The blue lotus 6

Lotus

Issue 6 Spring 2017

The Blue

Arts Magazine

in this issue Kim Il Tae

Tomoko Nakai Cheong Kiet Cheng Robert Chabet Imee Ooi Morn Pisey 1

Lotus The Blue

Arts Magazine

welcome to

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Lotus The Blue

Arts Magazine

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Spring 2017

Front cover by Morn Pisey

inside....

6 Editorial

Thoughts on the current issue

by the Founding Editor

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Chinese New Year Penang

18 Korea’s Golden Artist

Kim Il Tae

28 Artist and Empire

(En) countering Colonial Legacies by Eva Wong-Nava

50 Spirit of Cambodia

Photo Essay

66 Tomoko Nakai Japanese Style

76 Behind Two Hills - The Chorus of Life

Cheong Kiet Cheng

84 Khmer Leather craft

Little Angels Orphanage, Siem Reap, Cambodia

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The Blue Lotus remains a wholly independent magazine, free from favour and faction.

94 Roberto Chabet Art Book, Philippines

96 Imee Ooi

Sound of Metta

108 Morn Pisey

From Angkor

118 An Atlas of Mirrors

By Eva Wong-Nava

138 Going Veggie in Siem Reap

Food Talk

Page 42 British Infantry Advance on Jerusalem, 4th of July, 1879, Andrew Gilbert 2015

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The Blue Lotus Arts Magazine Summer 2016 Editor: Martin A Bradley

email: martinabradley@gmail.com TBL TM Published December 2016 cover: From Amorous Delights

Lotus The Blue

Arts Magazine

Welcome to

The Blue Lotus Arts Magazine.

Here it has been the season of festivals. From Hari Raya right through to Thaipusun. New years have begun, Western and Eastern, St.Valentine’s Day over as we slowly drift towards Spring and all it might promise.

This issue brings a new writer, from Singapore, Art Historian Eva Wong-Nava, who has written two poignant articles concerning exhibitions in Singapore.

Further afield are artists from Cambodia, Japan and Korea, as well as spiritual sounds from Malaysia. Once again, The Blue Lotus fulfils its promise to bring the best from Asia, to you.

The Blue Lotus is a platform for international cooperation, aiming to bring creative Asia to the world, and the creative world to Asia.

Now read on

Martin Bradley (Founding Editor) The Blue Lotus Arts Magazine is an entirely free and non-associated publication concerned with bringing Asia to the world, and the world to Asia

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Switch Bitch Two by Martin Bradley 7

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Chinese N

New Year

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Raising red lanterns

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In Penang

Candle offerings

Gifts to the gods

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Honouring ancestors at new year

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Contemporary Penang

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Blasts from the past

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Kim Il Tae Korea’s

Golden Artist Kim Il Tae is the only known artist not to use gilding or gold leaf, but to use a rare mixture of natural oils as a medium to paint with gold, to produce his remarkable images.

Kim Il Tae’s work has been on sale at the prestigious Saatchi gallery in London May 12 to May 18, 2016 and 33 Auction in Singapore. Other exhibition venues include Tokyo, Japan, Jakarta, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Macau among many others around the world.

His recent popularity began when the famous Korean singer of ‘Gangnam Style’ Psy gave several of his paintings as gifts to friends and has continued with the prices of his works ever increasing. The list includes people such as: Ophra Winfrey (Presenter, Entrepreneur) Wesley Snipes (Hollywood actor) Don King (Mike Tyson promoter) Angelina Jolie (Hollywood Actress) Bill Gates (Microsoft Entrepreneur) Eric Schmidt (Google president) The Pope (Vatican City) Madonna (Singer) Ban Ki-Moon (UN secretary) Zhang Ziyi (Chinese actress) PSY (Korean pop idol)

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Kim Il Tae’s gallery in Chung-dam Dong, Seoul, Korea

Kim Il Tae working into the metal

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Kim Il Tae taking great care in emphasising his images

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Two Roses

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Kim Il Tae working into his artwork

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Kim Il Tae’s special gold mixture

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One of Kim Il Tae’s favourite subjects

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Artist an

(En)countering C An exhibition at the National Gallery of Singapore 6th October, 2016 – 26th March, 2017 A Critical Review by Eva Wong Nava Empire is a familiar word and concept for many of us living in postcolonial British nations in Southeast Asia, like, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Brunei; Empire is also familiar to those hailing from Australia, New Zealand, India, Africa and North America, with Empire forming a significant part of our histories, self-perceptions, and identities. Although familiar, Empire is also a challenging concept to define as it spanned for several centuries many diverse cultures and regions. This familiar and complex concept is revisited through the prism of art by National Gallery Singapore’s (NGS) collaboration with Tate Britain (TB) in Artist and Empire: (En)countering Colonial Legacies. The exhibition seeks to address and understand Singapore’s (and the region’s) relationship with Empire by asking questions like: ‘What has national identity in art to do with the colonial experience?’ and ‘How has the colonial experience informed artists’ choice of subject matter, reflecting a new national identity?’ without being overly romantic and nostalgic about Empire, as well as without being overly critical or judgemental. These reflexive questions are set in a larger framework of Empire that includes pieces from various post-colonial regions.

Low Sze Wee, co-curator of Artist and Empire explains that the exhibition is meant to concentrate on art works rather than focus on the history of Empire per se. This was an agreement that NGS had with the Tate Britain. The point of Artist and Empire is not to celebrate nor condemn Empire but to frame Empire within a dialogue of nationhood, identity and perception – both of self and the dominant gaze – all done through art. It is nothing but a colossal undertaking as visitors will note.

Singapore’s relationship with Empire is unique compared to that of, say, India’s and Myanmar’s. Founded by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1819 as a trading entrepôt for the East India Company, Singapore enjoyed a relatively benign and benevolent fate during Empire, before and after the Japanese invasion. Singapore’s raison d’être was its position as a port for British trade. Its population expanded as a result of its harbour and trading position. This will have positive repercussions for the future of independent Singapore.

Advised by Dutch economist, Dr Albert Winsemius, in the early 1960s to retain Raffles’s statue as a symbol to the rest of the world of Singapore’s acceptance and embracement of its British heritage, a replica of Raffles’ statue marks the spot by the Singapore River where he was supposed to have landed in 1819. Another stands in front of the newly refurbished Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. It is no wonder that Artist and Empire opens with Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1817, a portrait by George Francis Joseph. In this portrait, 28

‘The Secret of England’s Greatness’ (Que

nd Empire

Colonial Legacies

een Victoria presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber at Windsor) by Thomas Jones Barker, oil on canvas, circa 1863

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Statue of Queen Victoria. 1888. Marble. Photo by Emanuel Edward Geflowski

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Re:Looking 2002–2003 Wong Hoy Cheong (with a simplified installation in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore, 2016). 2003–200

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04. Mixed media.Video in the collection of Singapore Art Museum. Image courtesy of Ung Ruey Loon

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The North-West Passage, Sir John Everett Millais, Bt 1874

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Raffles takes his seat, document in hand, left elbow resting on several sheaths of paper, accompanied by stone carvings of the Buddha. In the background, is a landscape meant to depict a part of Empire. This portrait depicts Raffles as the Governor of Batavia as the date indicates. Raffles looks out of the frame at us, dignified, holding our gaze.

Portraiture, during nineteenth century Britain, functioned to commemorate acts of heroism, as well as to represent the status and power of the sitter. Portraits are usually hung at a height which obliges the viewer to look up at the person portrayed. The public, through Raffles’s portrait, is asked to confront him as a representative of Empire and as a public figure of stature.

