Out of Adversity

Abstract

Cambodians have not forgotten the sustained American bombing campaign between 1970 and 1973, which drove so many people into the arms of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge army. "Parachute Skirt with Flowers", an art installation made of military detritus collected over three decades, offers a disturbing reminder of that era. At its heart is a United States Air Force parachute that landed in Prey Veng village, the home of Leang Seckon, a Cambodian artist. It was known locally as chhat, Cambodian for umbrella, and Leang remembers how it was used to cover leaky houses during the rains. Leang's artwork arrives at the Bronx Museum this month as part of "Season of Cambodia", a $2.6m arts festival involving more than 125 artists of different disciplines, performing or exhibiting in 30 New York institutions, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Asia Society. Cambodia has a long tradition of classical music, dance and film. All that changed with the arrival of Pol Pot in 1975. He regarded artists as superfluous.