TEX-KR · Reclaiming Cambodian dress and textile practices, identities, and collections under the Khmer Rouge (1970s-1980s): New approaches to archival materials of conflict

Reclaiming Cambodian dress and textile practices, identities, and collections under the Khmer Rouge (1970s-1980s): New approaches to archival materials of conflict

TEX-KR explores textile production and dress practices in Cambodia from the early 1970s to the early 1980s, especially examining the years of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79). In only four years, the Cambodian revolutionary dictatorship claimed nearly two million lives due to forced labour, purges, famine, and a major sanitary crisis. During that time, textile crafts and heritage were heavily affected. The Cambodian population also had to dye their clothes in muted tones and adopt the Khmer Rouge uniform inspired by rural workwear. Combining object-based study, archival research, and participatory methodologies, this project centres on a rather overlooked aspect of the Cambodian genocide history by investigating its textile material culture in terms of know-how, artefacts, and clothing practices. TEX-KR is anchored in museum-based research in Cambodia’s leading cultural institutions, namely the National Museum of Cambodia and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The project has precisely reconstructed the acquisition history of the National Museum of Cambodia’s textile collection, its management under French leadership during the French colonisation, and the extent of material losses in the 1970-80s. By 1970, 415 textile pieces in a diversity of styles and techniques had been acquired and cared for by successive museum keepers. Only 73 textiles and about 30 dance costume elements were recovered in the museum's first post-war inventory in 1995. These findings have been used to open an artistic dialogue with three Cambodian artists, by inviting them to create new artworks inspired by the lost textiles from this museum. These pieces were exhibited in the exhibition The Art of Ikat: A Cambodian Renaissance, which took place from 22 February to 31 May 2024 at the Royal Danish Library, University of Copenhagen South Campus. Finally, the research conducted at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum has informed the incarceration process of of the S-21 prisoners in which they were asked to relinquish their clothes and how these dehumanising practices affected their living conditions in the prison. The study of a selection of garments from the prisoners shows the prevalence of military uniforms, as well as civilian clothing in poor condition with patched textiles and extensive signs of stitching and mending. These objects suggest a shortage in textiles and clothing and a scarcity of available materials in the 1970s.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union