Cambodian Cultural Exhibit Opening October 22, 2011

Join us for a lively musical celebration marking the opening of a special exhibit about Cambodian art and culture. Performances will showcase Cambodian elders performing the nearly-lost musical arts of the Khmer, as well as the art of a younger generation, transforming and maintaining these traditions through hip-hop and dance.

92-year-old Nhep Prok teaches a Cambodian music class in Oakland. He learned how to play the stringed khim and thror as a youth in Cambodia and now serves as a precious cultural resource for all Cambodians. Kong Lap teaches Cambodian dance to youth in Oakland. In Cambodia, from the ages of 9 to 16, Lap sang, acted, and danced in village folk operas, called yike. Her family had been yike performers for generations before the Khmer Rouge attempted to annihilate all traces of traditional Cambodian performing arts.

An original Peralta House Museum of History and Community exhibit will tell the story of Cambodians in Oakland, featuring multigenerational Cambodian refugees and their search for healing from the trauma of the Cambodian genocide through the recovery of music traditions that were nearly annihilated.

The exhibit will introduce visitors to Cambodian culture and the political upheaval that occurred there in the 1970s. The exhibit features traditional Cambodian artists such as Kong Lap and Nhep Prok, living and practicing their arts in Oakland today. Beautiful photography portrays the Cambodian New Year celebration, where hundreds gathered in East Oakland to celebrate Cambodian cultural traditions in April 2011. Photography and interviews also profile young Cambodian-Americans, who are integrating their heritage into American culture.

The exhibit is being produced collaboratively by Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, Community Health for Asian Americans, and Cambodian Community Development, Inc.

Official Website: http://www.peraltahacienda.org