PHNOM PENH — Stepping at the heart of Cambodia, the “Golden Earth” exhibition explores the vast array of emotions—wonder, excitement, fear, sadness, loss, birth, success, fright in war, joy of peace—that every human being experiences on Earth, and especially touches on Cambodia’s rich natural resources, cultural heritage along with the simple lifestyles of the Cambodian people.

“The Golden Land is where we were born,” explained Leang Seckon, the Cambodian artist of international renown as he was speaking of the works featuring in his first solo exhibition to be held at the National Museum in Phnom Penh.   

“Everything we know and receive is very broad,” he said. “We are born as humans: we have value. What does it mean to be born as humans? We can ask another question: what does the land we walk on, the Earth, mean? This is a puzzle and a question for each of us.”

This Golden Land in Cambodia is important for Seckon, being someone who spent his childhood during the bleak Khmer Rouge regime, where his passion and curiosity for art grew within harsh constraints. He describes this series of paintings as a reflection of the significance of the Mekong River for Cambodia’s livelihood. 

For Seckon, the Mekong River is seen as the many-headed dragon Vasuki, who acts as a lever in the epic tale of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, which brought forth the rich and fertile land of gold and the glorious Angkor civilization.

During the rainy season, the water in the Mekong River rises and flows into the Tonle Sap and perpendicular to the Chaktomuk River, then flows back during the dry season. The river flows from left to right and upward, direction that symbolizes birth, Seckon explained, adding that the direction right-to-left symbolizes death.

“It flows annually, bringing sediments, natural resources, and biodiversity, making the soil nourishing,” he said. “This flow, like the story of the [epic tale] ‘Churning of the Ocean of Milk,’ left behind fertile sediments and influenced the Angkor period's flourishing culture.”

Born in the early 1970s, Seckon’s childhood memories include having to run in makeshift bomb shelters dug in the ground in the countryside to flee bombardments during the civil war of 1970 to 1975. Photo: Lim Sokchanlina

Born in the early 1970s, Seckon’s childhood memories include having to run in makeshift bomb shelters dug in the ground in the countryside to flee bombardments during the civil war of 1970 to 1975. Then came the Khmer Rouge regime that caused more than 2 million deaths. 

“Born during [that era], I enjoyed painting but not extensively,” he said. “I was impressed by house patterns, carvings on sickles, and the beauty of the land, forests, and mountains.”

The regime fell when Seckon was 9 years old, leaving behind death and a devastated land. People gathered rice grains from damaged fields, while remnants scattered on the golden land were washed by rains, he recalled. But then, people tried to go back to normalcy and grow the land again. “The rice sprouts flourished in the fields, resembling grains of gold that nurtured our lives,” he said.

Seckon uses painting as a form of communication and response to himself and society, reflecting on his love for peace, and friendship, preserving nature for sustainability and ensuring a golden land is passed down through generations, he said.

“As an artist, I keep thinking of what language or means I can use to convey my message to myself and to society, which I’ve found through art,” he said. “These are creative ideas that come from us as human beings [to answer questions such as] what do we love, what purpose do we have, to fulfil our mission.”

Seckon’s paintings are displayed in numerous museums throughout the world and his work has been exhibited many times abroad. But this exhibition at the National Museum will be his first solo exhibition at the National Museum, which, he said, makes him proud to have continuously worked and been involved in the arts over the last 24 years or so.

“Paintings reveal our thoughts, desires, and self-fulfilment,” Seckon said. “This ‘Golden Earth’ exhibition is very important to me.”

His main “Golden Earth” painting depicts the lives and work of people in the countryside, including farming, water sources, temple repairs, communication, and technology. Photo: Lim Sokchanlina

In 2024, Seckon spent a great deal of time in the countryside, observing farmers and local people going about their days. His main “Golden Earth” painting depicts the lives and work of people in the countryside, including farming, water sources, temple repairs, communication, and technology. The work highlights the merging of city and countryside and the different lifestyles.

An artwork that Seckon named “Shadow of the Past” explores society, individuals, families, and the world, highlighting various aspects of life such ideology, war and sexuality, aiming to encourage understanding.

His artwork titled “Return Home (Suvarnabhumi)” shows the deity Shiva and the map of Cambodia, demonstrating its repatriation after the Khmer Rouge regime. In the deity’s third eye, Seckon put English words, Google, technology to reflect the ancient and the modern. This referred to the head of a 7th century Hindu statue of Shiva that was taken to France by researchers in the early 1880s, kept at the Guimet Museum in Paris, and then was returned to Cambodia in 2016 when the body of the statue was found at the National Museum in Phnom Penh. 

“We can view the return of this Hindu head from France to our National Museum as our golden land calling back the statue to its homeland,” Seckon said. 

Referring to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts ongoing campaign to bring back to Cambodia the antiquities that had been smuggled out of the country in the late 20th century, Seckon said, ‘all these statues are reunited in the land of Suvarnabhumi,” referring to the name of the Khmer kingdom in the early 7th century. 

The exhibition of Leang Seckon at the National Museum is open to the public from Jan.12  to March 11. 

Admission fee to the museum apply. Cambodians: 500 riel per person, free for students with ID cards and for children/teenagers under 18 years old. Foreigners: $10 per person, $5 from 10 to 17 years old, and free for children under 10 years old. 

An artwork that Seckon named “Shadow of the Past” explores society, individuals, families, and the world, highlighting various aspects of life such ideology, war and sexuality, aiming to encourage understanding. Photo: Lim Sokchanlina

His artwork titled “Return Home (Suvarnabhumi)” shows the deity Shiva and the map of Cambodia, demonstrating its repatriation after the Khmer Rouge regime. Photo: Lim Sokchanlina