4U vol. 05

Khmer kaksekam

Idea worth spreading

Cast of thousands

Khmer Bronzes: New Interpretations of the Past

Authors: Emma C Bunker and Douglas Latchford 544 Pages, 2011 Art Media Resources, Chicago 3,595 baht

3/09/2011
Sean Trembath
Bangkok Post

Over the hundreds of years the Khmer Empire reigned in what is now Cambodia, thousands of pieces of bronzeware were cast. As time passed, and casting techniques improved, the artworks grew more intricate, and depicted more complicated scenes.

Many of these pieces have been lost to time, making those that remain valuable collectors' items. Most of the known pieces are tucked away in private collections, or in museums around the globe. Now a new book gives readers an opportunity to see the breadth of Khmer bronze work, from the earliest pre-empire drums to the most fantastic statues.

With Khmer Bronzes: New Interpretations of the Past, Emma C Bunker and Douglas Latchford complete their trilogy of intensely detailed studies of Khmer art history. Along with 2004's Adoration and Glory: The Golden Age of Khmer Art , which looked primarily at stone, and 2008's Khmer Gold: Gifts for the Gods, which was about the precious metal, this new volume offers the most comprehensive study of the subject available.

The exhaustive nature of the book is immediately evident in its sheer size. At over 500 pages, with more than 450 large colour photographs, Latchford and Bunker have spared no detail. This is not a tome one consumes in a single sitting.

It begins before the rise of the Khmer, with the technical roots of Asian bronze-casting as it appears in early kettle drums. The authors take time to explain the processes involved in casting bronze, and how they evolved through the centuries.

By the time the Khmer empire was in full swing, the imagery is almost entirely devotional. It is interesting to see the various influences at play and how they affected the work, from the very simple early statues to the incredibly ornate, variously posed figures seen in later eras.

Also included are several appendixes offering additional information on the science used to study these figures and some of the academia being written about the era. One particularly interesting appendix explains the carbon-dating process used to assess the pieces' authenticity and shows copies of a few of the carbon-dating results for figures seen in the book.

By it's very nature, this is the type of book one keeps in a collection, to use as reference material or when looking for clear, striking examples of ancient art. It is an essential volume for anyone interested in Khmer art history, and will make a fine addition to the collection of any art historian, whether they are interested only in Southeast Asia or the entire spectrum of the world's art history.

How to make Khmer Food in Wedding Ceremony

• How to make Khmer Food in Wedding Ceremony
• Cambodian Chef for Wedding Ceremony
• Most Expensive Food in Wedding Ceremony Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Wedding Ceremony at Restaurant for many Cambodia People to do like that
• Good Food in Restaurant for Wedding Ceremony

C52 Week 2: Casual Cambodian Lunch with Chan Ny Rhodes

For week 2 of the Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge, we enjoyed a Cambodian style  lunch with Chan Ny and Chan Tu. Growing up as  the head chef in her family home in Cambodia, Chan yi is used to cooking a meal for about 15 people very day.  This delicious lunch consisted of  traditional Khmer pancakes wrapped in lettuce leaves and dipped in a tasty fish sauce.  Followed by Khmer sweet and sour soup with fish. To complete this tasty meal, we enjoyed a tasty desert of sticky rice with coconut milk and sesame seeds.
Chan Ny introduced us to some of her favourite Khmer music  and we all enjoyed hearing her interesting stories about life in Cambodia.  For this style of casual lunch women usually wear a long sarong wrapped about their waist and eat sitting on on a grass mat. With the weather being  a little chillier in Beijing, we stuck to our winter woolies rather than the sarong, however we did enjoy sitting on the floor to eat Cambodian style.
The food was so delicious and Chan Yi so friendly and informative, that everyone requested that she takes a Cambodian Cooking class to show us how to ccok this tasty Khmer food. Chan Yi has kindly agreed to do this, wo we are extremely happy to welcome her as part of the Hutong Team and to announce that she will be taking a Khmer Cooking class on the 15th of April.

 

Khmer Foods