Against this backdrop of the portrait’s function, Singapore artist, Lee Wen, erects a scaffolding at the supposed Raffles landing site in 2000. The scaffolding becomes a platform where the public encounters Raffles face-to-face. A blown up photograph of Lee Wen’s platform is juxtaposed against Joseph’s portrait of Raffles. Performance artist, Jason Lim, acted out his displeasure of the (colonial) statue by swearing aloud in both English and Hokkien (Chinese dialect) and flinging his sandals at it. Another perspective of Empire is enacted.

How we think about statues and stature is also explored by British artist, Hew Locke, in a series of works entitled, Restoration. By ‘restoring’ the photographs commissioned by the City of Bristol in 2006 in celebration of famous men who had contributed to the city’s wealth, Locke drilled holes into the photographs and playfully decorated the statues of Edmund Burke and Edward Colston with, amongst other things, costume jewellery, fake coins and shells. At NGS, we encounter two out of the four sets of these commissioned photographs. The glittery facade masks and defaces the statues’ identities. The materials used to create the glitter reflect the history of Bristol as a port where African spices, ivory and gold were shipped.

Would passers-by recognise Colston, 36

a merchant, whose wealth came from the African slave trade and Burke, a statesman associated with the abolition of slavery, behind all that shine? Locke asks us to confront the way we look and think about statues rather than what we do to them.

Tang Da Wu’s You see No Sunset on your soil, I saw your Son Sat on my paddy field (1986) also gives visitors another perspective on Empire. An Union Jack in the form of an English bulldog looms large on the canvas. A buffalo, a symbol of the sacred earth, and an emaciated worker tills the land that produces the precious rice grown abundantly in Asia. The rounded stomach of the bulldog is filled with kernels of long-grain rice, symbolising the darker consequences of Empire: the strain on natural resources. The title is self explanatory as indicated by the absence of curatorial text on the panel. Tang’s piece can be seen as a parody of Churchill, a symbol of British leadership and government, who is often likened to a bulldog due to the similarities in resemblance. It makes reference to the familiar saying, ‘the sun never sets on Empire’ with a humorous vernacular twist familiar to the locals. Through image and language, Tang subverts the notion of the heroism that is often linked to the Last Stand by asking visitors to view Empire through the lens of the colonised.

Artist and Empire occupies three galleries at the NGS. The curators are mindful to provide heterogeneous viewpoints of the colonial experience viewed through artworks spanning the nineteenth century to the twenty-first. As I meander through the exhibition, I cannot help but see Empire through my twenty-first century eyes and my position as a post-colonial daughter. Take for example, the painting of General Gordon’s Last Stand by George William Joy. Painted in the nineteenth century, it is a documentation of one of Empire’s heroes - General Charles George Gordon - who was assassinated by Sudanese forces. Gordon who had disregarded orders to evacuate Khartoum actually died a horrible and humiliating death. Instead of portraying the reality of Gordon’s end, Joy had chosen to paint Gordon in a heroic light. In the portrait, Gordon is seen defending himself valiantly as Muslim attackers lay siege on Khartoum and murdered him. This painting went on to influence other depictions of Gordon’s last stand. Stepping back to take in the entirety of this large painting (236 x 175 cm), I cannot help but think of the futility of Gordon’s life. However, the portrait seen in the period of Empire, delivers a different message to the citizens of Great Britain. As Empire celebrates its heroes, what would colonised subjects make of this painting? I step away from General Gordon’s Last Stand with Spinoza’s words in mind that every man and woman ‘fight for their slavery as if they were fighting for their liberation’.

In Gallery One: Countering the Empire, Picturing Power which is a display of mainly portraits, paintings, and colonial memorabilia, one significant installation by Andrew Gilbert stands out. This installation is entitled,

Untitled (Raffles) ( 2000 ) by Lee Wen.(JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, by George Francis Joseph, 1817

British Infantry Advance on Jerusalem, 4th of July, 1879. The date refers to the defeat of the Zulu army by the British at Ulundi. Gilbert’s piece asks a pertinent question involving the reversal of fate: ‘what if the Zulus had invaded England instead?’ The installation parodies the British army’s preoccupation with pageantry through a surreal display of figures dressed incongruously in an assortment of military uniforms. The faces of these figures are veiled by potato sacks, feathers, fur, an African mask, brown raffia string, and they are holding everyday objects like a teacup and vegetables, providing a sense of the unreal and surreal. The mannequin-size figures march towards the visitors as they enter the partitioned section of the first gallery. Zombie-like, this spectre of figures also resemble Zulu fetish icons. We start to encounter aspects of Empire which are far from nostalgic and romantic in this part of Gallery One; as the curators have promised; we start to counter Empire.

Malaysian artist, Zulkifli Yusoff makes a statement with his Hujan Lembing di Pasir Salak (Raining Spears at Pasir Salak), 2008. From the real spear held by one of Gilbert’s mannequin, the visitor’s eye turn towards Yusoff ’s spears as they rain down on scanned black and white illustrations depicting the 1875 assassination of J.W.W. Birch, Perak’s first British Resident, at Pasir Salak.

Birch was assassinated by angry Malay warriors opposing certain British 37

Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match, Johan Zoffany, c. 1784-86

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Hujan Lembing di Pasir Salak' (Raining Spears at Pasir Salak), Zulkifli Yusoff, 2008

Mrs Sullivan, Cheong Soo Pieng, ink on paper, 1959.

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Ahmat, Richard Walker, 1930.

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An Australian Native [Portrait of a lady] Tom Roberts, 1888.

administrative policies. On first glance, Yusoff ’s acrylic on canvas belies the reality of this event. The primary hues of blue, yellow and red do not suggest the underlying violence that this piece alludes to. It is only on closer inspection that the eye detects the story behind the coloured-in illustrations which were drawn from British newspapers of the period. The rebellion was eventually suppressed, the amok warriors tried and hanged, and the sultan of Perak deposed.

Yusoff questions the futility of Birch’s assassination because it led to efforts by the colonial government to consolidate its control often working through local rulers. This painting summarises the success of colonialism: ‘divide and rule’.

As visitors meander from Gallery One through to Gallery Two: Countering the Empire: Producing Knowledge, they start to encounter the idea of self and identity that this exhibition promises to explore. We are privy to some pieces from private collections that document this region’s relationship with Empire. Ahmat, 1930 is a portrait of a Malay man in a songkok by Richard Walker. An art teacher in Singapore for many years, this painting was probably produced while Walker was teaching in Singapore. Walker worked and lived in Singapore until his retirement in 1951. The display of Ahmat is as much about the sitter as it is about the man who painted him. We learn that Walker was Art Superintendent in 1937 who founded the Singapore Art Society in 1949 with several British and local men. We also learn the subject of choice by many colonial artists of the period: the locals. The sitter of this portrait does not look the visitor in the eye unlike many of the sitters in the other portraits. Instead, the Malay man in a songkok looks away from the viewer, his eyes glancing sideways, his head tilted slightly to our left, suggesting a position of deference, a sense of docility, perhaps. In displaying this portrait, the curators are asking us to consider the subject matter of choice by many colonial artists of the period – local people and how they are perceived by Empire.

Another colonial artist who also held a prominent post in Empire was Peter Harris. Harris was the first Art Superintendent in the Federation of Malaya between 1951 – 1960. An art enthusiast and supporter of the local art scene, Harris founded the Wednesday Art Group from holding regular Wednesday evening art classes. Harris was instrumental in encouraging his students to examine their heritage through art by exploring the multicultural aspects of the Malayan society.

The legacies of Empire are also reflected through works by artists painting in Australia and New Zealand. British artist, Tom Roberts, who died in Australia, is known as a portraitist who was fond of depicting ‘natives’ of Australia. Roberts’ An Australian Native portrays an Australian born woman in a pink gown and a decorated hat. Painted in 1888, the title of this oil painting suggests the view Roberts has of the subject as an archetypal Australian-born woman as both a ‘native’ which denotes a sense the painter’s own superiority as a member of the British elite and ‘a lady’ which is set in parenthesis, as if, to suggest that her being a lady is an afterthought to her being first a native; the latter part of the title - ‘(Portrait of a lady)’ - is indicative of how (European) subjects born on Empire’s soil are perceived. The title may also suggest the wave of nationalism spreading through Australia at that time, resulting in the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.

