Svay Ken’s (b. 1933 in Takeo Province; d. 2008 in Phnom Penh) paintings illustrate scenes from everyday life in Cambodia that are often charged with the presence of unsettling forces beyond the picture frame. Monthly Mandatory Meeting (1994) depicts a large crowd of Khmer Rouge soldiers listening with enthusiasm to a speech from their military commander. Made nearly 20 years after the Khmer Rouge lost control of Cambodia, the piece reflects how history and trauma reverberate through cultural consciousness long after the initial events that caused them.
