The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

Artists The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 160 (left to right) Kbach Teuk (Lotus Flower Form) (detail) 2021 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 150 x 110cm Kbach Teuk (Shrimp Form) (detail) 2021 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 150 x 110cm Kbach Teuk (Shrimp Form) (detail) 2021 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 150 x 110cm (opposite) Kbach Teuk (Lotus Flower Form) 2021 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 150 x 110cm Purchased 2021 with funds from The Spellbrook Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Than Sok infuses new meaning into spiritual practices and investigates the ways in which they permeate daily life and vernacular culture in Cambodia. His art explores how Buddhist principles manifest and dictate relationships to community and environment, while being able to question the role of religious ritual and its incumbent sense of morality. Than grew up in the Southern province of Takeo. Like many young people in Cambodia, he assisted monks in his adolescence, carrying alms and performing other menial tasks which, in their aid to the pious, are believed to bring spiritual merit to the family. After moving to Phnom Penh, Than enrolled at Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture, where he was exposed to contemporary experimental art practices and developed an aptitude for painting. He began seeing the potential to learn and renegotiate Buddhist disciplines through a range of artistic media, resulting in a practice that assesses the value and relevance of how Buddhist ideas are applied in Cambodia today. Recently Than has committed to studying and developing techniques of a particular form of Buddhist painting, focusing on the water patterns, known as Kbach Teuk (water forms), in temple murals. The series pays homage to Than’s former teacher, Duong Saree, who was an innovator of Cambodian traditional painting and advocated for more accurate representations of the character of water and its role and significance in ancient Hindu and Buddhist narrative painting. 1 These are an essential aspect of traditional Buddhist art in Cambodia which Than has reconceptualised into an experimental form, developing new patterns that are meticulously repeated in a process imbued with the discipline and persistence intrinsic to forms of ritualistic devotion. While water has been depicted throughout the narratives and epics of Hindu and Buddhist belief, underlying Than’s focus is water’s agency, relationality and cultural significance. 2 The artist's home of Phnom Penh is a city built on the convergence of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. The Cambodian Royal Palace looks onto the banks where these rivers converge and is the site of the annual royal boat races during Bon Om Touk (Water and Moon Festival), signifying the end of the monsoon and the reversal of the Tonlé Sap currents essential for fertile rice paddy fields and healthy fish stocks. The ecosystems of the rivers, lakes and seas in parts of Cambodia have also been subjected to catastrophic change through controversial building developments, which have disrupted the water sources that sustain many plant, animal and human lives. Than’s series evokes the reliance and interdependence of all life on water and reiterates why this subject has been a preoccupation of art, culture and belief throughout history. Delicately executed in a palette of greens and blues reminiscent of the water depictions in temple murals, each painting focuses on a different aspect of the natural world, which is then transformed into a unique water design. Individual works become a study of a particular animal or plant — such as fish, reptiles, shrimp and water celery — melding into the form of a corresponding water motif. Such patterning typically serves as the backdrop to anthropomorphic narratives in Cambodian art and architecture; however, Than transforms these into their own composition, where the detail and design are drawn into primary focus. The delicately controlled brushstrokes echo contours of waves, ripples and changing currents of waterways, exuding the meditative rhythm of the flow of water. The Kbach Teuk project seeks knowledge through learning and discipline, and through its application Than sees tradition and religious values as edifices that can continue to be rediscovered in our contemporary context. The project investigates the potential of such a discipline today while considering the fragility and universal value of one of the most essential elements of life. Tarun Nagesh Endnotes 1 ‘Artist Profile: Than Sok’, Elevations: Contemporary Art Projects in Laos , <http://www.elevationslaos.net/than_sok/ >, viewed March 2021. 2 Than Sok, email to the author, June 2021. Than Sok Born 1984, Takeo, Cambodia Lives and works in Phnom Penh, Cambodia