Cambodia, 2019
“Her Sounds” is a collaborative multimedia research project and exhibition celebrating the passion, persistence, and power of Cambodia’s women artists through image, sound, and story. Featuring artist portraits by photographer Neak Sophal and accompanying sound pieces created from interviews with ethnomusicologist Emily Howe, the exhibition
Showcasing the artistry of traditional, classical, popular, and contemporary musicians and dancers while also illuminating the social significance of quotidian practices including social dance, ritual chant, and lullaby, the exhibition aims to spark dialogue about the art, lives, and dreams of Cambodian women past, present, and future.
Why – and So What?
The arts hold a complex position in the Cambodian imaginary. While on one hand often referred to as “the soul of Cambodia,” study of the arts is sometimes dismissed as akin to “kicking air,” emphasizing its impractical, artificial nature. For women artists, this dichotomy is complicated further by the widespread belief that to earn a living as musician or dancer is tantamount to selling one’s body. And so being a woman artist in Cambodia, as in many other contexts, requires particular courage, passion, and persistence.
And yet, despite these challenges, women artists in Cambodia fearlessly pursue their art every day, enhancing community life in significant but often underacknowledged ways – and finding joy, solidarity, and strength in the process. Listening to the stories of women artists across generations, we can hear of passion in the face of adversity, artistry in the face of pain, and pride in the face of discouragement. We can sense the genuine love with which these artists pursue their work, often with little financial reward or societal recognition. And we can learn something of artists’ belief in the significance of their art for Cambodian society, and the desire they have to transmit their knowledge to the next generation.
We can also understand how broader ideas about women in society are expressed in and navigated through artistic practice in Cambodia, and how such negotiation has been approached at different points in history. Speaking with classical dancers who specialize in the yek giant role, including Master Em Theay, we can understand how women for millennia have been taught to embody strength and rage – attributes not typically attributed to “proper” Cambodian women. Speaking with classical musicians including Master Tep Mari and young artist Maen Sreymao prompts us to consider historical attitudes toward women who play classical instruments – a practice few women learn in the present. And speaking with young contemporary dancers including New Cambodian Artists, we can learn how a new generation of artists is exploring ideas about gender through performances consciously challenging typically feminine comportment.
Thus, by exploring how societal ideas about gender are expressed through traditional, classical, popular, and quotidian artistic practices, this exhibition illuminates the place of the arts in the lives of Cambodian women while sparking dialogue about the potentials and limitations of music and dance to promote gender equality, to empower women, and to catalyze social change.
