Cambodia 2011 Peace Project Event (Part1 The Story)

PREVI HEAR JOURNAL 2011 ! The Peace Project
PREVI HEAR JOURNAL 2011 ! The Peace Project
Prior to
Departure
I had already been
planning a journey to
Previ-Hear since early
May to visit the temple
on the Cambodia-Thai
border. The Thai-Khmer
war of 2011 had started
and finished after only a
few days in February. All
that was left was lingering
tension, fox holes,
binoculars and military
instillations. On June
23 I visited Previ-Hear
temple with my friend
Tith Mao and realised
that I could do another
Peace Project event there!
But when I came there
were no tourists. Well, at
least three tourists each
day came. I was one of
them. Meanwhile, the
Cambodian government
had been building bitumen
four-lane highways and
tourist counters, and ticket
machines in expectation of
building another Angkor
Watt tourist theme park in
Previ Hear. When I arrived
all I saw was kalashnikovs
and bamboo huts.
My two day excursion
proved, in my mind’s
eye, that I could paint an
image of peace and bring
the two sides into the No-
Mans- Land to sign the
UDCR on the temple site.
If I received a permit!
Upon arriving, I realized
it would be possible to do
something others had
not done before. Maybe! I
could get in there, make a
film about the process and
build a bridge relating to
peace.
During our trip we had
spent two days visiting
the mountain, taking
photographs and talking
to the soldiers. Then
three weeks later we
approached the Previ-Hear
Government Authority to
ask for permission to paint
an image on the site. Tony
Nan from the Apsarra, the
representative in Siem
Reap had written some
notes and passed my
documents for permission
on to the authorities
asking if I could paint on
the site.
There were different
organizations to approach.
A german called Nico’s,
from the Meta House,
a German cultural
organization in Phnom
Penh had given me the
referral of two media
students who have since
become camera men.
Their names were Sambo
and Sokkheng.
With Tith Mao, a Khmer
guide from Siem Reap, I
was intending to find a
team of people and build a
bridge for a peace event. In
early October the permit
came through a day after
we had asked to start.
We then rescheduled the
commencement date. Mao
rang me in Laos with the
news,
‘You got it. The second
date has been accepted.
You can paint there from
the 8th until the 28th of
November.’
PREVI HEAR JOURNAL
2011 ! The Peace Project
PREVI HEAR JOURNAL
2011 ! The Peace Project
‘ That would be enough
time,’ I thought. In early
November, after ten days
in preparation with Mao
in
Siem Reap searching
for an art assistant
from some of the artists
stationed close to the
Angkor Watt, we finally
settled on a musician. So
Pet was his name. And he
was also an artist.
Meanwhile Sambo
and Sokkeng in Phnom
Penh were looking at
permits for the event and
assessing what equipment
we needed before
traveling to Sra’Aem. Most
of the days had been spent
with Sambo, Sokkeng
and a female assistant
called Aone at the Foreign
Correspondents Club. It
overlooked the Mea Kong
and was positioned on
Riverside. We spent one week, from
2nd of November through to 9th,
going through equipment, visiting
the Phnom Penh Royal University
and looking at renting equipment
from their Media department.