Thursday, 07 June 2012
By Sean Gleeson
Phnom Penh Post
Jean-Francois
Perigois’s photos depict Boeung Kak lake’s lingering residents against a
rapidly changing landscape. Photograph: Jean-Francois Perigois
The contentious dispute over the residents displaced from Phnom Penh’s
lakeside district has been captured in a photography exhibition now on
display at Meta House.
French photographer Jean-Francois
Perigois, a resident of Cambodia for the past five years, has spent the
past 18 months compiling the works, in the process repeatedly raising
the ire of police officers stationed to keep the Boeung Kak development
site away from prying eyes.
Attempts by authorities to prevent
documentation of the dramatic changes in the neighbourhood’s landscape
are what Perigois has sought to remedy with his latest collection, Boeung Kak Was A Lake.
“Of
course, it’s a controversial issue,” he says. “But I’m a witness. I’m
just providing a picture, and hopefully discussion comes from there.
People should be able to talk, to explain and to say why this is
happening.”
The elegantly framed exhibition highlights the
dichotomy between Boeung Kak’s lingering residents and the machinery of
development that has drained the lake and flattened surrounding
buildings.
In Watchers, two moto drivers with their
backs to the lens gaze out from an overpass into the barren gulf of what
was once a thriving community, while Death by the Mud depicts a lone man staring balefully into the distance while perched on a drainage pipe being used to clear the lake’s water.
In
2007, Shukaku Inc, a development consortium with ties to the Cambodian
People’s Party, was granted a 99-year lease for land around the Boeung
Kak area.
More than 4,000 residents have been moved from the site as a result of subsequent development works.
The issue of the remaining families flared up again late last month, with the arrest of 13 Boeung Kak women who were supporting a family trying to build a new home on land they were evicted from two years earlier.
Before their trial, monk and rights activist Loun Savath was briefly detained for leading a protest rally against the arrests.
For
the photographer, the story of Boeung Kak epitomises the fraught and
uncertain path of Cambodia’s recent economic development.
“It’s
so sad to see the destruction of an area that should be a public space,”
Perigois says. “The country has evolved a great deal in the past 10
years, but sometimes in the wrong way.
“Even though it has become
less poor in that time, the social distortion between rich and poor has
in many respects become larger.”
Boeung Kak Was A Lake will be on display at Meta House until Sunday, June 24.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sean Gleeson at ppp.lifestyle@gmail.com
With assistance from Shane Worrell
1 comment:
The Creative and Charming House
You will be hooked with this house by its creativity and layout, leading to furniture shop in Phnom Penh construction materials provided.
One more thing this house protects charming details of the past, such as an original turn of the century fireplace.
In addition the small hallway with enough storage space leads the way towards the kitchen, living room and bedroom, and they are personalized and exude a welcoming feel.
Anyway walls painted have a lovely shade of white contrast the classic oak floors in the living room.
Indeed the bedroom is the best with its serenity-inspiring color palette, king-sized bed and plenty of natural light.
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