The Cham People and the Khmer Rouge
Community Media Project, exhibition opening and film premiere
Wednesday, 7 December, 2016
Followers of the religion of Islam make up less than one percent of the predominantly Buddhist population of Cambodia. Roughly 80% of Cambodia's Muslims belong to the Cham ethnic group. During the Khmer Rouge regime, Cham were allegedly killed a rate that was nearly double to triple that of the general Cambodian population. Cham scholar Ysa Osman writes in his book "Oukoubah" (DCCAM), that the Cham comprised 10% of Cambodia's population prior to 1975 (about 700,000 people), but numbered only 200,000 after the regime fell in 1979.
Meta House launches the multi-media project KHMER ROUGE GENOCIDE AND THE CHAM, in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok and the Heinrich-Boell-Foundation. The Project has been proposed to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) as a Judicial Reparation project and is currently listed under the "Guarantee of Non-repetition" proposed list, in cooperation with the Victims Support Section (VSS) and the Civil Party Lead Co-Lawyers of the ECCC.
Contributors are American installation artist Pam Bowman, photographers Germain Priour (France), Anders Jiras (Sweden) and Luke Hunt (Australia). At 7PM, German filmmaker Marc Eberle premieres his short documentary THE CHAM REBELLION OF SVAY KHLEANG, in collaboration with Cham students. The event also features a talk by Cham researcher Alberto Pérez Pereiro, PhD, as well as traditional Cham music, performed by the band "Pleng Ong Marn".
Meta House, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, www.meta-house.com