Cambodia’s minister of culture and fine arts, Phoeurng Sackona, spoke warmly about the artist Sopheap Pich, standing at her left, in front of the sculpture called Big Being.
No one would describe Cambodia as a vital center of the visual arts in Southeast Asia.
While there are art schools and art exhibitions, the output does not tend to be memorable. (When it comes the visual arts, I find photography to be the most accomplished.)
One reason must be Continue reading
In keeping with normal practice, the sidewalk along Monivong Boulevard, a major thoroughfare, was cluttered with parked vehicles a few months ago and thus was impassable. As usual, I found myself walking in the gutter.
It was then that I noticed a Rolls-Royce behind me edging toward the sidewalk. It is the Rolls in the photo. I was struck by the contrast between it and other vehicles on the road and suspect you will have the same reaction.
Even my modest condominium building, where I rent a furnished two-bedroom unit for $1,000 a month — relatively low in a prime area where new two-bedroom units run close to $2,000 and rarely much more — has a Rolls owner in residence.
I am dumbfounded by Continue reading
Having reported on and attended in other capacities an incalculable number of parades, festivals, street fairs and similar special events, I have become rather jaded about them.
But the 2017 Thailand Tourist Festival — which this year apparently replaced a celebrations of the Lunar New Year in Bangkok’s Chinatown in tribute to the memory of the late king — blew me away. By changing the focus, the government felt able to respect the year-long mourning period since his death last fall.
The event in the city’s centrally situated Lumphini Park took place from last Wednesday through Sunday. It was a triumph of organization, diversions and civilized crowds of almost impenetrable size on the weekend, somewhat less thronged before then. I was there on three days.
The organizers had divided the space according to five of the country’s regions, plus a section devoted to China.
I very much enjoyed Continue reading
I, on Cambodia 