Following the end of the Khmer Rouge regime and the Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979), national reconstruction under the People's Republic of Kampuchea or PRK (1979–1989) attempted to establish their own political legitimacy and manage a traumatized populace. Saddled with a variety of institutional responsibilities, the PRK utilized monumentalism and art as a vessel of compelling local Cambodian communities to reconstruct a national identity under a standardized historical narrative. At the same time, local artists and communities created their own monumental displays that represent different approaches to remembering the past. By constructing two types of artwork, official and folk, this thesis aims to sketch out dual poles on a continuum of artistic forms. Doing so aids in understanding the drives propelling these artistic projects and how they operate, independently and in dialogue with each other, to craft individual and historic memory. Only when we grasp the interplay between these two artistic fronts can we craft representative, holistic, and just spaces of remembrance.
Grayce McCarley (Thu,) studied this question.