publication of a catalogue entitled “The Sovannasam Cheadok”. Over the
last six months, the students of the Reyum Art School have been studying
the Sovannasam Cheadok (or Jataka) which tells the story of one of the
lives of the Buddha prior to the life in which he finds enlightenment. The
story of the Sovannasam Cheadok is often represented by a scene or two on
the walls of temples throughout Cambodia, but it is never, to our
knowledge, shown in all its narrative detail. For this exhibition, the
older students of the Reyum Art School have painted twenty-four large
acrylic on canvas paintings which illustrate the story of Sovannasam in
detail. In addition, younger students of the School will offer various
renditions of scenes from the story created from their imaginations.
The exhibition is accompanied by a full color catalogue which presents a
synopsis of the story of Sovannasam. The catalogue includes an article by
San Phalla and Preap Chanmara setting the Sovannasam Cheadok into the
larger context of temple painting in Cambodia. Examples of representations
of the story from various temples in Cambodia are discussed and ways of
representing the characters are illuminated. A final short essay describes
the state of temple painting commissions today.
Conceived and funded by the Kasumisou Foundation, the Reyum Art School
remains a collaborative project between the Kasumisou Foundation and Reyum
Institute of Arts and Culture. Founded three years ago, the Reyum Art
School offers free half-day classes in drawing and painting for
disadvantaged children who are willing to come on a regular basis and
participate in lessons with some degree of concentration and
commitment. The goals of the school are to train children in
representational drawing, while developing their creative and imaginative
thinking, and giving them a basic understanding of their rich cultural
heritage. The current exhibition is made possible through the generous
support of the Kasumisou Foundation; the Toyota Foundation supports San
Phalla and his ongoing Reyum research project on temple painting.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Please note that Reyum now
has a home page at http://www.reyum.org where we post information about our
ongoing exhibitions, publications and research projects. The Sovannasam
catalogue will be available through our distributors in Thailand, the
United States and Europe as listed on our web page.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EXHIBITION AND PUBLICATION, PLEASE CONTACT
REYUM AT reyum@camnet.com.kh 023-217149 / 012-876471
