R
E
V N
E
X
T
Paintings by HOUR SEYHA: (right) The Dead Tree, 2014; and (left) The Weight of Life Since Childhood, 2014. Installation view at Romcheik 5 Art Space, Battambang. Photo by Ben Valentine.
Interview with Cambodian artist Hour Seyha and Romcheik 5 founder Alain Troulet
Although off the typical tourist route, Battambang is an undeniably important city in Cambodia for its local contemporary arts scene. Home of Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS), one of Cambodia’s few arts schools, Battambang possesses a relatively large number of young contemporary artists and arts spaces. With a rotating exhibition space, a permanent art collection and a beautiful rooftop view of Battambang, Romcheik 5 Art Space is the newest, exciting addition to the city’s art community.
To get a better understanding of the new space and its mission, I spoke with Romcheik 5 founder and curator Alain Troulet over email, as well as with painter Hour Seyha, who lives and paints at the art space. Seyha’s work was featured in Romcheik 5’s first solo exhibition, entitled “The Beginning of the Journey,” which took place in March.
Alain, can you talk about your first encounters with the artwork and artists who are current residents at Romcheik 5?
Alain Troulet: My first encounter was in 2011, when I stumbled upon Seyha painting on a canvas outside the tiny metal shed he was living in, located in a suburb of Battambang. I felt astonished. [It depicted a] faceless soldier going to war, looking backwards, in a blue uniform resembling that of the French army at the end of the 19th century . . . What came to mind immediately was a mixing of [the anti-war novel] Johnny Got His Gun (1938) by Dalton Trumbo and “Le Dormeur du Val” (“The Sleeper of the Valley,” 1870), a poem by my favorite writer Arthur Rimbaud. The painting was not finished, but I told Seyha that I would buy it anyway.
At that time, I was only passing by Battambang for one night, but I stayed the next day as well to see more of Seyha’s work. Then he pushed me to visit one of his friends, Nget Chanpenh, who, like Seyha, had been a “slave-child” expelled from Thailand [after having worked there to raise money for their family back in Cambodia]—and then another friend, Mil Chankrim, and finally Bor Hak. All of them were still studying at PPS, but their works had something raw [to them], without any references other than their own painful history. They had already created a style unique from one another. I ended up staying a full week in Battambang, trying to get to know and understand these precocious artists (they were all between 18 and 20 years old at that time) a little better. Given the dire conditions in which they were living, I decided to invest in a plot of land equipped with four wooden huts as studios, where they could live more decently and work [on their art] more easily. We called the place Romcheik 5.
Exterior view of Romcheik 5 Art Space in Battambang, Cambodia, 2015. Photo by Ben Valentine.
Interior view of Romcheik 5 Art Space in Battambang, Cambodia, 2015. Photo by Ben Valentine.
What is your role working with the artists at Romcheik 5?
AT: During the first two years, my role was limited to real-estate investor and art patron. I was living in Phnom Penh and helping out by purchasing their works regularly when the need arose. I never had to force myself to find one [that suited] my taste anyway. I also tried to find some opportunities for group exhibitions inside and outside Cambodia (such as at Romeet Contemporary Art Space in Phnom Penh) in collaboration with the French branch of PPS in Paris. Gradually, as the artists became financially independent through regular sales of paintings, [their need for] my financial aid reduced and then stopped, even for the purchases of equipment and materials. When I decided to build my own house on the same land [as Romcheik 5] to escape messy Phnom Penh, and started to live alternately between Battambang and France, my role changed. I came to have a de facto role that was more involved in their personal and professional daily life. Some have asked me advice about their personal lives, some have not. Some have solicited my opinion and critique regarding their pursuance of their artwork, others have not. I started to respond to some of their requests, bringing back art-related books and videos from France. Chanpenh and Seyha even accompanied me in Europe, traveling for one of their group exhibitions there.
During the past two years my role has progressively drifted from the financial to the artistic. But I am not a teacher and I will never allow myself to guide them; I simply push them to go further in the direction they have chosen for themselves. This is more [about providing] moral support than an instructorship, especially at times when they feel discouragement.
What called you to start this new art space in Battambang?
AT: In 2014, after completing the construction of my house, which in fact became quickly a warehouse for the artworks created within the walls of Romcheik 5, it occurred to me that this project was still unfinished and that I could not forever store this collection of more than 50 paintings in my house, especially [since they were works] that deserved to be seen. From there came the idea to buy a small adjacent plot and construct a gallery, or rather a small museum, which [the artists and I] agreed to designate as a little “countryside museum.” This was done for two reasons: firstly, because the space is located in the countryside outside the center city of Battambang; secondly, and most importantly, because the works shown are all made by “country boys” (the four founding artists of Romcheik 5 grew up in remote, rural areas of Cambodia).
What is the ideal future for Romcheik 5, and what’s the next step to get there?
AT: I have not yet had time to conceptualize the ideal future for Romcheik 5. I am more pragmatic than idealistic. It will become what we make of it and, above all, what [the artists] will make of it. I wish for the Cambodian artists to take responsibility of the place, make it live on (or at least survive) and earn a living from it . . . Being a reluctant participant in the mercantile world of contemporary art, I want to gradually hand over the space to Cambodian management. But I’m aware that it is not in the vocation of an artist to manage an art space. [This is why] I asked Phal Sopheak, who was behind the Romcheik 5 project with me for two years, to resign from his position as a marketing officer of functions at PPS in Siem Reap to come and manage the space, and develop it so that it becomes more known to local Battambang residents and, above all, to tourists, in order to establish an income source to make the space self-supporting.
The next step is a story I do not know yet, but that could be interesting and even beautiful.
Seyha, how and why did you start painting?
Hour Seyha: I started painting when I was around 12 years old. I was inspired by the Buddhist paintings on the walls of a wat [Buddhist temple] near my home. I enrolled to study art at PPS in 2006 after returning to Cambodia from Thailand, where I had been made to work illegally as a child. An NGO rescued me and brought me back to Battambang. I always loved painting, and I feel very sorry that I have lost all of my paintings from when I was young.
HOUR SEYHA, Ice Dream, 2014, oil on canvas. Courtesy Romcheik 5 Art Space, Battambang.
Can you tell me about your creative process?
HS: Most of my work I paint in the forest, so I can be alone with just me and the art. I’m afraid of ghosts, though, and I often hear strange things and animal sounds there. The fear forces me to paint more. I find a lot of beauty and inspiration from nature. It’s just a different feeling from the city and gives me time to be completely with the art and to be 100 percent focused.
How has your practice developed since the establishment of Romcheik 5?
HS: [Without Romcheik 5] it would definitely have been slower than it is today, but I’d still be a painter. I feel so lucky to have Alain, because he has become like a second teacher to me. We always speak a lot about my art, and he spends a lot of time with me and the other artists. Alain has helped me with my technique and provides helpful critique of my work. When I have a new idea I often consult with Alain about it. I am so thankful to be working with him.
