hybrid forms

i rallied yesterday afternoon and made it out to the cambodian national museum, which was built in 1919, following the vision and architectural design of author, historian, and curator, george groslier. groslier was born in cambodia in 1887, and in 1928 published le retour à l'argile, a novel that not only questioned the validity of the french civilizing mission in southeast asia, but suggested that it was perhaps the french who should be learning from the khmer. spend an afternoon contemplating angkor wat, the early 12th-century temple and mausoleum built by king suryavarman II in the then capital of the khmer empire, and you might too. it certainly puts the louvre into perspective. interesting tidbit: the structure is today regarded as exemplary of khmer architecture, but according to the museum website, it's actually an exaggerated version of traditional temple prototypes interpreted through colonial eyes and designed to fit european museum dimensions.

the museum boasts an impressive collection of khmer statues in bronze, wood, and stone, and a number of ceramic pieces dating back to the neolithic period. and there was a strange and fascinating animation video put together by some australian researchers depicting life at angkor wat in the 12th century.

after the museum, i headed over to the silk boutique, which was was lame. but on my way there, i discovered a spa that offers 90-minute thai massages for $24, so it was totally worth the trip! now i know what i'll be doing next saturday.

the highlight of the day, however - aside from the impromptu 'gangnam style' rendition i witnessed in the market yesterday morning... that was special - was the contemporary dance performance i went to last night. i'd read about it on some dude's blog (everybody's got a blog these days), and ventured over to see what contemporary khmer dance looks like. it was a work-in-progress style performance, very casual, and very hybrid. more than worth the $2 ticket price. the dances were all very personal in nature, each meant to illustrate some aspect of the dancer's life, but i found there were ways to read recent cambodian history into the movement too - volatility, lifelines, forward progression... that kind of thing.

it was a pretty good day in the end.