Four Cambodian landmine survivors stand in front of their artworks at an art exhibition about landmines in Phnom Penh in October.

An innovative art exhibit highlighting Cambodia’s mine clearance achievements is also raising the international profile of talented Cambodian artists.  IMPACT: an art exhibit about landmines is a celebration of the country’s significant progress in addressing its landmine and explosive remnants of war challenge. 

 

The exhibit was held in Cambodia in October and will travel to Colombia at the end of the year, where representatives of more than 100 countries will see it on display.

 

Tor Vutha, one of the 10 artists participating in the project, is all too familiar with the danger posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war. He was born in 1975 in Battambang province, but due to conflicts left in 1979 to live in Site II Refugee Camp on the Thai-Cambodian border.

“Back then, I had no toys like children have nowadays. My friends and I always gambled with AK-47 or M16 bullets,” he recalled. “When I won, I would dismantle them and burn the bullet powder. It sounded like firecrackers. I was an ignorant fool and knew nothing about the danger of unexploded ordnance or landmines. It still terrifies me when I think about these past activities.”

Out of boredom, Tor Vutha began learning how to draw and paint from an organization called Phare, and quickly developed a passion for art. When he returned to Cambodia in 1992, he co-founded the Phare Ponleu Selapak (“Brightness of Art”) art school.

As an artist selected to participate in IMPACT exhibition, he now has an opportunity to use his artistic ability to reflect on the progress made in Cambodian mine action. Ten Cambodian artists created works of art portraying these issues after visiting two of Cambodia's most mine-affected provinces, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey.  Four young landmine survivors also created works of art representing both their past experiences and their ambitions for the future.

The artwork consists of sculptures made out of free-from-explosives landmines and explosive remnants of war, paintings, and installations, and is accompanied by sound recordings made during the field visits.

The exhibit opened in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh in October and will travel, with support from the Australian government, to Cartagena, Colombia, for the Second Review Conference of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty in November.

“It is important that people from around the world are aware of the progress and remaining challenges of mines in Cambodia,” explained Australian Ambassador Margaret Adamson.

The Royal Government of Cambodia ratified the international Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty in 1999, which requires States Party to clear all contaminated areas within 10 years.  Due to the high level of contamination in Cambodia, the government has requested a 10-year extension, which will be considered at the conference in Colombia.

“Now I understand a lot more about the issues surrounding mine action and I am very happy to have the opportunity to show my paintings in this art exhibit,” said Tor Vutha.

 

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