Now in its third year, the Our City festival of 2010 has once again
brought together members of the arts community to celebrate and
stimulate dialogues on the theme of architecture and urban design.
For this year's festival, several events have been lined up
including "Imaginary Home," the second architecture competition
hosted by the French Cultural Centre; "Hawker's Song," a
video/sound installation, created by JavaArts and Greyspace;
photography, painting, architectural studies, film screenings and
talks. See the complete list below. Newcomers to the 2010 edition
include the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, The Vann Molyvann
Project, Heritage Mission and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut.
A new feature this year is a webpage that includes a calendar of
events, profiles and a blog on the activities
(
http://www.javaarts.org/ourcity ) both in English and Khmer. Updates on events and additional
programming will be listed there.
Our City, a JavaArts project, works through a network of arts
organizations to build programs and events locally as well to initiate
international collaborations. Our City is exploring how to further
engage the public in future events and projects around questions of
globalization, architecture and urban design.
___________________________
Schedule of events:
OPENING TONIGHT (Thursday, Sept 2): Phnom Penh Evolution
Exhibition opening
Artists: PHA Lina, LIM Sokchanlina, TITH Narith and PRUM Seila
The exhibition features the work of four Cambodian photographers who
have been under the supervision of the Swiss professional photographer
Anna Katharina Scheidegger. The photographers PHA Lina, LIM
Sokchanlina, TITH Narith and PRUM Seila will share with us their
artistic points of view on the architectural transformation. Through
this exhibition, the Center hopes to encourage citizens to contribute
to the dialogue regarding future sustainable development.
6:30pm Thursday, 2 September, 2010
Venue: Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center – No. 64 Street 200
Hawker's Song part 1
Exhibition opening – video, sound and sculpture installation
Artists: Srey Bandol, Meas Sokhorn, Sue McCauley, Keith Deverell,
Corey Sands
A collaborative project, Hawker's Song is a commentary on the
current state of economic, political and social growth in Cambodia. It
questions the cost of progress and acts as an alarm, a warning, to
those who are fostering these changes and to those affected by it.
6 – 9pm Friday, 3 September, 2010
Venue: jGALLERY – No. 56 Sihanouk Blvd (next to Java Cafe & Gallery)
Hawker's Song part 2
Happening – performance and video/sound installation
Artists: Srey Bandol, Meas Sokhorn, Sue McCauley, Keith Deverell and
Corey Sands
The second part of the Hawker's Song project that features a live vj
performance, spoken word, and a one-night only installation in the
historical building, affectionately known as The Mansion, across from
the National Museum. Sunset drinks and exhibition from 5pm,
refreshments served after the performance.
5pm Saturday, 4 September, 2010, 7pm performance
Venue: La Mansion (behind the FCC) – No. 32 Sothearos Blvd.
Walking Markets
Exhibition opening
Artist: Suos Sodevy
Building on the theme of hawkers and their role in the urban
environment, Walking Markets is a series of paintings by master
artist, Suos Sodevy. Using the classical medium of tempera on canvas,
Sodevy's portraits of "walking markets" (street vendors)
immediately suggest timelessness--an increasingly rare value in age of
globalism and short attention spans.
6 – 9pm Thursday, 9 September, 2010
Venue: Java Cafe & Gallery – No. 56e1 Sihanouk Blvd
Open Rehearsal
Dance
Choreographer: Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
The Khmer Arts Ensemble will present an open rehearsal of THE LIVES OF
GIANTS, a new dance by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, along with Sophiline's
Seasons of Migration, as the company prepares for simultaneous tours
to the USA and Reunion Island. Admission is free. No photography or
video permitted.
9am Saturday, 11 September, 2010
Venue: Arts Theater - Street 115, Takhmao, Kandal Province (call or
email for directions: 023-425-780,
veasna@khmerarts.org)
Life Along the Rails
Exhibition opening - photography
Artist: Conor Wall, in collaboration with Sahmakum Teang Tnaut
Local urban NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut together with photographer Conor
Wall showcase a disappearing lifestyle from along the Kingdom's
railways. As the tracks are rehabilitated and trains are set to run
regularly, the lives of people living next to the rails will be
transformed. Some will have to move, while others face a new reality
where the tracks can no longer be used as public space. The exhibition
creates a memory of what used to be.
6pm Thursday, 16 September, 2010
Venue: Gasolina – No. 56-57 Street 57
Project Skyscraper
Exhibition, film screening and talk – architectural studies
The "SKYSCRAPER" is a presentation of Architectural & Engineering
designs by third-year students from the Cambodian Mekong University,
who will present contemporary and traditional styles structured along
the Mekong River. The concept of the design by the students is to
express "team individual" ideas of transforming different minds
into one building structure.
7pm Saturday, 18 September, 2010
The exhibition ends on Sunday, 19/09. Q&A with students and screenings
of contemporary architecture projects from the region.
6pm Sunday, 19 September, 2010
Venue: Meta House – No. 37 Sothearos Blvd
Architecture in Cambodia: The Golden Age of the 50's
Conference
Speaker: Khun-Neay Khuon
Khun-Neay Khuon was the right arm of Vann Molyvann during the great
architectural adventure in Cambodia during the decade that followed
the country's independence. A notable personality in the fields of
architecture, urbanism, and national heritage, Khun-Neay Khuon will
present his most important works from this great period of building
throughout the country.
7pm Thursday, 23 September, 2010
Venue: The Cinema at the French Cultural Centre – No. 218 Street 184
Imaginary Home
Architecture competition/exhibition opening
Last year, architecture students conceived plans for an "Arts Park,"
something that is sadly lacking in the capital. Reflecting on current
trends in real estate development in the capital, for this second
competition, the country's future architects have been invited to come
up with construction plans for 450 living spaces on the shores of the
Tonlé Sap. A dream that we will all be able to share during the
exhibition of the resulting models and announcement of the winners of
this year's competition.
7pm Thursday, 30 September, 2010
Venue: French Cultural Centre - No. 218 Street 184
Vann Molyvann and the New Khmer Architecture
Exhibition opening
The 1950's and 60's were a time of great creativity in Cambodian art
and architecture. The legacy of this era includes an extraordinary
collection of modern buildings, which have come be known as the "New
Khmer Architecture". The author of some of its finest work is His
Excellency Vann Molyvann. Many of Vann Molyvann's most important
buildings have been demolished—and virtually all the original design
documents are lost. The drawings, photographs and models in this
exhibition aim to reconstruct a historical record of the original
design intent of selected projects.
7pm Thursday, 30 September, 2010
Venue: French Cultural Centre - No. 218 Street 184
"Open Doors Phnom Penh" Weekend
Tour - Khmer Architecture Tours and Heritage Mission
Public and private buildings – part of the urban heritage of the
city – open their doors for 2 days to inform the public about their
architectural context and history. For details please check at
www.ka-tours.org or write to
contact@ka-tours.org,
theodora.burgeat@yahoo.fr Check online blog for updates:
http://www.javaarts.org/ourcity 
