water tales

Water Tales is a visual romance by Stefano Morrone with SafeSpaceBTB.

It is art storytelling that drowns into the desires, fears, and memories of nine people belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community of Battambang, Cambodia.

Water is used as a theme in the portraits, as it is connected to the natural landscape. Battambang is known for its flooding during the rainy season, when the city seems to float due to the huge quantity of water present. Water also represents a transparent veil which society places on the LGBTQIA+ people to mute their voices.

In Battambang, before SafeSpaceBTB was born in 2018, there were no spaces for LGBTQIA+ people. The context is particularly traditional, and rural. Most LGBTQIA+ Cambodians try to escape to the capital city or other countries, where it is easier to integrate into the local community. This project was born from the necessity to learn more about aspects of this specific context in Cambodia, a society still in need of change and where the family is the heart and center of all decisions. This limits LGBTQIA+ Cambodians getting their rights, and stops them from being themselves.