In Gallery Three: Encountering Artistic Legacies, we begin to see the how Empire has influenced artists. What are these legacies?

The most imposing painting that the visitor encounters walking into Gallery Three is Thomas Jones Barker’s ‘The Secret to United Kingdom’s Greatness’ (Queen Victoria Presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber of Windsor), 1863 (1.676 x 2.138 cm). On loan from the National Portrait Gallery the painting is spectacular in many ways. The viewer will be enthralled by its painterly details: the magnificence of colour contrasts in the Queen’s gown - she is clad in a virginal white crinoline with a royal blue train fastened to her bodice by a floral corsage - ,the plume in her tiara mirroring that in the envoy’s headdress, the use of white to achieve the glow on both the Queen’s and the envoy’s skins,and 41

British Infantry Advance on Jerusalem, 4th of July, 1879, Andrew Gilbert 2015

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Undiscovered, #7, Michael Cook, 2010.

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especially the contrast of skin colour. On her right wrist the Queen wears a pearl bracelet with a cameo of the profile of her consort, Prince Albert. The details on this painting are exquisitely executed from the lace on the Queen’s gown to the jewellery worn by the envoy. These painterly details separate great artists from the good ones. The realism is breath-taking. However, the subject matter is controversial in so many ways because it obfuscates the reality of Empire’s exploitative nature. In presenting the Bible and connecting it to the United Kingdom’s greatness, the painting emphasises the attitude of colonial religious exploits. The scene is an imagined one alluding to an unfounded but popular anecdote in the 1850s which tells of the Queen presenting the Bible to one diplomatic delegation when she was asked how had Britain become so powerful and renowned. Is this the legacy that this exhibition intends to portray… in a good light?

As I walk through the gallery, my thoughts turn randomly to the purpose of this exhibition. Does it refrain from critiquing Empire? Does it veer away from aggrandising colonialism? What statement is this exhibition trying to make of the artists painting during Empire? In this final gallery, the visitor is able to view works of art by various artists who painted between Empire and their nation’s independence.

Cheong Soo Pieng was a Singaporean modernist whose oeuvre spanned from Empire to independence. Combining Chinese brush strokes with the characteristics of oil painting, Cheong executed works of art depicting native women in Malaya and Bali. He was forthcoming in experimenting with Chinese ink painting and Western oil techniques. Born in China, he practised in Singapore. Cheong is one of the painters known collectively as the Nanyang Artists. In his work, I see a distinct style, a hybrid mix of East and West.

Two Sisters, (1964) depicts two Malay women in traditional dress. There is a Modigliani-esque familiarity to Two Sisters. The local subjects hold our gaze and we are drawn to the expressive strokes of colours because in these strokes, we recognise hints of European Expressionism. Yet for those of us familiar with Chinese ink painting, our eye is drawn to the flatness of form in this painting.

By including Cheong’s paintings (an untitled painting of two Balinese is also on display), the curators intend to expand on the artistic legacies retained by many artists painting on the cusp of colonialism and independence, at a time when local artists started to respond to their new identities as independent citizens of a new nation state. Appropriating the genre of painting natives from the British, artists like Cheong subverts the colonial gaze away from natives as exotic subjects to natives as personal reflections of the self. This is also apparent in Jamini Roy’s Santhal Girl (Flower).

How one reads or views art is a subjective experience. To maintain neutrality is asking viewers to suppress their emotional responses that often come with looking at art. By doing so, art’s purpose has been defeated. The exhibition promises an experience of Empire through artworks and this goal has clearly been achieved. But artworks do not stand alone outside of interpretation.

Furthermore, interpretation is often an emotional reading of the work.

Artist and Empire is Singapore’s attempt at a collaboration with a renowned British museum. On the one hand, it is a successful collaboration which has brought pieces of artwork that could only be seen at the Tate Britain and/or other British institutes to Singapore. The exhibition also saw NGS collaborating with private and other international collectors, bringing rare works of art to the shores of Southeast Asia; it has also included many pieces from local collections. On the other hand, the theme of this collaboration has touched many raw nerves amongst some Singaporeans. It is a colossal effort to maintain neutrality whilst opening up a dialogue on colonialism, identity and self in a setting still beset with the emotional scars of Empire.

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Santhal Girl, Jamini Roy, Tempera on Card, undated.

Eva Wong Nava has contributed to various arts and culture magazines.

She has a writing qualification from Sotheby's Art Institute. Based between Singapore and Italy, her research interests are in late Byzantine art and its relation with the Italian Renaissance. She thinks Raphael is really a 'divine' artist. Singapore has given her the opportunity to study Southeast Asian portraiture and she is interested in religious motifs found in modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art.

With enormous thanks to the National Gallery of Singapore for the images for this article, and for information leading to this article.

Two Sisters, Cheong Soo Pieng, 1964

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Amrit & Rabindra KD Kaur Singh, EnTWINed, Poster, gouache and gold dust on conservation mount board, 2010.

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one woman

Every so often a book appears that reveals and illuminates a project that might otherwise remain largely unknown by the outside world: ‘Colors of Cambodia’ is such a book. This is a highly personal and passionate account written by Martin Bradley and illustrated by Pei Yeou Bradley of her encounter with a remarkable art-based project in and around Siem Reap in Cambodia, and how she was drawn into practical involvement with the children for whom the project exists.

The book shows how a small NGO run by William Gentry in Siem Reap has been able to reach out to children in local schools, some in areas of great poverty, through the medium of art, and to give them hope for the future in a country that has suffered so much. The children and their families who are drawn into the project prove how art can cross all borders of language and culture. The book also tells of how Malaysian children and their parents have been encouraged to support the project and to become involved with the children and their work.

This is a highly personal and passionate account written by Martin B remarkable art-based project in and around Siem Reap in Cambodia, for whom the 48

n’s journey

And there is the additional touch of magic as Pei Yeou and Martin tell of their meeting and of how he too was drawn into the story, and contributes to it, and of how it changed his life. His sensitive words and poetry add another colour to this unique book In a world in which the news is bad more often than not, this inspirational book tells a story of optimism and success, and of how dreams can become true.

Richard Noyce, Artist and Writer, Wales, July 2012

contact honeykhor@gmail.com martinabradley@gmail.com

Bradley and illustrated by Pei Yeou Bradley of her encounter with a , and how she was drawn into practical involvement with the children project exists.

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Spirit of Cambodia

Harvested

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Making Lunch

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In the fields

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Market Fruit

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Khmer Doughnuts

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Fish barbequed

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Dried Lotus Pods

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The Remains

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All images by Martin Bradley

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Tomoko Nakai

There's a sound

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Zhou yu

Tomoko Nakai was born in Kyoto. Her parents are also artists. Perhaps because of this she enjoyed painting from her childhood. She started Japanese style painting after she entered Tokyo University of the Arts. Her paintings are exhibited in many solo exhibitions in Japan. She also draws illustrations for fairy tale or illustrated books. Her husband is a professional Irish harpist.

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The Invisible Poem

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'Cheer' (song)

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The Strange (film)

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Lights

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The music of the curtains

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It's a long time

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Cheong Kiet Cheng Behind Two Hills - The Chorus of Life

A Poem Of A Big Bang Existence, Acrylic on canv

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vas, 2016.

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Dancing with Phoenix, Acrylic on canvas, 2016.

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Springhead, Acrylic on canvas, 2016

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Cecil the Lion, Acrylic on canvas, 2016.

