Cambodian exhibit opens

(25-12-2009)

An exhibition featuring traditional Khmer art kicks off in Ha Noi.

Roots: Paintings are on display that are inspired by traditional Khmer culture.

HA NOI — Art from traditional Cambodian daily life were featured in an exhibition yesterday.

The art exhibition displays about 30 paintings and artefacts by Cambodian artists, as part of the Cambodia Culture Week in Viet Nam.

Entitled Art from Traditional Khmer Daily Life, the exhibition introduces a kind of unique traditional painting.

The paintings reflect the traditional lives of the Khmer people which are inspired by legends, tales, folklore, epics, Buddhism and the history of the Khmer people.

Traditional painting is still preserved well today in pagodas, temples and museums in Cambodia. The pigments used in traditional painting are mainly natural.

Contemporary artist Chhim Sothy’s works at the exhibition in the past three years, use traditional techniques and images to produce intricately detailed works.

His themes are Cambodian culture and traditions. Viewers can find the Cambodian version of Rama and Sita from the Ramayana epic in many of his paintings.

Sothy is a representative of the Cambodian contemporary artists who preserves the refined motives and gestures of the Cambodian Apsara dancers and characters in the Ramayana epic.

On display will be various paintings, antiques and sculptures in bronze, stone, brass and wood.

The exhibition will run until next Tuesday at 29 Hang Bai Street, Ha Noi. — VNS