‘Quest for Land’ exhibition…
One year ago ‘Quest for Land’, an App for the iPad, bundling 10 years of photographs about land issues in Cambodia was released. There will be an exhibition at Meta House, on Sothearos Boulevard (yes: in Phnom Penh) to celebrate.
It is the first time these photographs will be featured in an exhibition in Cambodia.
The exhibition will be open at 6:00 PM on May 29th and last for the following 2 weeks.
The exhibition is only the tip of the iceberg though… For the full experience go to iTunes: the ‘Quest for Land’ App developed by Robert Starkweather is available at THIS LINK. It contains over 700 photographs, spread over 20 chapters, and is enriched with a text by Robert Carmichael doing some in-depth analysis about the land grabbing situation in the country, and there are slideshows with soundtrack.
New Factory Collapse…
No, not in Bangladesh this time… Part of a storage area in the newly built Wing Star factory collapsed a few hours ago in Kompong Speu, some 50 Km from Phnom Penh, likely because of an overload. 3 people were declared dead. The factory employs 8,000 workers who make sports shoes for the Japanese brand ‘Asics’.
Rescue teams arrived fairly quickly on the location, using modern equipment to disengage the victims. About 20 ambulances stood idle on the site.
(Source: johnvink.com)
Thank You Majesty…
It was your 61st birhtday and I, just like many other Cambodians, enjoyed a nice holiday in Kep.
We wish you a happy birthday…
About Voter’s Lists…
Quickly before my plane for Myanmar leaves tonight… The CNRP (Cambodian National Rescue Party), a fusion between the ‘Sam Rainsy Party’ and the ‘Human Rights Party’, staged a fairly successfull demonstration on ‘Democracy Square’, gathering some 2000 militants to request a ‘reset’ of the voters’s list ahead of the coming general elections in July. The CNRP thinks the lists are rigged…
(Source: johnvink.com)
‘30 Years for a Trial’ Reminder..
‘30 Years for a Trial’ is both a report on the trial of Duch, the infamous director of S21, a Khmer Rouge interrogation centre where 15,000 people were tortured and killed, and a reflection on the difficulty of photographing the Cambodian genocide. With texts by Robert Carmichael, over 170 photographs by John Vink and a multimedia presentation, it gives some graphical insight and background information on what may well be the only Khmer Rouge to be sentenced by the ECCC.
‘30 Years for a Trial’, an e-book for the iPad is available for 5.99$ on iTunes at THIS LINK.
(Source: johnvink.com)
Back to the Roots…
The Khmer New year holidays are over, Tep Vanny, the Community Representative who was awarded the Global Leadership Award by the Vital Voices Foundation in Washington is back in Phnom Penh… So it is back to square one on the Boeung Kak Lake issue. The community felt misquoted by the (departing) Governor of Phnom Penh and wanted to stress to Prime Minister Hun Sen the fact that they do not belong to a particular political party. A strong police force (also back from holidays) more or less managed to stop them at 150 meters from the Prime Minister’s Phnom Penh residence…
The full Boeung Kak Lake story can be found in ‘Quest for Land’, the app for the iPad available on iTunes here.
(Source: johnvink.com)
‘Royal Silence’ Reminder…
‘Royal Silence’ is an e-book for the iPad with 185 photographs by John Vink about King Norodom Sihanouk’s passing away in October last year, marking the end of an era for the Cambodians. It contains photographs of the King upon his return from exile in 1991, as well as from the massive crowds grieving the monarch when his body was returned from Beijing and from the cremation ceremonies 100 days later. The e-book also contains a text by Phnom Penh based journalist Abby Seiff and a poem by Pierre Gillette, former Chief Editor of the ‘Cambodge Soir’ daily.
‘Royal Silence’ is available for 3.99$ on iTunes at the following link…
The 4,7Km2 War…
Cambodia and Thailand were (yet again) at war back in 2008 for a territorial dispute… Soldiers on both sides died for a piece of land of 4,7Km2. But it is not just about the land. The stunning Preah Vihear temple, dating from the 10th and 11th century and with a distinct Angkorian architecture, is perched on a 500m high cliff there. It is one of the absolute symbols of Cambodia. See more photographs here…
This week the International Court of Justice in The Hague holds a hearing for both the Cambodian and Thai to determine, hopefully once and for all, on which side of the border the temple is located.
Happy Khmer New Year…
Or as they say here: ‘suos sdey chnam thmey’…
Here are a few photographs of Khmer New Year celebrations over the years…
And here is a set I did last year on Bokor Mountain…
Exodus…
This happens twice a year, at Pchum Benh and for Khmer New Year: Phnom Penh comes to a standstill as it little by little empties itself from its inhabitants who join their families at their birthplace for the celebrations (see also here)… Needless to say that these population movements contribute generously to the already apalling number of traffic related deaths in the ‘Kingdom of Wonder’. As for me, I’ll be giving the credit cards a rubbing in Singapore these coming days…
