Word: cambodians
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...marvelous show this summer--"Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory." It is by no means a rerun of a familiar subject. Most of the world's major sculptural traditions are abundantly represented in American museums--Egyptian, ancient Greek, Gothic, Italian Renaissance, Indian and Maya. Cambodian sculpture is the exception. Yet there is no doubt that in the small Southeast Asian kingdom between the 6th century and 16th century A.D., some of the greatest stone carving and bronze work in human history was made...
Very little of it has been seen in the West--mere fragments mostly, especially if one bears in mind that most Cambodian sculpture was made as decoration for temples, a small part of a larger whole, its meaning lessened when removed. Because Cambodia was annexed as a French colony in 1863 and remained one until 1953, most of the sculpture that Europeans took from it ended up in France--notably at the Musee Guimet in Paris--rather than in England, Germany or America. But to deduce the scale, continuity and sheer aesthetic majesty of Cambodian art from such fragments...
Visitors to Cambodia have come away charmed by the lush beauty of the countryside and the smiling people. But the violent side of Cambodian life can manifest itself almost without warning. "Cambodians have this darkness, which is part of the shadow of their sweetness," says David Chandler, who has written a biography of Pol Pot and several histories of the country. "Many of us who keep going there still find it hard to understand." Chandler observes that Pol Pot, with his gentle voice, never failed to charm those he met. He liked to quote French poetry. This was the same...
...Cambodian proverb says: If you are strong, make yourself feared; if you are weak, make yourself pitied. Cambodians are deeply insecure, aware that the proud temple-building empire of Angkor, which covered much of Southeast Asia in the 12th century, has shrunk to the small area of today's Cambodia. This insecurity has prompted much irrational aggression. In 1978 Pol Pot launched attacks on Vietnam, bragging that one Cambodian soldier could kill eight Vietnamese. It is a behavior pattern that is deeply rooted in the national psyche: to hold power one must show the utmost ferocity and single-mindedness...
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: In what may require the biggest leap of faith so far this year, Cambodian leader Hun Sen is asking members of parliament who fled his bloody coup to return and endorse his choice for a new co-prime minister. The offer comes just weeks after Hun Sen took power from former co-prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh in a bloody action in which 40 of Ranariddh's supporters were killed in custody, according to the U.N. Human Rights Center. For Hun Sen, the push is a move to legitimize his government in the face of his violent...