So another quick post about some of the stuff happening alongside the main classes.
Passing through RUFA the other day, i stumbled across some clay mouldings, hidden round the side of one of the buildings.They’re quite striking, and obviously from a previous era, so i started to get curious….
A short, semi-french conversation later, we found out that they were actually artworks done by Khmer students in the ’80s. This was a complex period in Cambodia’s history, when the Vietnamese had taken over power from Pol Pot in collaboration with some Cambodian leftists. Pol Pot retreated with his soldiers to the provinces, and the country was split into several pieces. This being the Cold War, the UK and US supported Pol Pot for strategic reasons, regularly attacking other parts of the country, and with harsh economic sanctions.
Anyway…. sometime during this period, art students were working in the capital under the auspices of the Vietnamese and Cambodian government, creating these representations of peace, brotherhood and soldiers. Now they stand, almost forgotten in an alleyway, ignored by students and teachers. Apparently, there are entire rooms full of old artwork somewhere in the University. It would be a fascinating task to revisit these artefacts from this most complicated time. One more job for next week…
