Project initiators and partners
Initiators
UMI 233 trans VIH MI/INSERM U 1175
Université Royale des Beaux Arts Phnom Penh
Partners
http://sites.sas.upenn.edu/tlc/
logo tlcAgence Universitaire de la Francophonie - Bureau Asie Pacifique
HSEPP support the Manusastra Project
Newletter Jan 2017
Dear HSEPP Members and Friends,
Here’s our HSEPP January 2017 Digest. You are all welcome to share your suggestions, publications and information with us and to come to present a research paper to the HSEPP conference. Scholars and researchers who wish to give a lecture presenting need to send us a bio data, presentation title and abstract in English and French, as well as a proposed date. For any questions, please feel free to contact us. Lectures can be given in Khmer, French, or English.
HSEPP’s Conferences
From Robespierre to Pol Pot – Nuon Chea, via Stalin, Hilter& Mao: A Psyco-Analytical Approach to History, by Pr. Jean Artarit
15 February 2017 at RUFA (conference in French language)
Abstract: In this talk, Professor Jean Artarit proposed to recall the experience of terror under Democratic Kampuchea, by approaching it through the depths of the human psyche, dwelling on narcissistic phenomena observed among most revolutionaries. Pol Pot and Nuon Chea who are being in denial of their past involvement in the tragedy of the second half of the 1970s are the obvious cases in point. He will also speak about the collective sub-consciousness and the mythical history of Cambodia.
Biography:Dr. Jean Artarit. Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, a psychoanalyst, a psychiatrist from the French hospitals, former head of Psychiatry at Bichat Hospital in Paris, expert at the tribunals, has written a number of books of psycho-history among which one on Robespierre (CNRS edition), and others on various members of the Convention during the French Revolution and on Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France during the First World War. He has now been working on the Khmers rouge for a number of years.
OTHER CONFERENCES
Séminaire EHESS : Modes d’autorité et conduites esthétiques de l’Asie du Sud à l’Insulinde
(in french)
Séance Autorité politique et arts de la performance
Lundi 20 mars 2017 Autorité politique et arts de la performance
Salle 662, EHESS, 198 Av. de France, 75013 Paris
Lucie Labbé (CASE) : La danse classique khmère : une esthétique incorporée, entre individualité de l’artiste et légitimation de l’autorité politique
More information : http://case.ehess.fr
Séminaire général du CASE : Anciennes et nouvelles élites en Asie du Sud-est
(in french)
Séance du 20 avril 2017, Maison de l’Asie - Grand Salon
Catherine Scheer, National University of Singapore, ARI : Quand la « vie nouvelle » devient problématique : les Bunong protestants confrontés à l’expansion de l’économie de marché sur les hautes terres cambodgiennes
More information : http://case.ehess.fr/index.php?1877
CALL FOR PAPERS
CFP : International Symposium, Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories, 11-13 October 2017, Power Institute, University of Sydney, Australia
Gender in Southeast Asian Art Historiesis convened by Yvonne Low, Roger Nelson, Clare Veal, and Stephen Whiteman. The event is generously supported by the Asian Studies Association of Australia, the Power Institute, the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and the School of Literature Art and Media at the University of Sydney.
Studies focused on gender in Southeast Asian societies have emerged, in recent decades, in approximate concurrence with the development of regionally focused Southeast Asian art histories. The founding premise of this international symposium is that there has hitherto been insufficient discursive intersection between these two fields.
Topics discussed may include:
1. Accounts of individual artists and collectives whose work engages with gender;
2. Investigations of gender in the exhibitionary, critical, and historiographical receptions of works of art, from any period
3. Considerations of the relationships between artists and/or works of art and larger Southeast Asian cultural constructs of gender, as enacted in political, economic, religious and other domains.
