The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
In the instrument workshop of the Fine Arts School in Phnom Penh, a Khmer instrument maker uses the metal tool he has just retrieved from the brazier in front of him to work on a traditional rosewood xylophone key as Adelaide born ethnomusicologist Bill Lobban looks on in the background. Lobban began working in Cambodia from 1987, receiving support from Save the Children Fund (Australia) and Australian Volunteers Abroad to develop a programme designed to revive Cambodian music and dance, in conjunction with the State of Cambodia (SOC)'s Ministry of Culture. The genocidal Khmer Rouge regime viewed any artisans as representatives of the feudal Khmer society they were attempting to purge, and almost 90 percent of Cambodia's dance masters and musicians, inheritors of a classical tradition dating back a thousand years to the days of the Angkor kings, were executed. Very few artisans survived who had the skills involved to construct, tune or even play traditional Khmer instruments and supplies of raw materials had to be reestablished, especially specialist materials such as rosewood, which grows in Khmer Rouge controlled zones. The traditions were, however, kept alive in the refugee camps on the Thai border, as well as in troupes formed amongst expatriate communities living in Australia, France and the United States.
Adelaide born ethnomusicologist Bill Lobban looks on as a Fine Arts School instrument maker heats up metal drills for fabricating parts in the School workshop. Lobban began working in Cambodia from 19
In the instrument workshop of the Fine Arts School in Phnom Penh, a Khmer instrument maker cuts a rosewood flute on a lathe. The revival in Cambodia's traditional culture has been assisted by Adelaide
An informal portrait of Adelaide born ethnomusicologist Bill Lobban, a dedicated non government organisation (NGO) worker who began working in Cambodia from 1987, receiving support from Save the Child
Two young students at Phnom Penh's Fine Arts School practice the slow, graceful classical Khmer dance style based on the movements of the 'naga' snake, as other students turn and watch. The steps and
A young performer from a Cambodian circus troupe displays her suppleness on a table at the Fine Arts School in Phnom Penh as she trains alongside young students of Cambodia's classical dance tradition
Young students at Phnom Penh's Fine Arts School practice the slow, graceful classical Khmer dance style based on the movements of the 'naga' snake, as their teacher adjusts one girl's pose. Students s
