from The Cambodia Daily , April 7, 2003
New Book tells of forgotten
Khmer folk tale
By Michelle Vachon
Since his childhood spent at the refugee camp Site Two on the Thai border,
Cambodian artist Srey Bandol has never forgotten the story of a boy from
Ratanakkiri province who got lost in time. He remembered it so well that
when he discussed it with hill tribe people, although they could not recall
the legend themselves, they told him they used to capture elephants exactly
the way he described it in his story. This legend has become a book published
by the Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture, with the support of the Kasumisou
Foundation.
The book, with illustrations by Srey Bandol, will be
launched tonight at the institute's gallery, where the artist's drawings
for the book will be on exhibit. The book project took form during a
meeting between Srey Bandol and Reyum's co-directors, Ly Daravuth and
Ingrid Muan, more than a year ago. "He had this story in his head,
and he thought he would find it if he could only see the landscape,
the light, and the people," Muan said. Reyum wanted to work with
Srey Bandol, who now runs an art school with other artists in Battambang,
Ly Daravuth said. So the institute secured a small grant for him to
go to Ratanakkiri and draw for a couple of months.
Srey Bandol was 10 years old when he arrived at Site
Two camp in 1982, and 20 when he left the camp for Battambang province.
"I remember hearing the story from a teacher at the camp who thought
it was 100 years old," he said. The tale is about hill tribe villagers
who tame elephants to help them with heavy work One day, the men go
on an expedition to capture wild elephants, taking with them a young
boy on his first hunt. During a storm, the boy gets separated from the
others and ventures deep into a cavern, where he discovers a monk. They
talk and meditate together for a few days, until the monk sends the
boy home. When he reaches his village, everything has changed. People's
clothes and homes look different and no one he knew lives there anymore.
Only one old man recalls hearing about a boy who never returned from
an elephant hunt. Feeling there is no place for him in this time, the
boy rides his elephant back to the jungle where, the legend says, they
still live.
Like the boy in the legend, Srey Bandol said he was
surprised by what he found in Ratanakkiri. Nowadays, people don't really
live the way his teacher had explained, and he could not find any hill
tribe people who recalled the legend. However, some villagers confirmed
that the traditions it tells of did exist Srey Bandol said. Srey Bandol
learned drawing from French artist Veronique Decrop, who taught at Site
Two from 1986 until the camp closed in 1993. In 1995, through the art
association Phare, she opened the Battambang art school with some of
her former students. The facility includes a children's library and
offers drawing, music and circus classes. The book launch is at Reyum
Institute, No 47, Street 178, from 5 pm to 8 pm.
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