Emerging from a bed of charcoal, figures made of sarong and mosquito netting twist and turn, looking inward and outward. Together they are a community, but at the same time isolated. Srey Bandaul’s latest art installation, Under The Sarong, plays on an ancient Khmer custom and a familiar fashion item. “A man is not allowed to stay beneath the sarong or to walk under the clothesline, especially the one hanging sarong, because it causes dissonance with the demon and it leads to misfortune or being despised,” says the artist. “A man fearing his wife is always said to be paralysed by the edge of the sarong.” The metaphor extends beyond gender to embody all power relations, with the artist’s use of charcoal echoing those layers. “A chunk of charcoal in Cambodian society can be considered a negative symbol,” says Srey Bandaul. “It easily causes a stain and is feared by even ghosts and demons. When people think that a ghost, demon or evil spirit invades the village, they take charcoal to draw marks on the foreheads of children in order to frighten that ghost or demon. A Khmer metaphor says that to colour or paint one’s face with charcoal means to deceive or fake the truth. When the sarong goes together with charcoal, how could they not get stained? And what will become of this?” Alongside the exhibition is a screening of the artist’s video installation, Site 2, the name of the refugee camp on the Thai border in which the artist spent his formative years. He traces patterns acrossthis place,so loaded with memories, again using the fabric of the sarong and mosquito netting.
WHO: Srey Bandaul
WHAT: Under The Sarong art exhibition opening and Site 2 video installation screening
WHERE: Romeet Gallery, #34 Street 178
WHEN: 6:30pm Nov 21 to Dec 18
WHY: Discover what lies beneath