More information: http://www.powerpublications.com.au/cfp-gender-southeast-asian-art/
Deadline : 28 February 2017
Trade and translation of Buddhist material culture across Asia
Historically, trade routes served as transmission belts for Buddhist theology. The nexus between trade and Buddhism is most commonly understood in the spread of Buddhist theology and art across Asia. Today, this practice continues to grow and diversify. The spread of Buddhism has contributed to the development of new markets and a growing industry in Buddhist objects, artefacts, paraphernalia, and merchandise. Moreover, Buddhism is also a value that is traded. This traded value includes statues and scriptures, but also comes in the form of immaterial value; namely in the promises or potential that are ascribed to objects, artefacts and paraphernalia that are considered or are branded as Buddhist. This panel calls for papers dealing with the translations and transformations of Buddhism in relation to the trade in Buddhist things. Such objects can be Buddhist because they represent commodified Buddhism, are objects needed for Buddhist practice, or products marketed as Buddhist. By engaging in discussions regarding the trade and translation of Buddhist material culture we want to develop new analytical approaches and ask how trade practices translate and transform objects related to Buddhism. We aim to build a broad geographical understanding of practice. Therefore, possible subjects might include the trade in amulets in Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam, or the global trade in Tibetan painted scrolls produced in Nepal, India and China. We are also interested in other Buddhist objects that are traded, including offerings for the Buddhist altar, religious images and statues, prayer beads, charms, monastic paraphernalia, and so forth.
A further area for discussion relates to the people who need such objects for their Buddhist practice, for the Buddhist temple, or for inserting the spiritual in an otherwise secular, modern world. How are these Buddhist things translated and transformed as they change hands from the artisan in the workshop, to the petty merchant, the art dealer, the tourist, the Buddhist practitioner, the ritual specialist and so forth? How do these things become Buddhist?
Conveners of panel“Trade and translation of Buddhist material culture across Asia”:
Trine Brox, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen
Emma Martin, Institute for Cultural Practices, University of Manchester
Please include in your submission:
• Name, institutional affiliation, short bio
• Abstract that clearly lays out the title, argument and methodology (approx 250 words)
• Intended panel (Trade and translation of Buddhist material culture across Asia)
Conveners and organizing committee will assess the submitted abstracts and inform you of the decision soon hereafter.
The panel is organized by the BBB-project:
https://centerforcontemporarybuddhiststudies.wordpress.com/bbb-project/
Keywords: Asia, Buddhism, Buddhist objects, capitalism, CFP, globalization, markets, material
culture, materiality, trade, transformation, translation.
For more information: http://asiandynamics.ku.dk/english/adi-conference-2017/panels/trade-and-translation-of-buddhist-material-culture-across-asia/
Contact: Submit abstracts to Marie Yoshida ( marie.yoshida@nias.ku.dk )
Deadline:1 March 2017
CFP: 9th Annual International ADI Conference University of Copenhagen,Trade and translation of Buddhist material culture across Asia, 26-28 June 2017
Conveners of panel “Trade and translation of Buddhist material culture across Asia”:
Trine Brox, Deptartment of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen
Emma Martin, Institute for Cultural Practices, University of Manchester
Historically, trade routes served as transmission belts for Buddhist theology. The nexus between trade and Buddhism is most commonly understood in the spread of Buddhist theology and art across Asia. Today, this practice continues to grow and diversify. The spread of Buddhism has contributed to the development of new markets and a growing industry in Buddhist objects, artefacts, paraphernalia, and merchandise. Moreover, Buddhism is also a value that is traded. This traded value includes statues and scriptures, but also comes in the form of immaterial value; namely in the promises or potential that are ascribed to objects, artefacts and paraphernalia that are considered or are branded as Buddhist.
This panel calls for papers dealing with the translations and transformations of Buddhism in relation to the trade in Buddhist things. Such objects can be Buddhist because they represent commodified Buddhism, are objects needed for Buddhist practice, or products marketed as Buddhist. By engaging in discussions regarding the trade and translation of Buddhist material culture we want to develop new analytical approaches and ask how trade practices translate and transform objects related to Buddhism. We aim to build a broad geographical understanding of practice. Therefore, possible subjects might include the trade in amulets in Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam, or the global trade in Tibetan painted scrolls produced in Nepal, India and China. We are also interested in other Buddhist objects that are traded, including offerings for the Buddhist altar, religious images and statues, prayer beads, charms, monastic paraphernalia, and so forth.
More information: http://asiandynamics.ku.dk/english/adi-conference-2017/panels/trade-and-translation-of-buddhist-material-culture-across-asia/
Deadline for submitting abstracts:1 March 2017
Call for papers – New York Conference on Asian Studies on September 22-23, 2017
New York Conference on Asian Studies, NYCAS 2017
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
About: Consuming Asia
The Hobart and William Smith Colleges will host the 53rd annual meeting of the New York Conference on Asian Studies (NYCAS) on Septeber 22-23, 2017.
