The Art of Ikat: A Cambodian Renaissance

Exhibition at Copenhagen University Library, South Campus.

Exhibition outline

Enter the woven world of Cambodian silk ikat, hol in Khmer, a resist-dye weaving technique and century-old textile craft. While sericulture and weaving have been activities grounded in villagers’ lives in the countryside, royal workshops also produced refined silk textiles to supply the Cambodian royal court. The National Museum, established in 1920 in Phnom Penh during the French protectorate, collected numerous examples of these textiles. After the civil war in 1970 and the destructive Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979, more than 3/4th of its textile collection was missing, most likely due to looting. The exhibition The Art of Ikat: A Cambodian Renaissance investigates this rich heritage and history in terms of cultural, technical, and visual significance, also considering its survival, vitality, and resilience in contemporary times.