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Behind Two Hills - The Chorus of Life

by Cheong Kiet Cheng

Wei-Ling Gallery is pleased to present Behind Two Hills – The Chorus of Life a solo exhibition by Malaysian emerging contemporary artist, Cheong Kiet Cheng. This marks the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. The first being Sing to the land of my heart in 2015.

Having recently become a mother for the first time, Cheong Kiet Cheng’s perspective on life has been substantially altered. Through her latest body of works, Cheong uses life’s latitude to probe, to prostrate before God. Every piece is created from tranquillity; the start of each piece represents a commencement of daily worship. Every day in this new phase of her life, Cheong encounters endless surprises that continue to astonish her. The artist then records her experiences in a whimsical composition of humans, animals and nature.

Just like a pregnant mother devotes love to her child, Cheong Kiet Cheng devotes herself to the process of creating her works.

“It is like each time I step into the forest, I am amazed at the wholeness of nature that God has given us. From there, I obtain the inspiration, ideas and love to create each work. Though we exist as creations of God, we also play a part in the creation of this world.”

In Sing to the land of my heart, the artist explores the laws of the universe where all beings go through the impermanent process of birth, aging, sickness and death.

Although beauty is not forever, decay is not necessarily ugly and we must come to terms with transience and imperfection. Behind Two Hills – The Chorus of Life can be seen as the next chapter, the works convey messages of creation, birthing and coming to life whilst humbling and recognising the role that oneself plays in said process.

Behind Two Hills – The Chorus of Life was shown from 3rd January to 28th February 2017 at Wei-Ling Gallery.

Wei-Ling Gallery is located at No. 8, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, 50470, Kuala Lumpur.

Please call 03-22601106 email weiling.johnlim@gmail.com for more information.

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Khmer leather

Little Angels Orphanage and Arts Centre Siem Reap 84

r craft

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Orphans, when taking time off from their edu

Working tirelessly to improve their considerab 86

ucation, delight in skill fully carving cow hide

ble craft skills, to earn a little for the orphanage 87

They dye, carve, to create images of local m

Visions of ancient Khmer Hindu mytho 88

myths for the delectation of future visitors

ology appear, as if by Cambodian magic 89

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There are lamps to light th and the Little An

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he way back to Cambodia ngels Orphanage

All images by Martin Bradley

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King Kong Art Projects Unlimited is pleased to announce the publication of the first monograph on the life and art of Roberto Chabet (1937 – 2013).

Arguably the most important Filipino artist, curator and teacher of the postwar generation, Chabet laid the foundations of contemporary art in the Philippines with his conceptual works that critiqued the rigid conventions of Modernism.

Using mostly ready-mades, found objects and other everyday materials, he asserted a practice that is based on “the ephemeral, the fugitive, and the contingent” in art.

Launched last October 24, 2015 alongside an exhibition of Chabet’s works at MO_Space in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, this landmark book edited by Ringo Bunoan clues readers into the complicit threads of truth and fiction that runs through Chabet’s lifetime work. It includes a personal foreword by Benjamin Bautista and several essays by Filipino artists and curators Ronald Achacoso, Ringo Bunoan, Lena Cobangbang, Cocoy Lumbao, Jonathan Olazo, Carina Evangelista, Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, and Ma. Victoria Herrera. The book explores different aspects of Chabet’s practice and persona, offering multiple vantage points from which to view and understand his work. Drawing from Chabet’s extensive archive, it contains hundreds of images of artworks, 94

exhibitions, and gatherings of artists, many of which are published for the first time. Supplementary texts including a comprehensive time line and bibliography also provide further contextual information.

For inquiries, email kingkongartprojectsunlimited@gmail.com.

BOOK INFORMATION: Editor: Ringo Bunoan Foreword by Benjamin Bautista Essays by Ronald Achacoso, Ringo Bunoan, Lena Cobangbang, Cocoy Lumbao, Jonathan Olazo, Carina Evangelista, Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, and Ma. Victoria Herrera Publisher: King Kong Art Projects Unlimited, Philippines Designer: B+C Design, Philippines Printer: Solutions, Hong Kong Publication Date: 2015 Format: Hardcover / 29 x 25 cm / 432 pages / Full Colour Language: English ISBN: 978-971-95036-1-7

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imee ooi

I had been aware of Buddhism and its philosophy for many decades. It was a sixties thing. I visited the Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green, London, a few times and became a little more familiar with chanting and meditation. My spiritual path has been strewn with pebbles, and the occasional rock. Likewise my musical tastes, which I admit to being if not eclectic, then certainly very complex.

In quieter moments, the soothing music of Eire’s Enya and siblings (Clannad), the ambient music of Amethystium, the early music by Brian Eno, Vangelis, Jon Anderson vocals, the more spiritual portions of Yes, Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd have all held their musical sway over me.

In search of something a tad more meaningful I would raid YouTube. During one such raid I came across a modern version of Om Mani Padme Hum, later a chant of Metta, cool clear and very very vibrant. I took no note of the singer/ composer but enjoyed re-visiting the links. Over time, I became aware that the two segments of music I mentioned had been produced by a Malaysian composer, Imee Ooi. That fascinated me.

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sound of metta

It is a psychological truism that once you have become aware of something you find it everywhere. It was to be true of Imee Ooi too. I began to see her face, hear her music, notice her concerts like I had not before. I missed a grand concert in Indonesia, but was able to listen to an interview with her on YouTube.

Suddenly, as if presented by some invisible, intangible hand I became aware of the Sound of Metta concert, at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, featuring Imee and JSJG (Dharma Boy’s group).

The concert was exquisite. The music, heavenly. The dance divine. It all melded into a delightful whole which seemed to lift not just our spirits, but our very souls. We all were transported to a different realm. Sent to lands of lotus budding and bursting forth with flower, taking us with them, being transported to higher realms. The concert was holistic. The design team, the costumers, the lighting and sound engineers played as much part of that performance as the dancers, singers and musicians. They came together to produce the impossible - a near perfect performance.

Imee Ooi’s music is a reminder of what we are all capable of if only, like 97

the lotus, we stretch our heads from the mire and bask a little in the sun.

She reminds us of a simple truth, and I am indebted to her for that. In 1697, William Congreve wrote ‘Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast, To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.’ Imee Ooi’s music does so much more, it calms, soothes and is the perfect accompaniment to meditation. For me the music is transformative, transcendental even, it is that promised waterfall giving solace, balm and cool serenity. When we engage with Imee Ooi’s music we are, for its duration, held in arms of tranquility.

I had purchased Imee Ooi’s Compact Disc of Six Paramitas after that Sound of Metta concert at Malaysia’s KLPac. One of the CD’s sections - Prajna, begins with a simple, soft, musical refrain, twinkling like stars or a far of forest waterfall. The melody flows towards, melds with, the luxury of Imee Ooi’s vocals, gently washing over us, calming, gentle, a spiritual fantasy of sound.

Imee Ooi has grace, dignity, and an added spirituality which ultimately gives greater depth to her airs. Imee Ooi delights us with her musical and vocal skills, entrancing, rapturous and maybe even Orphic in the way her music is able to engage with us.

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Morn Pisey from Angkor

Khmer artist Morn Pisey, born in 1992, is from the northern Cambodian city of Battambang. He previously studied with the free art school Phare Ponleu Selpak, in Battambang, for two years, before leaving for Siem Reap where he studied at Colors of Cambodia for another two years. He continues to exhibit at Colors of Cambodia.

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an ATLAS o Singapore Art Museum

Inscription of an Island, Lim Soo Ngee, 2016.

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of MIR RORS

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Looking for the Self in the Singapore Biennale 2016

by Eva Wong-Nava The 2016 Singapore Biennale (SB), An Atlas of Mirrors, features 58 artworks from Southeast Asia, East and South Asia. Its curatorial purpose is to explore ‘[f ]rom where we are, how do we picture the world - and ourselves?’ This site specific exhibition, commissioned by the National Arts Council of Singapore, and held at various locations which includes the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and the National Museum of Singapore (NMS), uses the metaphors of reflection and perspective to invoke reflexive perceptions of identity and selfhood.

