Arjay Stevens – Reamker

REAMKER THE CAMBODIAN RAMAYANA
ARJAY STEVENS
GODS DEMONS and HEROES
✨️✨️✨️
In The Beginning Fascination…

What is it in this story that, from the beginning, evokes fascination, and how to put that into words? Classic stories about wars and conflicts between good and evil have become legends in human history.

Is it Rama’s absolute obedience to his beloved father, the king? Instead of ascending the throne immediately, he had to live in the jungle for fourteen years. Is it both his faithful wife Sita and the moving love and total devotion of his half-brother Laksmana, who voluntarily followed Rama into the dangers of jungle life? Or is it the many touching details in the various depictions of this great epic?

In the small and big battle scenes, even if many appear excessively cruel, one can often smile about the magic and divine intervention in precarious situations. And this is not to mention the fantastic and erotic escapades of the monkey general Hanuman who is the darling of the audience in the dance performances.

The impressive variety, elegance and quality of the artistic visual representations of the Reamker play an important role in creating that fascination. For example the 12th century Angkor Vat sculptures that adorn this unique monument of Khmer art.

Unfortunately, reading the original ancient text myself I wasn’t able and all the more regrettable, since linguists have reported the wonderful poetry of the ancient language, which of course is fundamentally different from the simple captions on the pagoda murals. Therefore, this book is especially enriched by containing both a small part of the original text provided by Prof. Saveros Pou and the impressive poetic English translations by Trent Walker.

The meaning of the Reamker has been preserved for more than a thousand years. Rama is considered as not only the good father of a country, but the ideal to be imitated by the father of the family, caring and devoted.

As with my previous photographic books on Cambodian culture, there is a special desire in this publication to help ensure that the great cultural Khmer heritage is not forgotten. Internet, karaoke and the many other distractions of our time do not necessarily arouse the interests of the youth in the great artistic and cultural traditions, although there are some positive signs of new commitment and sacrifice in the preservation and development of the arts.

Therefore, the more than twenty years of my work in all its aspects of this exposition of the Reamker was never abandoned. On the contrary, my fascination increased with each new discovery, as did the scope of this book.

My fascination is persistent!

I am sure that you, the lovers of photography and all art lovers, will be fascinated and enriched by this exceptional culture as well. Enjoy!
Arjay Stevens Phnom Penh/Berlin