The villages of central Cambodia are preparing themselves for an
increase in tourists who are curious to explore dozens of local temple
ruins that pre-date Angkor Wat by up to 500 years.
With some international aid, the villagers have set up a small scale
infrastructure of handicraft shop, information centre, restaurant,
homestay accommodation and bicycle tours. Guided bicycle trips visit the
nearby ruins that have been likened to a setting in an Indiana Jones
movie.
GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) and the German government has
helped villagers with physical preparation. Khiri Reach, the
not-for-profit arm of Khiri Travel, is now promoting Sambor Prei Kuk,
formerly known as Isanapura, the capital of a pre-Angkorian Khmer
kingdom. “Our aim is to bring more people to the Sambor Prei Kuk area
and extend their stay to at least one overnight,” said Willem Niemeijer,
CEO and co-founder of Khiri Travel. “The area is suitable for
adventurous travelers who enjoy low-key pleasures such as forest hikes,
exploration by bicycle, ox cart rides, homestays and buying locally made
silk, rattan and bamboo handicrafts.”
It has to mention the helps of GTZ with guide training, educating
locals to preserve their heritage and building a basic restaurant plus
information centre and toilets for tourists. When GTZ started work in
the area there were approximately 1,200 visitors per year. There are now
around 8,000, but few stay overnight. The temples are in an
impoverished area of Kampong Thom province, halfway between Phnom Penh
and Angkor Wat. Most visitors pass through without stopping. That may
soon change. “Sambor Prei Kuk is at the centre of a plan to promote
attractions throughout Kampong Thom province,” said Peter Bolster,
program director, Private Sector Promotion, GTZ-PSP. “The provincial
government has agreed to the plan which is now under consideration at
the highest level of government in Phnom Penh,” he said. Niemeijer said
that inspecting the ruins of Sambor Prei Kuk can be combined with visits
to other community based attractions in the province. These include
Santuk Mountain, the holiest in the region, Tonle Sap protected area and
bird sanctuary, the Santuk Silk Farm and an inspection of villages
specialized in stone carving and making rice noodles.
Since 2005 GTZ has worked with the Sambor Prei Kuk Conservation
Project to establish craft training courses for seven villages in the
area. Community funds now go towards temple conservation, supporting
home businesses, maintaining signage, and the upkeep of the craft hut
and information centre.
“Look at that one – she’s got really big lips”.
Sasha Constable is admiring the carvings of the Apsara nymphs on the
walls of Cambodia’s most famous ancient temple, Angkor Wat. Every year,
millions of visitors do much the same. The bas reliefs at this
900-year-old monument are remarkably well-preserved. But Sasha is no
tourist – she is a sculptor herself and a member of one of Britain’s
most famous artistic families. Her father Richard is a well-known
painter – and she can trace a direct line back to John Constable.
Sasha has carried on the traditions of the dynasty, while taking a
distinct path of her own. Since 2000 she has been based in Cambodia. As
well as creating her own work, she has contributed to the country’s
artistic revival as a teacher and curator.
As much as anyone, Sasha has helped to raise the international
profile of Cambodian art, helping young artists to make a living from
their passion.
“Cambodian artists are being profiled more and more,” she says. “Now
some are exhibiting abroad and their work is being exposed to a
different audience. That means the prices go up, which is good for them.
It’s one of the last countries in this region where art has suddenly
become more and more interesting to people.”
‘Privileged’
Currently, the country is giving something back to Sasha after all of
what she has given. Perhaps the greatest prize she could have imagined:
a commission to recreate some of the lost carvings at Angkor Wat.
“It’s a huge privilege. It was a really interesting, challenging
project – but really just a privilege.” Joining Sasha at Angkor,
sweltering in the afternoon sun, is Cheam Phally of the World Monuments
Fund.
She was the architect in charge of restoring one of the temple’s
best-known features – a long, bas relief gallery known as “the churning
of the sea of milk”, displaying scenes from the Hindu epic, the
Ramayana.
But something was missing from the restoration. The Apsara figures
which once decorated the gallery’s roof were gone – victims of the
passage of time or, perhaps, looters.
Sitting on the grass in front of the gallery, Cheam Phally points to
what look like some lumps of rock among a number of larger slabs.
“These are fragments of the Apsaras, the lower halves,” she says, picking one up, then placing it in a hole in one of the slabs.
“It would have gone in the roof stone like this.”
The WMF’s commission was for Sasha to recreate the Apsaras, with the aim of placing them on the roof of the restored gallery.
“We wanted to bring the sculptures back to the public – and to
rebuild them we needed someone who understood Khmer art. Sasha has a
deep understanding.”
‘Very proud’
Sasha enlisted local sculptor Chhay Saron to join her in researching – and making – the pieces.
He has a remarkable story of his own – a former soldier and landmine
survivor who retrained as a sculptor, and now employs other disabled
people in his workshop within the Angkor temple complex. “As a Khmer
person, when I see an Apsara sculpture I feel so happy,” he says. “A lot
of the ancient Apsara sculptures have been damaged – that’s why I’m so
pleased to have been given this assignment.”
Now, after months of work, the two have completed their sculptures.
At her workshop, Sasha proudly unveils one of the finished pieces,
pointing out how the design will allow the light to pass through.
“We were asked to make each sculpture different, as they would have
been in the day. Some have different levels of detail – this one is a
little bit plainer, but still has motifs around the edge.”
“They’re a lot more delicate than many of the sculptures at Angkor.
It should give the public an image of what Angkor would have looked like
in the original day.”
Just down the road, Chhay Saron has finished his two pieces – and he can hardly wait for them to take their place at Angkor Wat.
“When people come by to look at my carvings they haven’t seen the
likes before, because the originals were damaged and destroyed. They
always ask where they’re going to end up – and I tell them they will be
on top of Angkor Wat. Future generations will be able to see this and
understand that there were sculptures like this in the Angkor temples.
I’m very proud.”
The finished work is in keeping with the legacy of Angkor – and
represents a proud moment in the illustrious history of the Constable
family. One suspects that great, great, great grandfather John would
have approved.