The past & the future

Better late than never...I forgot to mention that this month there's a focus on architecture in Cambodia, past and present with a series of lectures, exhibitions and publications that will highlight what's been and challenge the local arts community as to what will happen in the future. People like Vann Mollyvann helped shape Cambodia's architectural past with over 100 major public works in the 50s and 60s and many people refer to his work as the pinnacle of the golden era of architecture in modern-day Cambodia. But many of his legacies have already disappeared. So far the latest batch of new buildings springing up around Phnom Penh in particular isn't something that is finding favour with the purists. The month-long Architecture & Urban Design project will include a guided tour with Vann Mollyvann himself, though disappointingly it'll be in French and Khmer, of which I speak neither, as well as lectures at Java Cafe, the French Cultural Centre and Meta House. The exhibitions include In Transit at Meta House from 16th and a look at traditional Khmer wooden architecture with Darryl Collins at Java Cafe on the 22nd.