Rosewood Phnom Penh is showing twenty works by Sothy Chhim until 30 November. Reused rice sacks give Khmer memory a support that other stories have crossed.
A support keeps traces before it receives paint. In Heritage, Sothy Chhim uses, among other materials, reused white rice sacks that came from Côte d’Ivoire. Rosewood Phnom Penh presents twenty works by the Cambodian artist in its gallery on the 35th floor, with free admission until 30 November 2026.
The support is part of the story
The exhibition’s press release describes visible stitching, textured surfaces and layered materials. These characteristics give the sacks a presence that goes beyond their function as a ground. Their journey between several territories joins a body of work devoted to memory, identity and transmission.
A graduate of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Sothy Chhim grounds his practice in Khmer cultural references. Here, their encounter with a material of circulation offers a way of thinking about heritage as something that is transformed through contact with the present.
The trace rather than the decor
The interest of this choice lies in the status given to wear and stitching. Kept in the work, they can prevent the support from becoming a neutral surface. They bring into being a duration that precedes the image, which the paint extends rather than erases.
This reading needs to be tested against the works themselves; it does not claim to replace a visit. It does, however, give visitors a precise point of attention: to look at how each composition receives the marks of the material, and what this coexistence changes in our idea of transmission.
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