 Professor
Chheng Phon is a prominent dramatist and professor of the study of the
traditional arts of Cambodia. In addition to his work as a playwright,
director, and comedian, he has been a strong advocate for the revitalization
of traditional culture. Since 1975, traditional culture has been neglected
in Cambodia and village societies have been destroyed. Professor Chheng
Phon has promoted the reconstruction of traditional village life, and
has advocated spiritual restoration as a way of encouraging people with
psychological traumas who went through horrible experiences. He has also
devoted himself to training people to work for the preservation and restoration
of tangible and intangible cultural assets.
Professor Chheng Phon
was born in 1930 in Kompong Cham Province. He worked his way through school,
and graduated from the Teacher's School, Ministry of National Education.
After completing his study in China, he held many important posts, including
Professor of the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, President
of the Khmer Artist Association, and Director of National Conservatory
of Spectacles. In 1970, he visited Japan to participate in the Osaka International
Exposition, leading a Cambodian dance troupe. During the Pol Pot regime
which took power in 1975, he experienced forced labor at a collective
farm in Kompong Thom Province. After the Pol Pot government collapsed,
he founded a school of fine arts for the children who had been orphaned
in the midst of the country's confusion. He also recruited musicians,
dancers and shadow players, who had survived the Pol Pot years, to provide
training in the traditional arts. After he was appointed the Minister
of Culture and Information, Professor Chheng Phon reopened the University
of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh (former Royal University of Fine Arts) in 1989
to promote the preservation of both tangible and intangible cultural assets
of Cambodia. By reopening the departments of archaeology and architecture,
he has made a tremendous contribution to guiding and training young experts
in the preservation and restoration of Angkor monuments.
After his retirement
from political affairs in 1992, Professor Chheng Phon used his own funds
to establish the Center for Culture and Vipassana at his home in the suburbs
of Phnom Penh. At present, he carries out practical activities to revive
spiritual values, such as Khmer virtue and spirit, and to heal and purify
tainted or sickened minds through meditation. Professor Chheng Phon is
a thinker and doer on a grand scale who tries to demonstrate the uniqueness
of Cambodian culture in Asia.
The 1993 New York performance
of a Cambodian shadow play and traditional dance troupe, led by Professor
Chheng Phon, won high acclaim for its celebration of the rebirth of Cambodia.
He also deeply impressed the participants at international conferences,
including Japan Foundation's "Symposium on Angkor," by arguing
that the cultural restoration in Cambodia is a spiritual restoration.
A further noteworthy achievement is Professor Chheng Phon's production
and performance of original plays based on folktales and village dances
that have been passed down from generation to generation by oral tradition.
The contribution he has made to the rediscovery of the Khmer values through
his published works, performances, and dialogues is particularly monumental.
Professor Chheng Phon
has revealed the modern universality of traditional Cambodian culture,
and presented theoretical yet practical frameworks for its preservation.
These accomplishments are truly outstanding, and make Professor Chheng
Phon truly worthy of receiving the Grand Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Cultural
Prizes. |
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