The NYCAS 2017 program committee invites proposals for panels, roundtables, and individual papers on all aspects of Asian and Asian-American history, culture, and contemporary life, representing disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and professional schools. Interdisciplinary proposals are also welcome. Graduate students are especially encouraged to apply. The theme of the conference is “Consuming Asia.” Sessions that address this theme are especially welcome, but proposal on any topic relating to Asia will be considered.
More information: https://nycas2017.wordpress.com/
Deadline: The deadline for all paper, panel, and roundtable submissions is April 1, 2017.
Call for application
Summer Junior Fellowship Program (2017) Cambodian Scholars Application Process
CKS has been running a Summer Junior Resident Fellowship Programs in Cambodia since 2004. The program is intended for those individuals who have a genuine interest in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, and who may be considering graduate studies or careers in the region. With this in mind the focus is on striking a balance between academic rigor and extra curricula activities and field visits designed to give students a better understanding of contemporary Cambodian society. Cambodian history and culture cannot be fully understood without considering the influence of powerful regional neighbours such and Thailand, Vietnam and China, and international powers, like France, the United States, and more recently the United Nations. The program, therefore, will also focus on Cambodia’s past and present relationships with its neighbours and its place within the region.
The fellowship covers the cost of accommodation, tuition, field/study trips, local transport and include a small daily stipend allowance. In addition, the fellows will have access to CKS’s resources in Siem Reap, including the library, Internet and lecture/presentation facilities.
Application and Eligibility Requirements:Candidates must be proficient in English speaking, reading and writing (TOEFL 400-500 or equivalent). Each applicant should provide the following:
- A one page statement of purpose (providing the reasons for wanting to participate in this program)
- A two page statement outlining their topic of interest
- Evidence of English level
- CV
More information: http://www.khmerstudies.org/research-training/summer-junior-resident-fellowship-program/
Contact: Applications should be sent by e-mail to Ms. Sim Puthea puthea_sim@khmerstudies.org
Deadline: April 30th, 2017
Civil Society Scholar Awards
The Civil Society Scholar Awards (CSSA) support international academic mobility to enable doctoral students and university faculty to access resources that enrich socially engaged research and critical scholarship in their home country or region.
The awards support activities such as fieldwork (data collection); research visits to libraries, archives, or universities; course/curriculum development; and international collaborations leading to peer-reviewed publication.
Civil Society Scholars are selected on the basis of their outstanding contributions to research or other engagement with local communities, to furthering debates on challenging societal questions, and to strengthening critical scholarship and academic networks within their fields.
More informationplease click here
Deadlinefor receipt of applications is: March 31, 2017
Recrutement de 10 post-doctorants à l'EHESS en 2017
Dix contrats de chercheurs post-doctorants sont ouverts à l'EHESS à compter du 1er septembre 2017 pour une durée d'un an, éventuellement renouvelable.
Dans le cadre d’un partenariat avec le Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (MuCEM), une candidature sélectionnée s’inscrivant dans le champ d’activité de cet établissement (les dynamiques des sociétés contemporaines du bassin méditerranéen) pourra être soumise au MuCEM pour un co-financement éventuel et une intégration du candidat au département recherche et enseignement du MuCEM.
Ces emplois concernent les différents domaines des sciences humaines et sociales.
Ils sont proposés aux jeunes chercheurs ayant soutenu entre le 1er janvier 2014 et le 31 janvier 2017, une thèse de doctorat dans un autre établissement que l'EHESS, en France ou à l'étranger.
La rédaction du projet de recherche et d'activités post-doctorales
en anglais est autorisée
.
