Cambodia: now and then
Cambodian artist Svay Sareth, who picked up the Overall Best Emerging Artist prize at the 2016 Prudential Eye Award for Contemporary Art in Singapore, is holding his first solo exhibition, “The Breath of Change”, at Richard Koh Fine Art in Singapore from tomorrow (July 5) to July 20. He will also talk with Andrea Fam, assistant curator of Singapore Art Museum, on Saturday (July 6) at 3 pm.
In “The Breath of Change”, Svay interweaves memories and personal history with encounters of present-day Cambodia and its entanglement with foreign interest. The exhibition is anchored on the artist’s personal narratives and connotations of the water lily and sunflower plants, which both serve as entry points for reflection of Cambodia’s precarious position as a country undergoing healing and experiencing vulnerability to foreign altruism.
Svay Sareth’s “Yell & Silent”
“Yell and Silent” (2018) is an installation comprising approximately 180 soft-sculpture water lilies surrounding a central andromorphic form enwrapped in camouflage-print cotton. The work, which will dominate the majority of the exhibition space, is autobiographical in nature as it recalls a formative childhood memory of the artist. At its core, the work deals with the fundamental quandary of freedom and its cost. Freedom, and its myriad of historical interpretations, have all come at great cost and for Svay, it was an exchange of his mother’s love. In this work, the water lily is a symbol of this exchange. The work invites viewers to re-consider their understanding of freedom and its value to personal growth and betterment.
Svay Sareth’s “Beyond Sunflower”
“Beyond Sunflower” (2018) is a single-channel video of Svay performance piece at Angkor City. In the performance video, viewers are confronted with the protagonist donned in a sunflower mask, playing the Tro (traditional Khmer stringed instrument) in a seemingly forcible fashion and producing an unmelodic high-pitch screeching sound. The Sunflower and its treatment is suggested as a metaphorical representation of an unwelcomed foreign entanglement in Cambodia.
Singapore audiences might recall Svay’s performance video entitled “Mon Boulet” (2011) in the 2015 group exhibition, “After Utopia”, at the Singaporean Art Museum. It captured the attention of visitors due to its display of sheer tenacity and endurance by the artist. “Beyond Sunflower” is however not durational, but its urgency as a social-political piece highlights Cambodia’s voice of resistance against modern colonialism – expressions of power which are materialized by trade flows.
Svay lives and works in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He works in sculpture, installation and durational performance using materials and processes associated with war – metals, uniforms, camouflage and actions requiring great endurance. While his critical and cathartic practice is rooted in an autobiography of war and resistance, he refuses both historical and voyeurism on violence. Rather, his works traverse both present and historical moments, drawing on processes of survival and adventure, and ideas of power and futility.
Svay, whose work was part of the 2013 Singapore Biennale, participated in the 2018 Biennale of Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. His works are collected by various museums including the National Gallery of Victoria, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, and Singapore Art Museum.
Find out more about the artist and his exhibition by visiting www.RKFineArt.com.
