Here From There (Part 01)
Courtesy Facebook, a query from a college pal:
Been wanting to ask you – what brought you to Cambodia, how long have you been there, how’re you making a living, etc.?
Hmm, how did I get all the way over to the other side of the planet? Doing comics stuff? In a nutshell…
I’d had my interest twigged about Cambodia since 1986 or 1987, when I was an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz.
I’d read a few news articles and was fascinated (and a little shocked) at the drama of modern history that was playing out. In addition to a literature degree, I found myself signing up for a second major, ‘Modern Society and Social Thought‘.
In my readings on Southeast Asia in general, and Cambodia in particular, I found a lot of hidden bias and loaded language. I chose to write about that as my undergraduate thesis topic. In 1991 I graduated with my literature degree, but my ‘Mod Soc’ thesis trailed on a little longer before I turned it in.
Some people make music, I devour media, and generally look at comics as my primary medium. (Heck, even the web is words and pictures, making it the world’s largest interactive comic strip.)
So after graduating I cut my teeth interning briefly at Eclipse Comics in nearby Forestville, and this opened the door for further work at Dark Horse Comics in Portland, Oregon. I soon became aware that there were few comics to be found anywhere that depicted Cambodians with any degree of realism. Laid off during the mid-nineties speculation slump, I dusted off my thesis notes and turned my eyes toward getting an MA degree.
After mailing it off to the Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute, I was invited to take a partial scholarship in Cambodian (Khmer) language. In the summer of 1995, the University of Madison-Wisconsin was a great place to be. I didn’t have a job, had closed down my apartment, and had relatively few personal commitments. I dove into the cram course, providing one year of Khmer language in 10 weeks. Our neighbors were studying Thai, Burmese, Indonesian. I’m still in touch today with most of my classmates.
There’s a limited number of Asian Studies programs that have a focus on Cambodia, and I soon found Monash University looking to be a good option.
I was enthused to explore both Cambodian culture at Monash’s Asian Studies Institute, work with the Cambodian community in Victoria, and to moonlight drawing comics in Melbourne’s vibrant arts scene. I also studied for an English teaching certification; realizing that *everyone* wants to learn English in Cambodia.
I returned to the States to catch up with family and prepare for further travel. I found myself writing grants for Cambodian associations in Long Beach. But I soon realized that the Stateside nonprofit sector was not the most lucrative profession. After getting a certification in grant writing, and some varied temp jobs, I was finally off to Cambodia in May 2000.
I took some short stints teaching and interning so I could get my feet on the ground. I soon found Khmer comics in the market, which were a bit of a revelation. In comparison to the recent USA downturn, Cambodian comics were largely reprints from the 1980s. No one was taking an active role researching or archiving them. I started buying, reading and indexing them.
After a few months I found myself teaching in Siem Reap. I was soon encouraged to help out at the Center for Khmer Studies. This was a fun role, allowing me to build infrastructure and work with lots of engaging academics. While there are some fields I’d never want to work in professionally, it’s great to get an précis direct from the experts. It was also a wonderful time to familiarize myself with the Angkor temples when the town was relatively quiet.
After two years of Center work I was itching apply some more focus on comic art, and needing a bit of change. Given that most of pre and post-war publishing was in Phnom Penh, I gave notice to the Center and began working with arts groups in Phnom Penh.
It was a fun time, researching art history and working with groups like Cambodian Living Arts and Sovanna Phum. For a time I made my home at the ‘Saklapel’ house with Pich Sopheap, Leang Seckon, Chath Piersath and Linda Saphan.
In 2004 a French comics festival planned to develop a huge show of Cambodian comics, and I spent a fair amount of effort trying to get it up and running. There was one problem: the existence of a local industry was tenuous at best; there wasn’t a heck of a lot to celebrate!
Despite sending over a liaison and many drafts of initial plans, the festival pulled out. But the local staff at Centre Culturel Français encouraged me to keep going for a historical exhibition. So in October, we finally managed to pull off a show: Bande Dessinée au Cambodge.
[Part 2, up to present day, to follow. I’ll add in some photos and illustrations.]