Toutefois, un bon niveau de compréhension et d'expression orale en français est requis. Les candidatures se font uniquement en ligne
More information : http://recrutement.ehess.fr/front-offres.html?direct
Contact : Pour toute information complémentaire, merci de nous contacter, exclusivement par mail, à l'adresse: recrutement-admin@ehess.fr
Deadline : 1er Mars 2017
Bourses d’études du musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac ANNEE UNIVERSITAIRE 2017 – 2018
Research Fellowshipsacademic year 2017 – 2018:The musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac offers every year doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships to support Ph.D. candidates and early career scholars in pursuing innovative research projects. The academic fields concerned are: anthropology, ethnomusicology, art history, history, archaeology, sociology, performance studies. The research topics concerned are: Western and non-Western arts, material and immaterial heritage, museum institutions and their collections, technology, ritual performance and material culture. The projects most likely to benefit from the environment of the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac will be examined with particular attention. During the year of their fellowship, the laureates will present in the museum’s Research and Higher Education Department’s internal seminar a scientific paper intended for later publication. They will be required to deliver a detailed report to the museum’s research department at the end of the fellowship.
Le musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac propose chaque année des bourses doctorales et postdoctorales destinées à aider des doctorants et de jeunes docteurs à mener à bien des projets de recherche originaux et innovants. Les disciplines concernées sont : l’anthropologie, l’ethnomusicologie, l’histoire de l’art, l’histoire, l’archéologie (à partir du néolithique), la sociologie, les arts du spectacle. Les domaines de recherche privilégiés sont : les arts occidentaux et extra-occidentaux, les patrimoines matériels et immatériels, les institutions muséales et leurs collections, la performance rituelle, la technologie et la culture matérielle. Les projets particulièrement susceptibles de tirer parti de l’environnement du musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac seront examinés avec la plus grande attention. Au cours de l’année, les candidats sélectionnés présenteront un article destiné à être soumis à publication scientifique dans le cadre du séminaire interne du département de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement du musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. Ils devront fournir au département de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement un rapport d’activité détaillé de leurs recherches au terme de la bourse.
Les bourses doctorales : Trois bourses doctorales sont destinées à soutenir des doctorants en fin de thèseinscrits au moins en troisième année pour l’année universitaire 2017-2018 (dans une université française ou étrangère). Ces bourses sont une aide à la rédaction et excluent les recherches de terrain et d’archive.
Elles concernent uniquement des thèses portant sur des sociétés extra-européennes
. Ces bourses doctorales sont attribuées pour une durée de 12 mois non reconductible, du 1er octobre au 30 septembre. Elles seront en 2017 d’un montant mensuel de 1300 euros net. Elles sont allouées après évaluation et sélection des dossiers par le Comité d’évaluation scientifique du musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. Aucune condition de nationalité n’est exigée.
Les bourses postdoctorales : Le musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac propose cinq bourses postdoctorales à de jeunes docteurs pour élaborer collectivement un programme de recherche d’un an sur la thématique « valeur et matérialités ».Les candidat(e)s peuvent solliciter cette bourse
jusqu’à cinq ans
après la soutenance de leur thèse, c’est-à-dire pour des thèses soutenues
depuis le 1er janvier 2012
. Ils/elles ne pourront prendre leurs fonctions au musée que sur présentation de leur attestation de doctorat, ou le cas échéant, de leur pré-rapport de soutenance.
More information:
Contact : bourses@quaibranly.fr
Deadline: Monday, the 3rd of April 2017
PUBLICATIONS
ALVIN CHENG-HIN LIM, 2015, China’s ‘Belt and Road’ and Southeast Asia: Challenges and Prospects, Longus Institute for Development and Strategy, Jati, Vol. 20, p.3-15
MIRIAM STARK, PETER GRAVE, and TAN OUN SUY, 2015, Differentiating Khmer Stoneware Production: An NAA Pilot Study from Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, Archaeometry, 12p.
View article
VONG MUN, 2016, Progress and Challenges of Deconcentration in Cambodia: The Case of Urban Solid Waste Management.CDRI, Working Paper Series No. 110, CDRI , 28p.
PRIGENT, STEVEN, 2014, "La vie des habitants de Cheung Kok sous le régime khmer rouge",Aséanie, n°33, pp 43-59.
MARYANN BYLANDER, Poor and On the Move: South-South Migration and Poverty in Cambodia, 35p.
PASCAL ROYÈRE, 2016 Le Baphuon, De la restauration à l’histoire architecturale, École française d'Extrême-Orient, 272p.