Mirrors project back to us what they reflect whether whole or distorted; these projected images become mapped in our minds as we visualise and perceive their reflections as fragments of ourselves in this world. This Lacanian perspective is important for individuation and the formation of self. In choosing this theme for the SB2016, the curatorial team wants to explore how the fluidity of imagined boundaries influence and affect self perception. They also want to explore the shared cultural histories of the region made up of Southeast, East and South Asia; shared histories of colonisation, self perception, and identity formation are reflected in distinctive pieces of artworks by various award winning artists with many pieces on display for the first time.

The broad theme ‘An Atlas of Mirrors’ is divided into nine ‘conceptual zones’ or sub-themes, for example: ‘An Endlessness of Beginnings’, ‘A Presence of Pasts’, ‘A Share of Borders’. These boundaries between zones, which can be seen as imaginary spaces of expression are headed by ‘specific collective nouns’ like ‘myths/cyclical time/ahistorical realities’, are fluid and ‘coincide, intertwine and reflect each other.’ In interpreting six artworks, and traversing the fluid boundaries between the nine sub-themes, this writer seeks to locate the Self.

Titarubi’s History Repeats Itself, 2016 is an installation piece looking at the legacies of colonialism in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia. The postcolonial self is a favourite exploratory device amongst many Southeast Asian artists. Born in 1968, in Bandung, Indonesia, Titarubi lives and works in Yogyakarta. Spectre-like figures cloaked in gold-plated nutmegs greet us in a gallery at SAM. Through nutmegs painstakingly fused together to create a cloak as signifiers of avarice, Titarubi references the spice trade that plied the seas between Southeast Asia and Europe for the nutmeg, a spice, that was worth its price in gold. This lucrative trade was the reason for the colonisation of Indonesia by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East Indies Company. This historical reflection by a post-colonial artist is significant because reflected in Titarubi’s work is a plea to present and future generations of Indonesians to not forget their past, to not forget the vices and avarice of colonial governments. The installation is in itself a reflexive referent to self identification and projections of self worth: what is Indonesia worth if not for its links to spices favoured by the Europeans?; What are Indonesians worth as a people of this land?

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History Repeats Itself, Titarubi, 2016.

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Enrique de Malacca Memorial Project, Ahmad Fuad Osman, single-channel video, nutmeg and clove casts, replica & found objects, oil paintin

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ngs and works on paper, , 2016

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Aftermath,Pannaphan Yodmanee, 2016.

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to remind viewers of an historical episode when competitors’ ships were burnt by the VOC in their attempt to control the spice trade. The cloaked figures can be read as allegories of obfuscation: nutmeg was believed to have curative qualities that prevented the plague; its goodness was also in masking the smell of decaying meat. During the infestation of the plague in Europe, the wealthy carried purses filled with nutmeg because they believed that inhaling the spicy vapours emitted by the fruit, the pestilence circulating in the air could be avoided. Shavings of nutmeg were added to snuff boxes for inhalation, carried

by European males, also for their preventative and curative qualities. It is no wonder that this spice cost its weight in gold. Nutmeg was soon devastated by poor soil quality, natural disasters, and plant disease in Southeast Asia but thrived in other colonies; seedlings of the plant had to be surreptitiously exported, indeed, these seedlings were often stolen out of Indonesia and taken to other colonies in the Caribbean or Africa. The hefty price imposed for this theft by the Dutch government was the death penalty. Titarubi’s charred ships are also visual reminders of the massacre of the indigenous Bandanese by the VOC to eliminate competition.

The nutmeg with its vermilion mace enveloping the nut which has a vacuous centre speaks of the emptiness of pomposity and the illusion of status. All is futile as evidenced by the subsequent demise of the plant and the rising death toll due to the plague despite the apparent curative qualities of this spice.

The VOC also met a disastrous end: bankruptcy and wars in Europe led to its eventual downfall. The fall of the VOC changed the geographic boundaries of ownership in Southeast Asia as subsequent maps will testify; this will also cause the re-naming of Indonesia’s capital to Jakarta.

Boundaries are ephemeral constructions, illusory depictions of belongingness and un-belongingness. In Asia, lands are identified by their religious affiliations; lands are also re-named as are their inhabitants for various reasons deemed functional to colonial governments. For example, Thailand was once Siam (although Thailand was never colonised but identified so in European maps) and Myanmar was Burma. Both countries identify themselves as Buddhist as opposed to Indonesia and Malaysia where the principal affiliation is to Islam.

Subsumed into this identity is the formation of self through the flux of trade and migration that has been taking place for centuries as religions were brought to this landmass through commerce and colonisation. The power of identification cannot be overlooked as the self always emerges in artistic expression. However, the identity of the post-colonial self is sometimes fraught with ambiguity and uncertainty. Boundaries of ownership are also ephemeral constructs in Southeast Asia as myths containing stories of powerful princes, brave warriors and significant personalities abound; these are intertwined with legends passed

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down through oral citations which then became truths. As Southeast Asian landmass is often shared, attribution of originality and ownership is difficult to ascertain. Who do these personages belong to? This notion is explored by Malaysian artist, Ahmad Fuad Osman.

Osman continues the analogy centred on ships and spices in his Enrique de Malacca Memorial Project 2016 but this time addressing the issue of historical fiction and myth making. Born in 1969 in Kedah, Malaysia and working and living in Bali, Osman’s multidisciplinary work which includes a single-channel video, nutmeg and clove casts, replica and found objects, as well as, oil paintings and works on paper explores the figure of Enrique of Malacca, a slave and interpreter of Ferdinand Magellan. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines lay claims to Enrique who is a Malay by the name of Panglima Awang. It is believed that Awang was the first person to circumnavigate the world. Historical documents attest to Awang, known in European records as Enrique in Spain or Henrique in Portuguese. Converted to Roman Catholicism as attested to by Magellan, this monolithic figure of Panglima Awang is refracted as Enrique to the Spaniards, Henrique to the Portuguese and Panglima Awang in the Malay world. Osman reflects on the authenticity of identity in the process of naming; he also seeks to explore the fragmented self in the figure of Awang. Who is Panglima Awang also known as Enrique of Malacca whose historical presence is documented by the Italian historian Antonio Pigafetta? No other accounts of this major circumnavigator exists. Can we really have faith in the existence of this man as we do of other historical figures like Ferdinand Magellan? Can we say that Panglima belongs to the Malays or the Europeans? In questioning one’s state of belongingness, it is important to locate this reflexive questioning of the self in the psychology of the colonised because the mapping of the colonial subject is a reflection of a complex process of myth making and historical story telling. This process of identification requires us to negotiate our positions within binaries of truth/myth, permanence/ambiguity and us/them. Osman is an artist keen on exploring what it is that defines us as humans. For him, it is ‘the constant negotiation between what he calls the ‘two forces’ led by ecstasy and agony, hope and despair, the spiritual and the material, […].’

An aspect of myth making and negotiation between the spiritual and the material is manifested in Pannaphan Yodmanee’s Aftermath, 2016. This powerful mixed media installation asks viewers to question the validity in seeking comfort in our religious faiths amidst worldly futility; Yodmanee is interested in examining the relevance of Buddhist philosophy in daily lives.

Combining materials of found objects, paint and concrete, Buddhist icons are fused on a concrete mural reconstructed to map the Buddhist cosmos. The Buddhist cartography of heaven and earth has deep relevance for this female

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Growing, Hemali Bhuta, incense sticks, monofilament threads, metal weights, tape, staple pins and hooks, Installation, 2016,

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Cooking the World, Subodh Gupta, found aluminium utensils, monofilament line and steel, 2016

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Melampaui Batas (Beyond Boundaries), Made Djirna, antique boat, terracotta and found materials, 2016

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Mardijker Photo Studio, Agan Harahap, installation with framed photographs (digital C print on paper), 2015.

