Transmissions, currently on show at the Bophana Centre, is a multi-disciplinary exhibition aimed at documenting the memories of Khmer Rouge survivors.
In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh, Transmissions is a part of the Bophana Centre’s nine-month programme Acts of Memory.
On the walls are portraits of relatives with an image of their corresponding elder who survived the Khmer Rouge superimposed on top of them.
Each photo has a written testimony of the most significant memories the survivor had from the Khmer Rouge time. Other walls showcase photos, including many from journalist Elizabeth Becker, from the Khmer Rouge era.
A large television screen shows filmed conversations in which survivors are interviewed by students or young relatives.
“We are the younger generation and we don’t know what happened,” says Chea Sophea, Deputy Director of Bophana Centre.
Sopheap reflects on his own experiences of talking to his parents about the Khmer Rouge era to highlight the importance of the exhibition.
“They would tell you [about the Khmer Rouge] occasionally, but then the questions came and we asked, and when our questions touched them they wouldn’t answer you, because it caused tears,” Sopheap says.
However, once his parents had a few days to think about the question, they were able to answer the question and feel some release.
“It’s good to talk, to share, and then we can learn and avoid something in the future – we can move forward when we know,” Sopheap says.
A large artwork by Leang Seckon takes up half of the exhibition space. Flowering Parachute Skirt is a sculpture largely made of US-dropped bombing parachutes from air raids in Cambodia between 1965 and 1973. The figure wears a skirt made from the parachute material, which is dotted with colourful handmade flowers.
On a large table lies a scene from Rithy Panh’s film, The Missing Picture. Made from clay, the scene depicts daily life under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Miniature clay figures sit under shelters eating, surrounded by trees and piles of corpses.
Sopheap says he likes Panh’s artistic expression, as it is difficult to ask humans to act out a situation that is so difficult to understand.
When speaking to a survivor, Sopheap says he was told he did not understand the true meaning of hunger.
“She pointed to me and said, ‘You don’t understand the meaning of hunger [under the Khmer Rouge]. You don’t understand. Now you are hungry and you can get something to eat; at that time you were just hungry.’”
Sopheap hopes the Transmissions project will not end with the close of the exhibition on March 30.
“I want the transmitting to go on, not only this year but for other years,” he said.
“One person is one memory, 100 people is 100 memories, 1000, 2000 people – then we have many, many different stories.”
Transmissions shows as part of the Acts of Memory programme until Saturday March 30 at Bophana Centre, #64 St. 200.