Homage to a friendship

Svay Ken, his wife Tith Yun and Ingrid Muan captured on canvas

Whilst at Meta House last night I had my first look at their latest display of paintings, which
is a re-hanging of an exhibition - A Good Friend is Hard to Find - that was first shown at the Reyum Gallery in January 2006. The exhibits are paintings by Khmer artist Svay Ken and were his tribute to a friendship he enjoyed with Ingrid Muan, the co-founder of the Reyum Institute who died a year before the initial exhibition. Svay Ken himself passed away in December 2008 aged 76. There are about 30 paintings in the main ground floor display and another dozen smaller portraits on the first floor. Svay Ken's contemporary, self-taught style is very distinctive and his work eagerly sought-after.

A portrait of Svay Ken's wife Tith Yun

Krom Ngoy, a musician and author, known as the Father of Khmer Poetry

Some of the 30 or so Svay Ken paintings on display

A view of one of Svay Ken's own exhibitionsAnother one of the artists' exhibitions recorded on canvas

Svay Ken (right) and Ingrid Muan are interviewed by journalist Seth Mydans in 2001