Jorng Jam – To remember
- 27 Aug 2015
From an Asialink residency in Phnom Penh to an exhibition in Logan, Pip Kelly talks about the development of the Jorng Jam project and exhibition and how it has involved Cambodian-Australians.
Jorng Jam is a collaborative project and exhibition series that developed during my Asialink arts management residency in Phnom Penh in 2013. Having first exhibited memories and photographs of people living in Phnom Penh (Our City Festival, 2014) along with the new work of four Cambodian artists, I was interested in documenting and investigating the significant stories of Cambodian people in the diaspora, especially in Australia.
The first exhibition helped to build a strong working relationship between myself and the four Cambodian artists. Our skills all complemented each other. My background is in anthropology, documentary film, museums, libraries, galleries and Community Arts. Each artist brought their own unique perspective and toolkit to the table: film-maker Neang Kavich, sculptor/installation artist Kong Vollak and photographers Kim Hak and Neak Sophal.
We received Project and Programs funding from Arts Queensland in 2015, which made it possible for the artists to travel to Australia so we could collaborate again and visit Logan to undergo an intensive six week process involving oral history interviewing along with the production of new work.
Jorng Jam II features the personal histories and rare historical photographs of seven Cambodian-Australian families from Logan. It was exhibited at Logan Art Gallery from June 13th to July 27th 2015, alongside new and meaningful artworks created by the four artists.
This project created an opportunity for members of the Cambodian community to record their oral histories for the first time in Khmer and translated into English. After the documentation process, (video and audio), each artist continued to work closely with the community to create new work in photography, film and installation art. The process of working closely together over six weeks was intense but also created a beautiful momentum which can be seen in the work.
The result, Jorng Jam II, aims to connect Cambodian and Australian communities in order to remember, reclaim and reinterpret historical knowledge and photographs from before, during and after the Khmer Rouge era.
The Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975 and, under their leader Pol Pot, began a murderous regime that lasted until 1979. During this time, two million people died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork. Money, free markets, education, religion, and traditional Khmer culture were abolished, and intellectuals, artists, city residents, civil servants and religious leaders were targeted. Family ties were broken and many representations of the past were destroyed. Despite this, many people survived.
Cambodian people have moved from their homes, by will or by force, since 1973. When the Khmer Rouge was overthrown in 1979, millions of people started searching for their families and homes. Some escaped across the border to Thai refugee camps in searchof a new home.
Jorng Jam II represents memories from the Cambodian community who have been living in Logan since the 1980s. The exhibition acknowledges people’s survival and strength during the regime, their bravery searching for a new home and facing the dangers on the way to, and inside, refugee camps. It also reveals stories from the past with the hope that they will not be repeated, to encourage other communities to record their own histories, and to use contemporary art practices as a way of educating, reclaiming and connecting across generations.
Opening night was a highlight for this project. Logan Art Gallery was filled with members of the Cambodian community, some who were visiting the gallery for the first time. Traditional sweets were made by many Cambodian ladies from the community and heartfelt speeches including a poem in Khmer was recited by participants and artists. A large number of people also came from the creative community around Logan and Brisbane. It was lovely to see how proud the participants were in sharing their stories with strangers. Nov Oueb, a participant who defied a Khmer Rouge spy introduced herself to strangers by saying “That’s me up on the wall there!”
A visitor left this message in our Guest Book: “Well done to a very beautiful and moving exhibition. Thank you for sharing some of Cambodia’s history and the strength of the people and for bringing together the community.”
Next Steps: Jorng Jam is about to undergo a full qualitative evaluation with its participants and a new website will showcase the process and outcomes of this unique way of collaborating, documenting history and creating new work.
If you would like to keep informed about Jorng Jam – join the facebook page for updates: www.facebook.com/JorngJam
Pip Kelly is a arts producer and documentary film-maker living in Brisbane, Australia. She has worked on Australian documentary series and features – The Bipolar Bears (SBS), Jailbirds (ABC), Miss South Sudan Australia (ABC), travel programs for Lonely Planet TV and her own short films.
She has directed and produced video content for Museum exhibitions, NGO’s, Community Arts Organisations and Australian Musicians. With a background in Anthropology, all of Pip’s films have a focus on people and culture.
Pip also works as a Producer and Curator in the Culture & Arts sector. She has run community projects in Melbourne and Brisbane for youth and multicultural arts organisations, The State Library Queensland and Queensland Museum. In 2012, Pip directed and produced “What do you collect?”, a community co-created project at The Queensland Museum. The ‘crowd sourced’ pop up project experimented with contemporary notions of collecting. In 2013, Pip traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to complete an Asialink residency with JavaArts. In 2014, she exhibited Jorng Jam for the Our City Festival as part of her Asialink residency, in collaboration with 4 Cambodian artists. She continues to produce screen content for museums and galleries (Distant Lines Exhibition – State Library of QLD, 2015, and Lost Creatures – Queensland Museum, 2014) and her own documentaries. In 2015 she produced Jorng Jam II in Australia and she is keen to progress the idea to work with other communities. http://www.pipkelly.com.au/