Reclaiming Cambodian dress and textile practices, identities, and collections under the Khmer Rouge (1970s-1980s): New approaches to archival materials of conflict

Project Information

TEX-KR

Grant agreement ID: 101025131

DOI

10.3030/101025131

Project closed

EC signature date 19 April 2021

Start date 1 January 2022

End date 27 July 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 207 312,00

EU contribution

€ 207 312,00

Coordinated by

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TEX-KR (Reclaiming Cambodian dress and textile practices, identities, and collections under the Khmer Rouge (1970s-1980s): New approaches to archival materials of conflict)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

TEX-KR explores textile production and dress practices in Cambodia from the early 1970s to the early 1980s, especially examining the years of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79). In only four years, the Cambodian revolutionary dictatorship claimed nearly two million lives due to forced labour, purges, famine, and a major sanitary crisis. During that time, textile crafts and heritage were heavily affected. The Cambodian population also had to dye their clothes in muted tones and adopt the Khmer Rouge uniform inspired by rural workwear.
Combining object-based study, archival research, and participatory methodologies, this project centres on a rather overlooked aspect of the Cambodian genocide history by investigating its textile material culture in terms of know-how, artefacts, and clothing practices. TEX-KR is anchored in museum-based research in Cambodia’s leading cultural institutions, namely the National Museum of Cambodia and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The project has precisely reconstructed the acquisition history of the National Museum of Cambodia’s textile collection, its management under French leadership during the French colonisation, and the extent of material losses in the 1970-80s. By 1970, 415 textile pieces in a diversity of styles and techniques had been acquired and cared for by successive museum keepers. Only 73 textiles and about 30 dance costume elements were recovered in the museum's first post-war inventory in 1995.
These findings have been used to open an artistic dialogue with three Cambodian artists, by inviting them to create new artworks inspired by the lost textiles from this museum. These pieces were exhibited in the exhibition The Art of Ikat: A Cambodian Renaissance, which took place from 22 February to 31 May 2024 at the Royal Danish Library, University of Copenhagen South Campus.
Finally, the research conducted at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum has informed the incarceration process of of the S-21 prisoners in which they were asked to relinquish their clothes and how these dehumanising practices affected their living conditions in the prison. The study of a selection of garments from the prisoners shows the prevalence of military uniforms, as well as civilian clothing in poor condition with patched textiles and extensive signs of stitching and mending. These objects suggest a shortage in textiles and clothing and a scarcity of available materials in the 1970s.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first semester of 2022 was dedicated to my Work Package 1 “Preparing”, focusing on planning and training in collaboration with my supervisor. I took Khmer lessons and started laying down the foundation for my project by giving a series of talks with the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. In March 2022 I conducted a research trip in the United States to access Cambodian silk textiles held at the Yale University Gallery, New Haven, CT. I also traveled to Paris in May to conduct preliminary research at l’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient archives to examine documents produced by French directors who managed the National Museum of Cambodia during the French colonial era until the 1950s.
In June 2022, I started Work Package 2 “Field Investigating” by travelling to Cambodia. The first period of fieldwork was dedicated to the study of the textile collection and archives at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. In July and September, I presented my research at the Textures of Emotions: Storytelling and Textiles conference and at the Design History Society Annual Conference.
From August to October 2022, I started on Work Package 3 “Analysing” to process my data collected in Cambodia. While in Denmark, I took the course Textile Archaeology led by Eva Andersson Strand, Centre for Textile Research director, for which I also guest lectured. I produced a podcast series entitled Textiles Forward, which focused on Cambodian textile production. In November, I conducted a second period of fieldwork in Cambodia, focusing on Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and prompting new findings on unique examples recovered on the former prison site. I also devised a week-long training programme in textile research for the museum staff.
From December 2022 to July 2023, I started on Work Packages 4 “Reimagining” and 5 “Restituting”. I applied for additional grants to fund dissemination activities. I organised a ten-day textile research trip to Cambodia for CTR members in January 2023. I also started collaborating with the Cambodian silk weaving workshop Golden Silk Pheach, visual artist FONKi, and fibre artist Linda Sok, and commissioned them to produce textile artworks for an exhibition planned in 2024. Two short films were produced about their artistic contributions.
In June 2023, I co-organised the workshop GLOBAL FASHIONING SYSTEM with Prof. Elsa Ivanez in collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark. I wrote several peer-reviewed articles, which were published respectively in TEXTILE: Cloth and Culture, The Archaeological Textile Review, Fashion Studies, and Res Mobilis. Throughout 2024, I also published four chapters in edited volumes.
I took a personal leave in July 2023 and resumed work in February 2024. From February until the end of my fellowship in July 2024, I dedicated my time to Work Package 5 “Restituting” through two main projects: The Art of Ikat: A Cambodian Renaissance exhibition and the workshop CONFLICT: Archives, Collections and Heritage. The audio proceedings from the workshop were turned into podcasts accessible on the project website. I also produced a data repository on Zenodo. To conclude my fellowship, I presented two papers at the Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art Congress in Lyon in June 2024 at the EuroSEAS conference in July 2024.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Scientifically, TEX-KR has developed further understandings of: (a) the depth of loss of Cambodia’s textile heritage by exploring issues of looting and the loss of craft knowledge; (b) the living conditions of Cambodian common people during the years of civil war and dictatorship through their clothes, and how these clothes became crucial objects of survival in times of scarcity; (c) the role of textile crafts and makers in the preservation of the Cambodian cultural heritage when facing severe material and cultural loss. Moreover, by inviting contemporary artists to devise original textile artworks in dialogue with historical artefacts in museum collections, the action makes room for Cambodian individual narratives. The workshop CONFLICT: Archives, Collections and Heritage exemplifies the active recentring of Cambodian studies into broader debates in the humanities bringing together a range of international scholars from different fields to discuss how conflict affects museum collections and archives in various geopolitical and historical contexts.
Socially, through numerous presentations, four peer-reviewed articles and four chapters in edited volumes, a podcast channel, two short documentary films, as well as the organisation of a hybrid research workshop and an exhibition, TEX-KR has produced a multidimensional impact content and new ways of dissemination available on academic and pedagogical platforms for a large range of audiences. Economically, TEX-KR has supported a group of weavers from the Golden Silk Pheach workshop in Cambodia by commissioning a silk artwork. The project also supported young emerging Cambodian artists in the person of FONKi and Linda Sok, also commissioned for the exhibition.

Logo of the TEX-KR project