KANOKWAN MANOROM, IAN G.BIARD & BRUCE SHOEMAKER, 2017, The World Bank, Hydropower-based Poverty Alleviation and Indigenous Peoples: On-the-Ground Realities in the Xe Bang Fai River Basin of Laos, Forum for Development Studies, 26p.
SOPHORNTAVY VORNG, 2016, A Meeting of Masks Status, Power and Hierarchy in Bangkok, NIAS Press, 224p.
Pál Nyíri, Danielle Tan, 2016, Chinese Encounters in Southeast Asia: How People, Money, and Ideas from China Are Changing a Region, Irasec et University of Washington Press, coll. Etudes transnationales, 312p.
Alfred Gerstl, Mária Strašáková (eds), 2016, Unresolved Border, Land and Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia : Bi- and Multilateral Conflict Resolution Approaches and ASEAN’s Centrality, Brill, 339p.
« Team digs into Cambodia’s ‘dark ages' » by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon, 16/12/2016, The Phnom Penh Post
A team of archaeologists hope the discovery of a bronze foundry near the ancient site of Longvek will yield information about an era thought to be lost to history.
A footnote, a hunch and a land development project near Boeung Samrith led to the discovery this month of an ancient bronze foundry that served Cambodia’s 16th-century kings at Longvek.
The find in Kampong Chhnang province could yield insight into Cambodia’s Middle Period, the era between the fall of Angkor and the beginning of the French protectorate often called the “dark ages” because few records of it exist.
The discovery culminates a two-year search by a team of researchers led by Dr Martin Polkinghorne of Flinders University in Australia, whose first hint came from a footnote in the Cambodian Royal Chronicles, which were compiled centuries after the foundry’s existence.
More information: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/team-digs-cambodias-dark-ages
Péninsule, no. 72, 2016 (1)
Sommaire
I. Rencontres et échanges
Avec le monde indo-musulman
À propos des musulmans et d’Ayudhya (1350-1767) parGilles Delouche
Le chant occulte des pantouns, interprétations de poèmes malais dans l’œuvre d’Henri Fauconnier par Yann Quero
Entre nationalismes asiatiques
Bùi Quang Chiêu à Calcutta (1928), le miroir brisé des nationalismes vietnamien et indien parAgathe Larcher-Goscha
II. Dents noires et sang rouge : représentations et interdits
Le chasseur, sa femme et les interdictions parBernard Dupaigne
Le noircissement des dents chez les chiqueurs de bétel vietnamiens. Quelques observations préliminaires de la documentation par Nguyen Xuân Hiên, Jane D. Chang & Margret J. Vlaar
Comptes rendus
More information: http://peninsule.free.fr/pages/peninsule_72pag.html
Obieg, no. 2 (2016): Special Issue : Parallel contemporaries : The art of Southeast Asia
Editor: Krzysztof Gutfranski
Obieg is a bilingual Polish-English online quarterly that deals with the humanities.
Table of content :
Parallel Contemporaries: The Art of Southeast Asia by Krzysztof Gutfranski
The Distances of Our Time: Reflections on Art Criticism and Southeast Asia by Lee Weng Choy
Rethinking Curatorial Colonialism by Simon Soon
Public Play: Audience Involvement and the Decoding of Concept in Socially-engaged Southeast Asian Contemporary Art by Iola Lenzi
Affective Labor and the Philippine Body by Patrick D. Flores
Defining the Thai Territory through Monuments: The Counter-insurgency in the Highlands Border by Thanavi Chotpradit
Playing with National Politics: Vietnamese Artists’ Visions of War byNora Taylor
The Chorus of Idle Footsteps byRon Hanson
Currencies of the Contemporary: Biennials and the International in Southeast Asia by David Teh
Comparative Contemporaries by Lee Weng-Choy, Sue Acret, Patrick D Flores, Ho Tzu-Nyen, Ly Daravuth, Keiko Sei
More information: http://obieg.u-jazdowski.pl/en/azja
Voices 2016 (2): Global modernity and the (re-)emergence of ghosts
« Global modernities and the (re-)emergence of ghosts », eds. Oliver Tappe, Andrea Hollington, Sinah Kloß, Tijo Salverda, Nina Schneider (Global South Studies Center)
Abstract: Are ghosts modern? It seems that modernization and spirituality do not contradict each other in most parts of the world. Animist beliefs and ghost rituals often form part of people’s everyday lives vis-à-vis a globalized economy. For them, the unpredictable forces of ‘the market’ correspond with the elusive world of spectral entities. Facing economic risk, flexibility, and precarity, people address the ghosts for protection and luck. This issue of “Voices” will explore the interplay of economic and ritual practice, of everyday uncertainties and ghostly agency, of emerging modernities and (re-) emerging spiritualities.