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artist, born in 1988 in Si Thammarat, Thailand and working in Bangkok. The Buddhist philosophy of karma, suffering and rebirth is endemic in her work as she uses Traditional Thai art combined with contemporary materials to explore her state of mind as a Thai national artist and Buddhist. Replicas of stupas set on the floor attest to the Buddhist attachment to reliquary. This earthly attachment runs counter to Buddhist philosophical teaching of material detachment which is expounded in the karmic cycle of release.

The Buddhist cosmos stems from the philosophy which states that the karmic cycle is formed by a myriad of realms which the soul must pass through before it attains purity and finally enlightenment. This fabricated belief echoes the process of myth making where themes are repeated and recycled through time

Mardijker Photo Studio, Agan Harahap, 2015.

and then lodged into our collective unconscious which forms our perception of self and identity. In this karmic recycling of the self, we become distorted, fragmented without ever losing our purpose, the purpose of rootedness and relevance. We return constantly to the self even as the container for the soul changes in shape and form. This is the Buddhist belief although Yodmanee asks us to question its relevance in our lives.

Another piece of work that references Buddhist concepts can be found in Hemali Bhuta’s Growing, 2016, although these concepts are not apparently obvious initially. Bhutan was born in 1978 in Mumbai where she lives and

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Dislocate (3 images), Bui Cong Khanh, Jackfruit wood, cotton, acrylic, bronze, stone Multiple components,. 2014 to 2016.

works. She is the cofounder of CONA Foundation, an artist-run art space there.

Her installation is made up of incense sticks strung together and suspended by metal hooks from above. It forms an olfactory curtain in a darkened repository.

The fragrance of the incense is experienced in the brain’s olfactory centre before a visual contemplation is possible. This curious synaesthetic experience where our noses are titillated before our vision is exposed to the work builds up anticipation and expectation. The use of incense sticks is a reference to Buddhist burnt offerings and the installation is a reference to an earlier work, The Shedding (2008). Thus, Growing can be viewed as a reflexive referent to a previous existence, a karmic recycling. The essence of the soul remains constant but its container changes with time. Contained in Growing is a reference to growth, life and death and what the curators call ‘the state of ‘in-betweeness’.’

Bhuta’s work is self evident in returning to itself as a reference for continuity.

The state of an in-between existence is documented by Agan Harahap’s Mardijker Photo Studio, 2015. Harahap’s installation of archival photographs of superimposed native faces and bodies in European clothing and Europeans in native dress is a statement of self awareness and identity. Using ‘crossdressing’ as a metaphor for cultural mixing, Harahap wants viewers to gaze uncomfortably at identity as societal mirages.

Mardijkers are descendants of freed slaves found in major trading ports in the East Indies. The reworked images are formed of colonial photographs taken of

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natives that were known by the Dutch as ‘indigenous Christians’. Madijkers were of Portuguese ancestry and spoke a patois language of Portuguese and eventually Betawi which influenced the formation of the Indonesian language.

Although they have adopted European ways and religion, namely Christianity, Mardijkers were always perceived more as natives than Europeans by the colonial government. In reworking archival photographs, Harahap, an Indonesian native, born in 1980, asks us to consider how photographic documents can obscure true depictions of their subjects. How do we perceive the Other even as the Other does not see itself as such? Natives were often exoticised by colonial governments in their attempts at documentation. This installation subverts the notion of the dominant gaze back onto itself: Singaporean and other Southeast Asian visitors, especially those who have lived under colonial governments, are obliged to view these photographs as (fragmented and distorted) reflections of themselves, particularly as independent citizens of freed nation states. This installation also echoes Amartya Sen’s notion that we are more than a singular identity; we are fragments of distorted selves that are formed through consistent negotiations between opposing streams of consciousness.

Artistic expressions often result in catharsis. In Dislocate, 2014-2016, (SAM at 8Q), Vietnamese artist Bui Cong Khanh creates a central Jackfruit wood sculpture containing images of a Vietnamese military jacket, GI helmets worn

by American soldiers intertwined with floral and animal motifs favoured by both the Chinese and Vietnamese. Khanh is interested in how social and national identities are formed. Vietnamese heritage lies on the cusp of Classical Chinese culture (due to a millennium of Chinese colonisation) and Vietnamese traditions. Born and working in Vietnam, Khahn traces his ancestral lineage to Fujian, China. This is expressed in the Chinese woodcarvings that inhabit his installation. In using the highly sought after Jackfruit wood, Khahn pays homage to his father, an adept Jackfruit wood carver and to his mother, an artisan skilled at creating dishes from Jackfruit. Like many Chinese belonging to the diaspora, Khahn seeks meaning in his identity as a Vietnamese. It is easy to mistake Vietnamese culture and traditions as synonymous to that of the Chinese. At first glance, Classical Vietnamese tradition seems akin to that of China with its court system of mandarins and social hierarchy that mirror ancient Chinese political traditions. A visit to Hue, Vietnam’s ancient capital, would confound the visitor due to the city’s many ancient buildings with architectural similarities to those found in China. Khahn is ‘deeply fascinated with social assumptions about cultural heritage’. One is reminded of the Cartesian phrase ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’.

Cogito Ergo Sum - I think therefore I am - is significant in the formation of self because according to Descartes, it is the doubting self that forms the reality of one’s existence; in fact, Descartes asserts that conscious thought results in authentic formation of self. Khahn’s work combines Fujianese traditional symbols with motifs depicting modern and contemporary Vietnamese heritage symbols that echo the Vietnam War and French occupation, motifs - missiles and military paraphernalia - that are etched onto the psychology of the Vietnamese cortex, forming a map of memories attached to self perception.

Khahn also investigates and highlights the geo and social-political tensions between China and Vietnam in this piece of work. By combining both Chinese symbols - lotus and dragons - and motifs familiar to the Vietnamese, Dislocate is ‘an act of catharsis’ for the artist. In this work, the artist recognises and accepts

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Karagatan (The Breadth of Oceans), Gregory Halili, oil on mother-of-pearl shell and oil on pearl (set of 50), 2016.

his intertwined Chinese-Vietnamese heritage: he thinks, therefore he is.

Mirrored in the act of paying tribute to his parents in using the Jackfruit wood is the act of filial piety, an important Confucius ethic practised by both the Vietnamese and Chinese. The act of paying tribute is also reflected in the sculpture’s four pagoda guardian figures on plinths surrounding the central sculpture. Here, Khahn gives a nod to Vietnamese resilience against SinoWestern expansionism. We witness once more religious motifs at work in referencing self and nation.

The Singapore Biennale 2016 has been a journey of self discovery for this writer. The works mentioned above have all been successful in using the metaphors of reflection and perception to seek meaning of selfhood and identity.

The ephemeral and nebulous boundaries are crossed through thoughtful self expression rooted in cultural and historical understanding of the self within the borders that make up Southeast, East and South Asia.

SONIC reflection, Zulkiflie Madmod, 2016.

All images Courtesy of Singapore Art Museum 137

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Over many years, many trips, to Siem Reap (guardian of the ancient city of Angkor and its temples), I have approached different culinary aspects of this veritable Eastern delight. This trip I wanted to see what Siem Reap offers people of a vegetarian persuasion. Not Vegan, you understand, as that would have been too narrow a field, but those shunning meat and fish, yet happy with dairy products.

With the Western world becoming increasing conscious of their collective lack of longevity, a concern with weight, fitness, diets, and dieting reigns supreme.

