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Phnom Penh & Exhibition: Golden Earth សុវណ្ណភូមិ by Leang Seckon at the National Museum

Writer's picture: Partenaire PressePartenaire Presse

Saturday afternoon saw the opening of the ‘Golden Earth - Terre d'Or’ exhibition at the National Museum of Cambodia, curated by Cambodian artist Leang Seckon and attended by the museum's department management, artists and numerous guests.

Golden Earth សុវណ្ណភូមិ by Leang Seckon at the National Museum
Golden Earth សុវណ្ណភូមិ by Leang Seckon at the National Museum

In this first solo exhibition ever organised by the Museum, Leang Seckon reconnects with major Khmer works of art that had been stolen and sent abroad.

Over the past two years, major expressions of ancient Khmer art have been returned to their homeland. Ministers, museum directors and employees did not hide their tears of joy when they opened the boxes shipped from New York. People came in droves - and this is always the case for ‘new’ exhibitions at the Phnom Penh museum.

Golden Earth សុវណ្ណភូមិ by Leang Seckon at the National Museum

Beyond the popular emotion and well-deserved pride, there is an open question that Leang Seckon attempts to answer in this groundbreaking exhibition: what is the impact on Cambodian artistic expression? What is the profound significance and impact of these restored statues on modern creativity?

For many years in the last century, in this very building, professors and students at the School of Cambodian Arts, the forerunner of today's Royal University of Fine Arts (URBA), worked on these same divinities, trying to reproduce the art of the past. This was an important step, but today, with Leang Seckon, we are reaching another level: the ancient forms, symbols and messages engraved in stone are finding new life in a modern and innovative artistic expression.

Golden Earth សុវណ្ណភូមិ by Leang Seckon at the National Museum

In Khmer, the name of this major event is សុវណ្ណភូមិ, suvannaphum, ‘the land of gold’, the mythical land that Indian sailors sought as they headed east... and that some of them found in Cambodia. Seckon himself explored the influence of Indian art on Khmer statuary during a trip to India in 2023. According to him, the originality of Cambodian art comes from this land:

”The Khmer people settled on the ancient marmite-shaped seabed where the Mekong River brings its waters to the Tonle Sap Lake every year. I see this as a natural enclosure (churning of the ocean of milk) that gave birth to the rich and fertile land of gold and the glorious civilisation of Angkor.“

Wars and calamities followed one another, and Seckon himself, a 9-year-old child during the civil war, remembers that ‘rice shoots bloomed in the fields, looking like grains of gold that nourished our lives’... Then, considering the stability brought by the royal government since 1993, he reflects:

“The golden earth I felt beneath my feet is my homeland, with the heritage and souls of my ancestors, imbued with grandeur and influence. Even though many Khmer artefacts have been lost in other countries, they are still drawn to this golden land, allowing these treasures to return home. Villages, rice fields, rivers, lakes, hills, forests, islands and sea coasts - the wealth above and below ground, in the water - are all part of the Khmer Golden Land, which continues to bring life down through the generations”.

A masterpiece at the centre of the exhibition expresses this message remarkably well: entitled ‘Guru Playing with the Dragon’, it is a bold composition combining several materials, showing ancient wisdom interacting playfully with the naga, the feminine symbol of vitality.

The exhibition runs from 12 January to 11 March 2025.

Source: Anicca Foundation

Exhibition photos: Lon Jadina

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