'The Players' by Tom Bender

Noticed on Twitter and republished here with permission.

'Bump' by Arijan Jansonius

Originally drawn in 1998 here in Cambodia by Dutch artist Arijan (Aryan) Jansonius, inspired by everyday life in Phnom Penh at the time. Motion, knowing detail and the every present rat. Note the old style motorcycle. Issued as one in a set postcards available in Cambodia in the late 90s.

Apsara I

Wat Bo: Scenes of daily life

Wall painting of ordinary life scene in the vihear of Wat Bo, Siem Reap

Vihear (temple), Wat Bo, Siem Reap, Cambodia

I'm fascinated by the occasional representation of ordinary life that can be found in old Khmer art. Unlike the usual depictions of deities, royalty and religious tales, images of daily life (e.g. bas-reliefs of a market scene on the Angkorian-era Bayon) provide revealing glimpses into common Cambodia, the life that most people of the time knew, but was only rarely recorded for posterity. Though much more recent than the 12th century carvings on Bayon, several scenes of turn-of-the-century French colonial Cambodia are tucked amongst the century-old wall paintings of Siem Reap's Wat Bo pagoda, including the amazing tableau pictured above. Sometimes called the 'market scene,' it portrays several shops and dozens of people, many of them foreigners, involved in activities ranging from hauling water and selling silks to meeting friends and getting stoned.

Panels depicting the Reamker

Wat Bo is one of Siem Reap town's earlier pagodas, likely founded in the 18th century. (Wat Preah Prom Rath, reputedly Siem Reap's oldest, was founded in the 16th century.) The vihear of Wat Bo (the main temple building) is at least a century old, constructed with an old-style segmented roof. Like many Cambodian vihears the interior walls are adorned with paintings, but Wat Bo's paintings are quite uncommon. Instead of the usual scenes from Buddhist lore, the wall paintings of Wat Bo depict the Reamker, the Cambodian version of the classic Hindu epic the Ramayana. It is one of the few Cambodian pagodas to do so, (another being the Silver Pagoda at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.) (Harris, 2005, 'Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice', pg 90-91.) Even the presentation of the paintings is unique, displayed in quilt-like patchwork, possibly inspired by a shadow puppet presentation of the epic (Giteau, 1975, Iconographie du Cambodge post Angkorien, EFEO.) Unfortunately many of the lower panels have been damaged or even whitewashed over. Scenes of ordinary life including foreign soldiers and French officers at a traditional dance performance are primarily located along the bottom edge of the surviving paintings. The painting of the 'market scene' is placed prominently in the center of the front (east) wall, between the entrance doors, at about eye level.

Monks at Wat Bo estimate the painting to be about a hundred years old, which corresponds well with the costumes depicted. It's about a meter wide and a half-meter tall. Though sometimes referred to as the 'market scene,' it looks more like a street scene to me. The compartments in the upper half are not shaped like market stalls but like shophouses (combined shop and home) that are longer than wide. And though the presence of wares seems to indicate that they are shops, the proprietors also seem to be engaged in homey activities including grooming and smoking. The painting would appear to be a representation of a row of shophouses with proprietors (upper register,) and people passing in the street in front of the shophouses (lower register).

French soldiers from panel on east wall.

The scene appears to be set sometime between 1890 and 1920 and contains at least 34 people (more may have been painted over at the edges.) Each individual is unique and displays characteristics (dress, facial features, activity...) indicative of a particular ethnicity, profession, gender, status, etc. In an effort to understand these individual characters I met with the head monk of Wat Bo pagoda last week, Ven. Chou Lim Leang, who graciously granted me almost two hours of his time to discuss the painting. Though he didn't know the complete story, he was able to identify several characters as well as point out some of the cultural cues and indicators, (e.g. neck scarf and sampot chang kben on males indicating Khmer ethnicity,) allowing some informed speculation.

Like others, the head monk estimated the painting to be about 100 years old. He asserted that it was not a representation of some particular market or street of the time, but was rendered in the spirit, style and even time of the Reamker (or Angkor) with contemporary characters that the artist had seen in his daily life inserted into the scene. Further, that the characters were signifiers of peoples present in Cambodia at the time - Chinese, Indians, Khmer and ethnic minorities. I tend to disagree. The costumes and accoutrements (e.g. umbrellas, guns, clock) are contemporary with the artist. The architecture is not inconsistent with the artist's time. And the presence of Europeans would seem to contradict the notion that these are signifiers from a millennium ago. This is a contemporary scene.