This diet, that diet, digital watches which monitor heartbeats, calories burnt etc, all are indications of a middle class society frantically enjoying the good life and, simultaneously, morbidly afraid to loose it through death. Concerned individuals drag their bodies to gyms, they walk, or cycle, endless miles but in reality get nowhere. Others head half-way around the world to walk as many miles over rough terrain, under an ancient, sundering, sun their plastic water bottles of unsullied H2O in hand.

I was back in Siem Reap for the Christmas and New Year period. Julien Poulson's Cambodian Space Project leapt from the speakers at riverside Sister Srey Cafe. Still a little hypnotised by Srey Thy’s voice, I looked up. A Khmer man walked by. He was squeezing repeatedly on a plastic bottle, sounding like a child’s squeaky toy. He was advertising his presence and that of his cart, collecting empty plastic bottles. Another man pushed a small blue, plastic, trolley down the very same road. He was selling the half-sized baguettes eponymous to Siem Reap. I had, once more, gazed out over my ‘Flat White’ at the tea-stained river and it's busying breakfast streets. Those streets thronged with scooters/ small-engined motor cycles. People hustled to work, school. Tourists sought breakfasts as I had, minutes before. I had stretched sleepy limbs, paid for my Eggs Bene-Licious and re-entered the town (in a very Jim Morrison way).

It was easier than I had expected to select a vegetarian alternative. Younger (Western) tourists had brought their fear of death and zest for life with them.

Cafes and smaller vegetarian restaurants had sprung up like proverbial vegan, or is that magic, mushrooms, offering veggie alternatives to Siem Reap's already excellent meat and fish fare.

Truthfully, I was coming to vegetarianism from an entirely outsider's viewpoint. I'm basically a non-vegetarian who tries to balance his week between eating, and not eating, meat. I have a greater, or lesser, success depending on the day, the week, the weather and my quite obvious capriciousness. For this article I endeavoured to put myself in another's shoes for a couple of weeks, the fit was not uncomfortable.

Veggie alternatives are frequently not cheaper than carnivore fare. Extra ingredients are needed to make vegetarian meals tastier. Special seeds (Chia), exotic salts (Pink Himalayan), peppers (Kampot) and costly vinegars/expensive oils needed to boost flagging appetites. A whole business has grown around the embellishment of mediocre fare; adding taste to the otherwise tasteless, yet healthy. Mayonnaise becomes fused with beetroot, guacamole, tahini and hummus reach out from their ethnicities to tickle dulled Western taste buds.

Cambodia's Siem Reap is no exception. Fusion food abounds. Khmer and a variety of Eastern and Western foods bed down together to entice and delight.

It has become as true for vegetarian alternatives as it is for meat and fish dishes.

While there may be oodles of erstwhile vegetarian restaurants and cafes hidden away in Siem Reap (town and province), I sampled only those that I was able to find, and were open at the time.

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Khmer market fare

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Breakfast Burrito

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My vegetarian lunch quest was to last as long as I could find vegetarian, or vegan, restaurants in or near to Siem Reap city centre. Therefore one venue a day, hopefully with walking distance of the hotel (Viva Hotel and Restaurant).

My journey into Cambodian vegetarianism began thus…..

Siem Reap's old town has many intriguing passageways. In one, probably the most accessible, is Chamkar. This small restaurant is within easy reach of the Old Market and the infamous Pub Street. Despite a constant flow of multinational tourists, Chamkar succeeded in effusing intimacy, maybe even romance into the eating experience.

Chamkar (the passage) Mondul 1 Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap.

Having carefully scanned the menu, I ordered the Cambodian Pumpkin. It was advertised as stir fried pumpkin and pineapple, with yellow curry paste, coconut milk, toasted peanuts and fresh herbs. It was to be a poignant start to my Christmas quest. As it turned out, the food was as good as the access was easy. The meal was a subtle blend of East and West, with East pleasingly dominant on my taste buds.

A little outside of the main area, Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant would have been a five minutes walk away, if I hadn't been going there with friends. We were returning from a school visit and it seemed convenient for us all to go and enjoy the food and gardens after a morning’s work.

Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant.

26, Wat Bo Village, Slor Kram Commune, Siem Reap The Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant website makes the claim that it offers '100% vegetarian cuisine to support vegetarianism-environment awareness, health and the animals’ right. In order to compile our vegetarian restaurant to the best list vegetarian food we start by creativity menu, using seasonal vegetable, flower, root vegetable, bean, herb….. grown naturally.'

Our experience was slightly different.

Unfortunately, we arrived at the very same time as a Japanese coach party.

They emerged from their tour bus, bustling to get to their designated places, each before the other. For we meagre six, getting the attention of the waiting staff was difficult. Their entire attention was taken over by the larger group of tourists. Eventually, and with a great deal of patience on our behalf, we were waited upon, then served. Our party of six consisted of three Khmer, and three others (two Chinese Malaysians and myself - an overly large person of English heritage). We ordered Vegetable Amok ( a variation on the traditional Amok), Vegetable Curry, Vegetable Kor Ko (basically a mixed vegetable soup), Grilled Tofu with sweet and sour sauce, Vegetable Hot Pot and a variety of drinks, including one coconut and its water.

The food was photogenically delectable. But, sadly, all the dishes tasted

Vegetable Kor Ko

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Cambodian Pumpkin

Vegetable Amok

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Mini Baguettes

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Wild mushroom and Brie Rice Balls with Sesame, Marum and Beetroot Mayonnaise.

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Honest (veggie) Burger.

watered down and appeared to contain the very same mix of vegetables. The Khmers in our group agreed that the fare was mediocre, all except from the fresh coconut which, admittedly, was cool and spectacular. The gardens were spacious and peaceful, but the food left much to be desired and certainly could not convert me to a lifetime of vegetarianism, or even another afternoon.

On the same side of the river, that is the opposite side to the ‘Old Market’, sat Marum.

Marum #8A, B Phum Slokram (Between Wat Polanka and Catholic Church), Krong Siem Reap.

Marum falls under TREE (Training Restaurants for Employment and Entrepreneurship). They take local youths and give them employment possibilities. There are many such schemes in Siem Reap, especially in the restaurant trade. Some sceptical individual might enquire as to why there are so many of these NGOs/charities operating in a trade known for its cheap labour.

We ordered the Wild mushroom and Brie Rice Balls with Sesame, Marum (a leaf used in Khmer and Thai cooking, also called Moringa) and Beetroot Mayonnaise. Despite the menu claiming that dishes were ideal for sharing, the actual dish was minuscule. Luckily, we had also ordered the Lotus, Jackfruit and Coriander Hummus, with Crusty French Bread. The size of the two dishes had the appearance of being starters, but were intended as main dishes. Though tasty, both the dishes were far too small and left us hungry. Marum is a seemingly upmarket, yet training, restaurant. I shan't Labour the point about the dishes' size, but I wouldn't hurry back.

Next on a list partly obtained by the helpful Happy Cow - a website devoted to Vegetarian and Vegan foods, restaurants and suppliers, was Vibe. Vibe is near the Angkor Children’s hospital, and situated in an area now being promoted as Kandal Village - an area with cafés, restaurants and art galleries.

Vibe 715, Hup Guan Street, Kandal Village, Siem Reap.

I went to Vibe alone. My charity minded spouse was off Khmer school visiting (yes, again) with Colors of Cambodia volunteers and teachers.

Vibe has seemingly replaced a previous Halal restaurant, just next to Common Grounds, of which I have spoken before. Vibe is not large, and felt as if it were a veggie delicatessen with a few seats for dining.

I had ordered an Honest (veggie) Burger, described as - 'Our secret recipe bean and veggie pattie in a wholemeal seeded bun with fresh avocado. Fresh tomato.

Fermented cucumber pickles. Salad and homemade roasted tomato ketchup' this, to 149

Flattened and Roasted Banana

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Cappuccino Coffee with coconut milk

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Tamarind in its pod

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Wrapped Khmer dessert, glutinous rice with mung bean

be on the safe side, I accompanied with Cashew ‘ricotta’ cheese.

