April 17 is a significant day for Cambodians worldwide. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized control ushering in a dark era of genocide and displacement. By the early 1980s, following the regime's fall, many families fled their homeland, finding refuge in countries like ours. For the diaspora, this day serves as a reminder of an event that profoundly impacted their lives and a choice they didn’t make.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh, We’re pleased to present a two-day program reflecting on Cambodia’s past & its post-genocide journey, while exploring the present-day realities of the diaspora.
This isn’t just an event to look back on the past; it’s a chance for artists, survivors, and all generations to share their stories, explore Cambodian identity, and build connections across cultures.
18:00 - Opening Art Exhibition (Doors Open) featuring artists Dayanny So, Charles Fox & Komarine Romdenh-Romluc.
18.30 - Cambodian Buffet Served
19.30 - Artists Talk
20:00 Tierri Foster (traditional khmer song)
20.05 - A mix of traditional and modern Khmer dance from Peter Veth co-founder of the grassroots collective 'Urban Khmer Ballet'
20:30 Film downstairs "Don't Think I've Forgotten".
Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock & Roll
Through the eyes, words, and songs of its popular music stars of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, 'Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock & Roll' examines and unravels Cambodia's tragic past, culminating in the genocidal Khmer Rouge's dismantling of the society and murder of two million of its citizens. Combining interviews of the surviving Cambodian musicians themselves (a total of 150 hours of interviews were filmed) with never-before-seen archival material and rare songs, this documentary tracks the twists and turns of Cambodian music as it morphs into rock and roll, blossoms, and is nearly destroyed along with the rest of the country.
Charles splits his time between the UK and Cambodia and has been working in South East Asia since 2005. He has a degree in Photojournalism from the London College of Communications.
Charles' long term projects are interested in the legacy of conflict, looking at different aspects of legacy and how the current day is affected by the rulings and actions of the past. \
Charles is also the creator of FOUNDCambodia a web based Not-for-profit archive of Cambodian family portraits. The project looks before and after the Khmer Rouge. The projects aim to create a visual history of Cambodian Society through photography, documenting what was lost and how society rebuilt itself.
His work has been widely published including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Geographic, WIRED, TIME Lightbox and GEO (Germany). Charles has been featured in several interviews on the BBC World Service and the Wall Street Journal’s – Asia Today programme.
Charles has also worked extensively with a wide range of NGO'S including UNICEF, World Food Program, ActionAid, Care International and DCA.
Dayanny So’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in a Cambodian upbringing and the unexpected journey that brought the artist to the UK as a young adult. It draws inspiration from a rich tapestry of experiences, memories, and cultural influences, including the complexities of displacement that are often overlooked in understanding the postgenocide experience.
Exploring the dynamic and entwined popular cultures of East and West through fine art practice, central themes often carry the significance of his birthplace. Music, classical Khmer sculptures, artisan handcrafts, national identity and textiles address the social and political issues of Cambodia’s turbulent past. The personal struggles as an immigrant, form layers of familiar imagery and narratives within conceptual installations.
The traditional and tactile craftmanship evident in the work holds profound meaning for him. As a child, he spent countless hours making toys and objects for himself. This experience shapes an artistic process that involves diverse media and making activities. Despite the variation, recurrent thematic concerns, the associations of chosen textiles and a consistent practice-based research methodology provide a sense of formal coherence. Dayanny’s investigative creative journey is characterised by the continuous flow of ideas and interests. Each body of work emerges from feeding the previous one, the subject matter dictating its materials and form of expression. From this developmental progression, an evolving body of work reflects the way experiential artworks arise out at the intersections of cultures and identities.
Komarine Romdenh-Romluc is an academic and DJ. Her fundamental interest is in who we are. She works within the phenomenological tradition in philosophy, and uses its resources to understand our bodily existence, and the ways we are shaped by the surrounding world. She is particularly interested in questions of diaspora identity and what it is to belong. As a DJ, Kom has performed at various club nights and festivals across the UK and in France. She has also created radio shows for Melodic Distraction (Liverpool UK), Hanoi Community Radio (Vietnam), Hong Kong Community Radio (Hong Kong), 5;8: radio (Moscow, Russia), Ujima Radio (Bristol UK), and Mondo Radio (Sheffield UK) where she previously held a monthly residency.
Urban Khmer Ballet (UKB) is a grassroots collective of Khmer-American dancers founded by Chummeng Soun & Peter Veth to serve as a creative expression platform for Khmer-American dancers to examine the following; 1) technical & professional training; 2) expressive & contemporary exploration.
As co-founder of Urban Khmer Ballet (UBK), one of Lowell’s most vertical dance troupes, we challenge traditional boundaries through contemporary practice. Our work, celebrated as Reclaiming Imagination, embodies the evolving Cambodian identity and has been featured at music and art festivals and conferences. As a cross-disciplinary creator, I draw from interconnected understandings of humanity, history, nature, and folklore. My holistic approach to developing new work in the performing arts has inspired many creative Khmae Americans to embrace social change.
UKB's mission is to articulate the renegotiation of place for the diaspora in Cambodian dance in order to post the question – What the future might hold for Cambodia’s performing arts and culture in the diaspora?
UKB's vision is to create a space for the next generation of artists to explore their creative processes and creation of new work in response to the 21st-century contemporary vernacular. Instagram: @urban_khmer_ballet