For artist Eng Rithchandaneth, Cambodia has become a fractured land. No longer a community, it is an environment in which business interests cause people to be evicted with no recourse and little or no compensation, she said on Friday.
“It’s not the right way,” she said. Translating this idea into a sculpture for the exhibition “Poetic Topographies” at SaSa Bassac gallery in Phnom Penh, she formed on the floor a fragmented outline of the country made of unfired clay, titling the piece “Inside Out, 2016.”
The 22-year-old artist, who has a degree in design from the Setec Institute in Phnom Penh, said she was afraid that her family’s home in Chbar Ampov I commune in Phnom Penh would also be affected by development in the near future.
Residents have heard that the government is scheduled to widen Street 369, which is likely to affect her home since it is built close to the street’s edge, she said.
“My family and my neighborhood are really worried about that,” she said.
The exhibition also includes Kong Dara’s ink drawings series “Journey Line 5.” The show ends June 4.