Unfortunately the burger patty was very dry and crumbly, quite unimpressive and a great setback for vegetarian food. I had also ordered Cappuccino Coffee with coconut milk. Coconut milk is now being used an alternative to having cow's milk, but for me it was a novelty I would, probably, not repeat.

Being dissatisfied with the meal up to that point, I ordered Mango and Vanilla Cheesecake, which sounded great on the menu. Unfortunately for me it had dried coconut (which had not been mentioned on menu). I have problems with very dry food but, otherwise the cheesecake was as advertised. The lunch for one person seemed a little expensive, but seems to be the case for veggie restaurants.

Continuing the search for vegetarian restaurants in Siem Reap, we took a tuk tuk to Peace Cafe. I had imagined some long lost hippy joint, a la Goa, flowing with kaftans, beads, bells and a strong scent of burning herbs. It wasn't.

Peace Cafe River Road Next To Ann Kau Saa Pagoda, Krong.

Peace Cafe was, in fact, a very peaceful garden set back from the road, in a more secluded sector of Siem Reap, and without a hippy in sight.

Out of an exciting, but poorly presented, menu we chose Banh Xeo Vietnamese Savoury Pancake, Miso Soup, and Spaghetti with zucchini, carrot, cauliflower and aubergine. We followed this with Khmer Sweet Pumpkin Dessert.

All were tasty and good value for money, though the Miso Soup was a little low on the Miso. The staff, as we have come to find in Cambodia, were a tad slow.

That said, we agreed that it was a place that we might return to.

We were staying at the Viva Hotel and Restaurant, so it seemed natural enough to me to want to sample their veggie alternatives.

Viva Street 08, Krong, (Old Market Area near Pub Street) While it's not a wholly vegetarian restaurant, Viva did have vegetarian alternatives on its menu.

The breakfast menu had a healthy selection of both veg and non-veg, as did the main menu. For breakfast, vegetarians could choose between toast, butter and jam, and French toasts (with honey or maple syrup) or the breakfast burrito (comprising scrambled eggs with potatoes, cheese and salsa wrapped in a flour tortilla). Also on offer were three pancakes with butter honey or maple syrup, or a cheese omelette. Viva restaurant's only problem seemed to be that it cannot decide to give free coffee with the breakfast, or not. One day it does, the next you have to pay. The other downside to Viva, is the erratic nature of its electricity supply. Like the coffee, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, leaving me for the second time, in two stays, showering in the dark and all that entails.

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Spaghetti with zucchini, c

carrot, cauliflower and aubergine

Pumpkin dessert with Coconut Milk

Vietnamese Savoury Pancake

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Pumpkin fresh from Khmer market

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Steamed Dumplings, Deep Fried Tofu, Straw Mushrooms BBQ.

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Rambutans in a local Khmer market

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Deep Fried Tofu

Kimchi Soup

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restaurants in Siem Reap, and another in Phnom Penh. One Vitking House, just across the river from the older town, is called Vitking House 2. It is close to the University of South-East Asia, with exactly the same menu but a more rustic approach, with wooden chalets, trees etc than the second Viking House (also called 2) which is a little further out of town in the opposite direction.

Vitking House 2 Taphul Village, Sangkat Svay, Dongkum Krong.

Chilli condiments

‘Google’ gives any number of different addresses for these two restaurants, but the above address is from the business card we obtained while at the first Vitking House 2 we visited.

We trod the gravel up to the front door. Even before entering we could see that Vitking House 2 was a larger venue. It had, effectively, three very spacious dining areas, with a large sign as soon as you entered proclaiming 'Vegetarian' all in caps, across a wall featuring a photo of a green field. Underneath that one word ran the legend 'let food be the medicine'. Above was the Vitking House logo, but no indication that we were, in fact, in Vitking House 1 or 2, in Siem Reap.

The food was every bit as good as online reviews had said. We had Kimchi Soup, Steamed Dumplings (the only let down, as they were practically tasteless), Deep Fried Tofu (crispy on the outside but silky smooth and soft inside, and great with the sauces provided). Next were Straw Mushrooms BBQ (effectively mushroom kebab skewers) and, for me, the highlight of the entire meal. I confess that it was the tastiest of the vegetarian meals we had that week, and the cheapest.

While primarily a restaurant targeted at the wealthier Khmer (the food was priced in Riel), the menu was dual language, and we did see a group of diners of mixed nationalities there. It felt very authentic Khmer, but upmarket and a little out of the way - a Khmer friend of ours had to guide the tuk tuk on his motorcycle, for us to get there.

I had spent some time in India, and very much enjoy Indian vegetarian food.

Noticing that there were several Indian restaurants in Siem Reap, I thought that I would chose one which had a good write up. A mistake.

Maharaja Sivatha Road, Krong Siem Reap, opposite Terrasse des Elephants Boutique Hotel.

Like many of Siem Reap's Indian restaurants, the Maharaja had obviously seen better days. The word 'dowdy' was perhaps coined to describe such places.

Perhaps it had once been smart, ten years previously, but time had marched on and the management had realised that they received customers no matter how the interior, or the menu outside, looked as it sat, colour faded to blue and yellow and pictures indistinguishable from each other. I took the risk and went in.

The Paneer Thali Set comprised of Mutter Paneer (green peas and Indian set curd), Baingan Bharta (roasted aubergine in a curry sauce), Dahl (lentils), Naan (Indian bread from a tandoor), Salad (small) and Rice (white). No pickles, no dessert. I ordered a sweet Lassi which was thin, but nevertheless tasty. To be 165

Sweet and Chilli Green Mango at local Khmer market

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Pomelo

honest, it was a bog standard affair with no surprises. It filled a hungry hole, but that was it. After recalling some of the excellent Thalis I had had on various trips to India, and my protracted stay in Chennai, I certainly wouldn't rush back to the Maharaja in Siem Reap.

Another day another vegetarian restaurant.

We had looked at Veg G Table online, and thought it an interesting place to eat. It was to be the final of the week's veggie restaurant quest. We walked about 25 minutes in the increasing heat, and eventually found the place tucked around the back of a quite seedy looking guest house. The guest house appeared open, but the quite unprepossessing 'restaurant' was closed. It was 1 pm, we were out in the Siem Reap boondocks, and hungry.

Veg G Table 175 Wat Bo Rd, Krong There was no sign to say that Veg G Table was closed. However, the door and serving hatch, at the back of what appeared to be the guest house, and which we could only assume might be the restaurant in question, were shut. There were no people in evidence. Everything appeared quite desolate. There was no notice on their website to say they were to be closed on Christmas Eve. We were tired, hot and very disappointed. We do not know if Veg G Table are simply closed for the Christmas break, or closed down. There was no information to say either way, not even on the large carrot poster at the front and I, for one, certainly wouldn't rush back to find out.

Elsewhere, in the markets, at the homes of local residents we found many exciting vegetarian dishes, including simply cooked papaya dishes to delicious desserts, and were grateful for people’s hospitality.

There were some disappointments, but overall the veggie quest was exciting and gave me a fresh slant on food available in Siem Reap. Would I visit any of the above again, yes, certainly.

Khmer jujube

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Caramelised Bananas at Khm

mer market

Sweet Pumpkin at Khmer market

Sweet Mixed Fruit at Khmer market

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Cucumbers Steeped in Pickled Fish Juice

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Khmer Shaved Ice Dessert with Palm Nut and Grass Jelly - the makings

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Khmer Shaved Ice Dessert ready to eat

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Dusun Pub Books by Martin

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Bradley

blications

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CAMBODIA CHINA ITALY

WITH MARTIN BRADLEY

MALAYSIA PHILIPPINES SPAIN 178