Khvay Samnang is one of Cambodia’s most promising contemporary artists.His works often reflect on the attitudes towards Cambodia’s history, culture and natural environment.He is especially interested in the problem of exploitation of the natural resources, as well as the relationship between nature and culture, the present and the past.The installation “Footprints of Yantra Man” also draws on events from Cambodian history. Samnang creates a sort of memorial in a Berlin gallery to the Cambodian soldiers recruited by the French to fight in the First World War against the Germans.He incorporates traditional belief in magical amulets, called yantra and katha strings, which were meant to protect the soldiers from harm.At the same time, the artist makes this work deeply personal. The scattered pieces of armor, which the artist based on examples he saw in the German History Museum, are measured to fit his own body. Both Samnang’s and his family’s footprints are drawn across a red cloth placed at the other end of the room.In contrast to his earlier video work, such as “Untitled” (2011), where the artist often faces his audience directly, in “Footprints of Yantra Man” the artist reveals his presence only through objects and signs.Samnang draws the visitor’s attention to the effects of cultural appropriation. Cambodian rituals and traditions, while still practiced and observed in the artist’s homeland, in the context of the Berlin art gallery become mere museum curiosities.Samnang’s installation is a powerful and deeply personal examination of the effects of colonialism and globalization on the national heritage of Cambodia. The exhibition is at Künstlerhaus Bethanien and runs through September 20. Kottbusser Str. 10, 10999 Berlin, Germany: +49 30 6169030 or http://www.bethanien.de/
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