Artists Challenge Gender Roles in Cambodia

A chance Internet encounter with Cassandra Naji’s comprehensive article, “Cambodia’s Female Artists: How Contemporary Art is Changing Gender Roles in Cambodia,” (see http://theculturetrip.com) led me to the paintings of Oeur Sokuntevy, a Cambodian painter challenging traditional expectations of women’s roles in modern Cambodia in her art. This video is a short, silent survey of her work.

Naji writes: “. . .the custom of the chbap srey, or ‘women’s law’, still influences contemporary life across Cambodia. But as the country rushes towards modernization, young female artists are directly questioning women’s traditional role in society and expressing their outrage. Their art, modern, experimental and fresh, is both a political statement and a social outcry.” They are not alone.