The following descriptions of the various characters from the painting are not definitive but amount more to notes from the meeting with the head monk, talks with other monks and guides over the years, and my own speculation. I have not been able to find any significant writings on this painting but I figure there must be something on it somewhere, most likely in French. If you know of any existing papers or articles, please let me know.


Upper Register

The upper register appears to consist of a row of seven shophouses, each displaying products for sale (mostly silks/textiles), and each shop with its proprietor lounging, presumably waiting for customers and often engaged in some personal activity. Each shophouse is much longer than it is wide (like classic Southeast Asian shophouses) with tile roofs and stairs at the front leading up from the street level to the shop area. Below this register is the street scene in front of the shop houses. Above this register is a completely separate painting, part of the Ramayana story.

A: Female with fan. Selling silks/textiles. Basket or bowl on table. She is most likely Khmer or Chinese..

B: Khmer female with mirror and comb, in the act of combing her hair and gazing into mirror. Selling silks. Both finished silks and silk thread (on hook) on display. Two traditional Cambodian bowls on table. (Bowls of this design are common and can still be found in Cambodian homes.) Regarding her ethnicity, the neck scarf suggests she is Khmer.

C: Chinese male sitting and smoking opium pipe. Selling silks/textiles. The head monk suggested that there are  non-Cambodian patterns on the display silks. Oil lamp (mong son) on table. Octagonal wall clock on wall (note the face of the clock is incorrect) possibly indicating that this is a wealthy man.

D: Indian male sitting and smoking pipe. In 'Siem Reap Pagodas' (2000), Zepp suggested that this individual may be Turkish, based in part on the style of pipe. But the head monk posited that he is Indian, citing eastern dress, facial characteristics (facial hair, "sharp nose") and the presence of Indian traders in Cambodia at the time. Note the similarity between this guy and #4 in the lower register, seemingly of the same ethnicity/nationality. Selling silks/textiles. Two jars on table possibly containing other sales items and/or what ever it is he is smoking.

E: Female sitting. Hair knotted back. Ethnicity uncertain, due in part to the damage to the painting. Selling silks and possibly perfumes/fragrances. Finished silks on display. The monk noted of the patterns on the silks, suggesting Angkor-style flower-in-diamond (p'ka-chan) pattern. Two sets of two bottles each on the table, fluted and ornate design, possibly containing perfume/fragrance.

F: Male sitting and smoking pipe. Ethnicity uncertain. Eastern/Chinese shirt, smoking a southern Chinese, hilltribe or perhaps Burmese pipe (opium, tobacco, ganja?). Facial feature suggesting a possible non-Asian ethnicity. Chinese? Birman? Shan (Khmer-kola)? European? A barang 'gone native'? Selling silks/textiles. Finished silks/textiles on display.

G: Khmer female gazing into hand mirror. Selling silks. Both finished silks and silk thread (on hook) on display. Oil lamp (mong son) and bottle on table. Regarding her ethnicity, the scarf suggests Khmer ethnicity.


Lower Register

The lower register appears to be a street scene consisting of at least 27 people engaged in various activities. Several foreigners are amongst the characters including at least 3 Europeans. Many of the characters are depicted in pairs, walking, working, talking together. In some cases the characters seem placed in contrast to each other, e.g. a pair of fancy city folk next to a pair of hilltribesmen. At least one character at the edge (#1) has been painted over.

1: Khmer (?) male (?). Note what appears to be a sampot chang kben, suggesting Khmer ethnicity. Image almost totally obliterated.
2: Khmer male. Wearing a neck scarf and a sampot, suggesting Khmer ethnicity. Image is badly damaged.

3: Malay male. (Re ethnicity: note the style of hat and a male wearing a sarong.) Carrying a shoulder bag, a large umbrella with an bamboo handle and a ring of objects in the other hand, perhaps bells of keys.

4: Indian male with umbrella. Note similarities to 'D' in the upper register - dress, facial hair/features, pipe. Also see note on ethnicity in 'D' above.

5-6: Pair of Khmer males. Note neck scarf and sampot chang kben, both suggestive of Khmer ethnicity. The monk posited that the umbrellas were a indicator that they are Khmer-Kola (Shan), an ethnic minority group formerly present in western Cambodia.

7: A caucasian foreigner of some sort, likely European. Blond with facial hair. Wearing what appears to be a military uniform, but quite different from the French uniforms which are well represented in Wat Bo wall paintings (see photo of French soldiers above.) The monk suggested the red coat indicated that he is British.

8: Chinese male with shoulder stick and baskets. Note style of shirt and hat.

