Living Memory of the Khmer

Living Memory of the Khmer is a project featuring social, political and economic changes in Cambodia between 1950s and 1990s. The project brings to life the evolving past through oral history interviews with elders who directly and indirectly experienced social and political changes and turbulence during the struggle for independence from France in late 40s and early 50s, the heyday of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum in the 60s, the Lon Nol-led Khmer Republic from 1970 to 1975, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to1979 and the struggle to restore and reconcile the country in the 80s and 90s. The project highlights commonly known events in Cambodia’s recent history and hidden grassroots experiences of individuals which are rarely written about.

This project was co-ordinated by Pisith Phlong, a recent MA graduate in Cultural Anthropology from Northern Illinois University, currently working as a contract lecturer at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh.