An interview with Mr. Vann Nath:

One of only two artists who survived the Khmer Rouge

I interviewed Mr. Vann Nath at his home in Phnom Penh.

Amit May

April 1, 1997

 

 

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Amit May:    I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you personally.  Yesterday I visited the concentration camp of Tuol Sleng (now Cambodia’s holocaust museum) and saw your large canvas paintings there, depicting the torture and treatment of the Khmer Rouge on the captives.  It must not have been easy to paint those works.

Vann Nath:  No, it was very difficult.  I was asked to do so because there are so few visual records of what went on inside.  I actually stopped painting after I was released, and only resumed painting in the last few years.  My hands still tremble on occasion from the torture.

AM:             What was the situation like inside Tuol Sleng?

VN:              As you have heard, it was unimaginable…a hell on earth.   The torture was relentless.  All forms of physical abuse.  Tuol Sleng was the concentration camp for all the country’s intellectuals, artists and men of letter.  If you wore glasses you were considered an intellectual and put there.  Most of the prisoners there were killed.

AM:             So you were one of the lucky few?

VN:              I am only one of two artists who survived.  Everyone else was killed.  Today there are only young artists in the country, except for me and one other.   I survived because the prison guards discovered that I could paint portraits of Pol Pot for the administration.  I painted as best I could, making them realistic as they liked.   They then asked me to make bigger portraits.   Soon I was not being abused, but used to make these portraits.  They saved my life.

AM:             Let’s focus on your art.  Tell me about your past as an artist.  Where you were born and where you studied fine art?

VN:              I was born in Battambang, a northern province in Cambodia.  In 1959 I started fine art studies at a regional school.   Although Phnom Penh was far away, we were also influenced by the French painters who visited the area during the French occupation of Cambodia.

AM:             What did you do after graduating from art school?

VN:              I started working professionally as an artist.  I painted sets for films and also had my own little gallery where I painted portraits on commission.

AM:             You mentioned the French; were you trained in the French impressionist style?  What was your style then?

VN:              Yes, we were trained in impressionism, and I enjoyed painting, especially rural scenery that way.  Of course the portraits were painted in a realist manner.

AM:             What have your activities been recently regarding painting?

VN:              Besides the special pieces I created for the Tuol Sleng museum, I have been painting casually, mostly for friends and relatives.

AM:                What type of works are they?  Are any political in nature.

VN:              No, they are non-political.  I don’t have energy for that.  I prefer to paint from my childhood memories, the rural scenery and other things beautiful from my past.

AM:             What is the climate like for artists now in Cambodia?

VN:              It is very bad.  Our legacy of artists was killed off and it left a large void.  There are not many resources for artists, and little interest among the public.  Only tourists and foreign businessmen seem to buy paintings.

AM:             Do you think this will change?

VN:              I think it will change slowly.  There are more people like you taking an interest, and also the government has relaxed some censorship.  The government is trying to encourage tourism, which will help artists support themselves by selling their art.

AM:             What do you plan to do with your art career in the future?

VN:              I would like to paint more, to set up an art center which will help young artists learn about our past art.  As things improve I can put more energy into what I love, and that is to paint.

AM:             Thank you, I wish you and the Cambodian people the best in these regards.