Category: Night & Day

TUE 20 | Cambodia and the United Nations finally agreed to a framework to try those most responsible for Khmer Rouge crimes after more than a decade of political negotiations. The first case was as obvious as it was easy: Kaing Guek Eav, aka Duch, the notorious torturer behind the Tuol Sleng security centre. French author Thierry Cruvellier spent every day of Duch’s trial at the Extraordinary Chambers watching the case unfold. His resulting book, The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer, is among the best tombs ever written on the subject. Wayne McCallum, writing in the Advisor, gave this description of Cruvellier’s account: “Eloquently written, artful and insightful – sometimes even amusing – Cruvellier’s volume does a persuasive job of bringing the many threads of Duch’s past, his trial and the tales of countless others (victims, survivors, colleagues, expert witnesses, legal counsels) together, keeping the reader mesmerised. The result is a book that reads like a novel, but never compromises the memories of the people captured between its pages.”

WHO: Thierry Cruvellier, author of The Master of Confessions
WHAT: Book signing and author discussion
WHERE: Meta House, #37 Sothearos
WHEN: January 20, 8pm
WHY: Everything you ever wanted to know about a Khmer Rouge executioner

WED 21 | Jimmy Kiss, a product of the highly regarded Songkites programme, is among the most popular young artists in a burgeoning class of singers, songwriters and musicians now coming up. He joins efforts with an equally talented female vocalist, Miss Saravan, for a rare public collaboration. Their styles should complement each other well. He is a modern pop crooner, she a retro Khmer rock songstress.

WHO: Jimmy Kiss & Miss Saravan
WHAT: Singer-songwriter rock duo
WHERE: Doors
WHEN: January 21, 8:30pm
WHY: This could be the start of something good

The battle for the White Building began in September when the governor of Phnom Penh declared the structure unsafe and called for its demolition. Lu Ban Hap, a protégé of Vann Molyvann, designed the building in 1963 and christened it the Bassac Municipal Apartments. The building stands as a high mark in Cambodian architecture, and along with other buildings and monuments of the era, has come to represent the remarkable transformation the country underwent during the 1950s and 1960s under King Norodom Sihanouk. Yet like so much of the city’s Golden Era architecture, the White Building now faces the threat of development. As pressure grows between building residents, city leaders and commercial developers, the future of Lu Ban Hap’s apartments has never been more uncertain. Pen Sereypagna, an architect and urbanist, has spent considerable time in recent years uncovering the stories hidden behind the dilapidated building’s walls. His research will serve as the starting point for a series of conversations this weekend, with group discussions hosted by an international panel of architects, artists and academics. What they hope to achieve remains uncertain, but there is no underestimating the height of the stakes for those involved.

WHO: Artists, researchers, citizens
WHAT: Time, Space, Voice: Phnom Penh’s White Building
WHERE: Bophana Centre, #64 Street 200
WHEN: January 9, 12:30-5:30pm, January 10, 9:30am-1pm
WHY: Intelligence is sexy; activism is sexier

Open mic is the Western equivalent of Asian karaoke: singing in public, badly and often times drunkenly. And Slur Bar provides one of the best set-ups in town. The high-end sound system tends to draw quality musicians, too. So you’re likely to be singing and jamming with some of the city’s best. Join in. You could do a lot worse for a Monday.

WHO: Bathroom singers and rock star dreamers
WHAT: Open mic
WHERE: Slur Bar, #28 Street 172
WHEN: January 12
WHY: The acoustics are way better than your shower

SAT13 | Three of the city’s most hardcore rock outfits go toe-to-toe in tonight’s sonic onslaught. Full metal jackets advised.

WHO: Nightmare AD, Sangvar Day and Adobo Conspiracy
WHAT: Rock Trilogy
WHERE: Slur, #29 Street 172
WHEN: 9pm December 13
WHY: “RRROCK OUT!” – Lemmy

TUE16 | A soft glow illuminates delicate lace draped over the shoulders of the raven-haired woman, long, dark lashes directed towards the book gently cradled in her lap. This painting, by Nhem Sopheap, is among the more arresting portraits of modern Khmer womanhood being produced by Cambodian artists today. Some of the most inspired souls from the Royal University of Fine Arts have joined forces to create this new exhibition, including painters Im Pesey and Thun Dina, and designer Nhem Sopheap – all of them winners in Guest Professor Takakazu Yamada’s annual Cambodian Fine Art Contest.

WHO: Im Pesey, Thun Dina and Nhem Sopheap
WHAT: Cambodian fine art exhibition opening
WHERE: Meta House, #37 Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 6pm December 16
WHY: Witness the work of inspired souls

FRI 5-7 | Immortalised by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 50 moments that forever changed the history of rock music, the Woodstock Festival of 1969 was about far more than just sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. During ‘three days of peace and music’, 32 acts – including Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin – took the stage in one of the most pivotal moments in music history. This weekend, for the fifth annual Penhstock, almost as many bands (from Thailand, Vietnam and here) are assembling at Sharky’s in honour of Woodstock’s 45th anniversary. Brace for a barrage of classic, indie, alt, punk, acoustic, blues, Khmer rock ‘n’ roll, bluegrass, heavy metal and infused rock ‘n’ roll. Also brace for the Kingdom Brewery’s double-decker bus, the roof of which is doubling as an outdoor stage. Friday features Sharky Blitzkrieg Ramones, The Fumes, The Lazy Booze Drunks, Bob Passion & The Schkoots, Sexploited, Sonic Detergent, Sangvar Day, and Nightmare AD. Saturday is Dirty Jackz, Ricky Rotten & The Scumbags, Joe Wrigley & The Jumping Jacks, Electric Yard Dogs, Adobo Conspiracy, The Mekong Messengers, and Itchy Band. Sunday brings the 9999 Arts Group, The Ten Tips, Sinville Roadshow, RNA & friends, Bacano, Miss Sarawan, The Underdogs, and Brooklyn.

WHO: Up to 30 of the city’s best rock bands
WHAT: Penhstock V
WHERE: Sharky’s, #126 Street 130
WHEN: 8pm – midnight December 5, 6 & 7
WHY: Witness local rock music history in the making