Edition 1/5 
2015 
51 x 75 cm
Price : $ 250

Link to the all Exhibition https://sraartstudio.com/aspara-arjay-stevens-2/

In 1996, soon after I first came to Cambodia I discovered one of the wonders of the world: Angkor – that great legacy of the ancient Khmer culture located northwest of the country.

Even today many people still believe this only means a single temple called Angkor Vat. But in fact it is a huge area of over four hundred square kilometers covered with temples and monuments, many still needing international collaboration to preserve them from the jungle and man-made destruction.

Angkorian temples are not only located in the Siem Reap province, but are in other parts of Cambodia and in neighboring countries as well. Caused by the huge extension of the Khmer Empire at that time.  These temples are world famous not only for their magnificent architecture, but also for the unique art they display even after many centuries.

Some of the most beautiful and touching decorations are the divine and graceful females that can be found at almost all Khmer temples – ravishing Apsaras. APSARA (Literally translated from Sanskrit, “moving in water”) was born in the beginning of the world out of the ‘Churning of the Ocean of Milk’ according to Hindu myths. In the Angkorian Empire Apsaras also represent the art of dance.

  It was Apsara Mera – married to Kambu the mythical origin of the Khmer people – that Sanskrit inscriptions from the 10th century described her as the „most glorious of celestial women…“ 

So  the first  Cambodian woman  – mother of the people –  was a dancer. 

And Apsaras still represent Cambodia´s national identity in all kind of art – particularly in dance.

After the forced stand still of all kind of arts during the nightmare of the Khmer Rouge period from 1975 – 1979, only ten percent of the dancers survived the massacres. But a handful of great masters have created a revival in that classical dance form.

Today young Cambodians try to create changes in the field of the costumes of Apsaras and even experimenting with modern dance forms.

Arjay Stevens
Photographer / Author 
“APSARAS Cambodian heavenly dancers“