9: Pair of males. Ethnicity uncertain. The monk noted that the sarongs indicated that they were perhaps Malay or Cham. This pair seems unique. Though most of pairs are touching each another in some way, this is by far the closest, the most intimate embrace of them all. They are turned toward each other and may even be gazing at each other. Could this be a gay couple? Or perhaps the market "catamites" noted in Zhou Daguan's 13th century account of Angkor, 'The Customs of Cambodia'?

11-12: Pair of foreigners greeting one another. Note blond hair and mustache on #11. The monk suggests that #11 is in fact a Khmer official and that the hair color is a deterioration of the paint. I disagree. He looks clearly European to me.

13-14-15: This is either a group of three or a pair (the center and right) and a stand alone individual (the left.) The hats and style of clothing would seem to link them. It has been variously suggested that they are Europeans (based on the bowler hats), French provincial governors, and a group of Chinese men. The first time I saw this painting about 15 years ago, a young monk there specifically said that the left-hand character "is not Charlie Chaplin." I'm not sure why he said that, but once mentioned I couldn't stop noticing the resemblance - the hat, the umbrella, the pants, shoes and dark coat, the seeming little mustache. Chaplin (known as 'Cha-Lo' in Cambodia) was very popular in Cambodia and it is easy to see how someone might come to suggest this is Chaplin, or perhaps even how Chaplin's image could come to be painted on a pagoda wall amongst early 20th century characters.

16-17: Pair of French (?) soldiers, unarmed, carrying walking sticks. Though this painting is in rough shape, there are several good examples of French soldiers on the northern wall, wearing similar but not identical uniforms. (See photo of French soliers above.)

18: Uncertain. Male (?) with shoulder bag, machete (?), and walking stick.

19: Khmer (?) female with water jug (?).

20-21: Pair of hilltribesmen (ethnic minority people) with shoulder stick, carrying wild boar.

22-23: Pair of Khmer males. Note neck scarf and sampot chang kben, indicating Khmer ethicity. The monk suggests that from their dress they appear to be rich and/or city folk, in contrast to the hilltribesmen on either side of them.

24-25: Pair of hilltribesmen (ethnic minority people.) Which tribe might be identifiable by headgear and dress. One carrying a fluted bottle.

26: Uncertain. Male (or female?) carrying umbrella (and fish?). Similar hat and facial structure to 'F' in upper register?

27: Male with shoulder stick, hauling water.

Ramayana Murals

The 'Silver Pagoda' sits next to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. It is home to the 'Emerald Buddha' and is the pagoda where the King meets with monks and some Royal ceremonies are performed. The interior of the pagoda compound walls are covered with murals depicting stories from the Reamker, i.e. the Khmer version of the classic Indian epic the Ramayana. The murals stand over 3 and a half meters tall and stretch around 604 meters of wall. They were painted in 1903-1904 by a team of students working under the direction of artist Vichitre Chea and architect Oknha Tep Nimit Thneak. The murals are only partially protected from the elements by open cloisters that serve as galleries and have long shown signs of weathering and water damaged.

Yesterday The Cambodia Daily reported that a restoration project currently being conducted on the murals may actually be threatening their existence. ('Restoration Risks Destroying Palace Murals' The Cambodia Daily, August 9, 2012) According to the Daily, UNESCO sent a letter to the Palace in June expressing concerns about the restoration technique. Apparently concrete is being applied to the water damaged lower section which experts say will force moisture upward into the material underlying the murals, possibly destroying them entirely. According to the Daily, as of yesterday the restoration project continues unchanged and unabated.

I haven't been out to see the Ramayana frescoes in a couple of years and haven't seen the reported restoration project, but I have visited the frescoes many times over the years, taking lots of photos in the process. Most of the following photos were taken before 2009. This is what is under threat:

Merry Christmas

Santa's Bodyguard

Originally drawn in 1998 by Dutch artist Arijan (Aryan) Jansonius, inspired by life here in Phnom Penh at the time. Note the old style motorcycle. Issued as one in a set postcards available in Cambodia in the late 90s.

Merry Christmas

On Earth Peace, Good Will toward Men

Old Maps - Kampot

An extraordinary collection of 19th century Khmer maps of provincial Cambodia - the earliest known Khmer cartographic representations - is currently on exhibition at the Centre Culturel Français (CCF) in Phnom Penh. The 54 maps on display represent a rare historical resource from a sparsely documented period of Khmer history, and many of the maps are in themselves unique works of Cambodian art. The exhibition at CCF will continue through August 28.

All of the maps were hand drawn sometime between 1884-1892, probably crafted by provincial level Khmer functionaries at the behest of the French colonial authority. Most of the maps cover the area of a single province or district, and the full collection encompasses all of Cambodia's 19 provinces of the time. 