Some papers about Cambodia / Indochina/ Southeast Asia:
- Spirits in Cambodian politics byPaul Christensen (University of Göttingen)
- Fansipan legend, Indochina summit : a spiritual landscape in the making byKirsten W. Endres (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany)
- Ghost movies in Southeast Asia and beyond by Peter J. Bräunlein (University of Göttingen)
Download here : http://voices.uni-koeln.de/2016-2/globalmodernitiesand
Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 5, no. 3 (december 2016)
Special Focus: Global Powers and Local Resources in Southeast Asia: Political and Social Dynamics of Foreign Investment Ventures
Guest Editor: Morishita Akiko
- Introduction by Morishita Akiko
- Economic Development via Dam Building: The Role of the State Government in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy and the Impact on Environment and Local Communities by Andrew Aeria
- Political Dynamics of Foreign-Invested Development Projects in Decentralized Indonesia: The Case of Coal Railway Projects in Kalimantan by Morishita Akiko
- Rare Earth Plant in Malaysia: Governance, Green Politics, and Geopolitics by Kai Lit Phua
Articles
- When Memory Speaks: Transnational Remembrances in Vietnam War Literature by Quan Manh Ha
- The Case of Regional Disaster Management Cooperation in ASEAN: A Constructivist Approach to Understanding How International Norms Travel by Muhammad Rum
- Highland Chiefs and Regional Networks in Mainland Southeast Asia: Mien Perspectives by Le Jiem Tsan, Richard D. Cushman, and Hjorleifur Jonsson
Book Reviews
Online free access: https://englishkyoto-seas.org/
Journal of contemporary Asia, vol. 47, no. 1 (2017)
Table of contents: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjoc20/47/1
Contemporary Southeast Asia, vol. 38, no. 3 (december 2016)
Table of contents :
Roundtable
- The Arbitral Tribunal’s Ruling on the South China Sea – Implications and Regional Responses byClive Schofield, Lowell Bautista, Nong Hong, Ann Hsiu-an Hsiao, Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Prashanth Parameswaran, Evan Laksmana
Articles
- Deciphering the Shift in America’s South China Sea Policy byPhuong Nguyen
- Xi Jinping’s Foreign Policy Dilemma: One Belt, One Road or the South China Sea? byWenjuan Nie
- Russia’s Image and Soft Power Resources in Southeast Asia: Perceptions among Young Elites in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam byAlexander Bukh
- Campaigning for All Indonesians: The Politics of Healthcare in Indonesia byEunsook Jung
- Reflections of a Reformed Jihadist: The Story of Wan Min Wan Mat byKumar Ramakrishna
Site : https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/2199
OTHERS
Khmer Battleground by Aizzat Nordin, 17/01/2017, Invisible Photographer Asia
Aizzat Nordin was a Malaysian recipient of the Angkor Photo Travel Grants.Khmer Battleground was made during the 2016 Angkor Photo Workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Pradal Sereyor Kun Khmeris a form of ancient martial arts practiced by the Kingdom of Angkor army since the 9th century to wage war against their main enemy, the Vietnam-based kingdom of Champa, and later Siam, resulting in the domination of what is now known as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. In an effort to erase this art, manyKun Khmer lok kru (Masters) were targeted by the vicious Khmer Rouge Regime and executed in the 70’s, leaving Cambodian struggling with poverty and socioeconomic growth after the regime era. Today,Kun Khmer fighters fight hard with pride and dignity in the arena or at the pagoda in the rural areas for extra money, hoping that it’s enough to feed their loved ones.
Interview: http://invisiblephotographer.asia/2017/01/17/khmerbattleground-aizzatnordin/
Aizzat Nordin’s website: http://cargocollective.com/aizzatnordin