The maps on display at CCF are actually high resolution digital reproductions, which were presented to King Sihamoni in France last year. The originals still reside in Paris at the library of the Ecole Française d'Extreme Orient.

Each map is a unique creation, perhaps every one the work of a different cartographer. A wide range of artistic styles and mapping criteria were used, the final products ranging from quasi-schematic line drawings to intricately and artistically detailed illustrations.

All the maps are on a 49cm x 63cm sheet and drawn within a black border. Most employ multiple colors and some are filled with tiny illustrations of the areas represented - houses, pagodas, animals, lakes and mountains, etc. The map title is written twice, once in Khmer by the map maker and again in French (in large red cursive,) presumably marked later. The two labels are often oriented in different directions, neither necessarily with north at the top of the map. At this exhibition the maps were hung to accord with the Khmer titling.    

The maps were all exhibited at their original size with a few choice examples blown up to double-size and displayed without glass, including the map of the Kampot area, which was a nice map to stop and dwell upon for a bit.

The Kampot map is not as colorfully illustrated as some maps, but is on the other hand a comparatively accessible map. It displays several readily identifiable geographic features (e.g. the Elephant Mountains, Kampong Bay river and Kampot town,) making it easy to orient to a modern map, it is a clearly and precisely detailed map and incorporates some attentive artistic touches including finely jungled mountains and abstract patterning in the ocean.

The Kampot map covers the area from modern day Sihanoukville (formerly Kampong Som)/Gulf of Kampong Som in the west, across central Kampot to what is now the Kampong Trach district border in the east. The body of water to the south is the Gulf of Thailand. As the map was displayed, north is to the right and south to the left. The map is not to scale. The farther from Kampot, the greater the scale. In particular, the Kampong Som peninsula in the east is greatly shrunken (and distorted) by comparison to the Kampot area. Interestingly, the Kampong Som peninsula gets short shrift on the Kampong Som map (not pictured) as well. Excluding the Kampong Som area, the Kampot map covers the approximate area of modern day Kampot District (and Kampong Bay District) within Kampot province but not the entire province.

Kampot area map comparison. Modern map on bottom, 19th century Kampot map on top. The 19th century map is rotated from its display position so that north is at the top. Note the Kampong Som area is compressed and the Kampong Som peninsula distorted on the 19th century map.

Zoom on 19th century map of Kampot.  Entitled 'The Body of Kampot.' The map includes landmark geological features (mountains, ocean, rivers, streams, etc), political boundaries and settlements (villages, district and provincial boundaries, etc.) and important roads. Water, ocean, rivers, streams, etc are in blue. Roads in double line red. The coastline is very approximate. The focus is on the interior, not nautical concerns. As the map is oriented here (as it was displayed,) north is left and south is right.

A quick and unproofed translation of the Khmer on the 19th century Kampot map. Some of the place names have remained the same over the last 125 years - Kampot, Kep, Kampong Bay, Phnom Pre Nup, Veal Renh, Prek Teuk Sap and others. 
Prek = stream/river. Phnom = mountain. Phum = village. As the map is oriented here, north is left and south is right.. 

Zoom on Kampot Village/Kampong Bay area.

Zoom on Kampong Som peninsula

Red pencil titling in French and Ecole Français d'Orient Extreme stamp on Kampot map

Zoom on mountain, Kampot province. Note the trees on the mountain.

Modern map left, 19th century map right. Both maps oriented with north at the top. Area near Kampot City. 
Note the two fork river. The squared off 'Banteay Run Kampong Bay' (the 'fortress of Kampong Bay') sits conspicuously where modern Kampot City now sits. Whereas the area marked 'Kampot Village' is located on the other (east) side of the river near the left fork of the river. Also note that the 'Road to Phnom Penh' and the 'Road to Peam' sit in approximately the same places as modern day National Route #3 and Road #33, respectively.

Some other maps and bits of maps from the exhibition:

 

Choeung Prey Province

Khsach Kandal Province

Tiger stalking pig, Khsach Kandal province

 

Khsach Kandal Province

Buffalo, Choeung Prey Province

Kratie Province

 

Ba Phnom in Prey Veng Province

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Articles:

'A Personal History,' Cambodia Daily Weekend Supplement, Issue 967, July 23-24, 2011

'Rare maps on display at the CCF next month,' Phnom Penh Post, July 06, 2011

'Rare Cambodian map exhibition in Phnom Penh,' Travelfish.org, August 18, 2011