Art as Healing: Remembering Those Lost in the Cambodian Killing Fields
Last week, the Chicago Cultural Alliance visited one of our Core members, the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial. We were grateful to be shown around the museum by our tour guide, Nisa.
Beginning on April 17, 1975, more than two million Cambodians had died under Pol Pot’s dictatorship and the Khmer Rouge regime over three years, eight months, and 21 days. In December of 1985, around 10,000 Cambodian refugees arrived in the city of Chicago. Today, the Museum acts as a place of remembrance, community gathering, culture, and social services for the city’s Cambodian population. The Museum is the only Killing Fields Memorial in the United States. Its Wall of Remembrance, etched with the names of loved ones who perished in the Killing Fields, honors the more than 2 million lives that were lost.
Every weekend, all three floors of the Museum are filled with the sounds and stories of traditional music, dancing, art-making, and language classes. The space transforms into the Culture & Healing Arts program, which emphasizes art as a form of healing for survivors and their families. Parents of first-generation Cambodians oftentimes have difficulty explaining their past in Cambodia to loved ones, explained Nisa. The program allows members to take Cambodian language classes or to learn the Roneat Ek, a 1,000 year old Cambodian xylophone. Participates forge learning experiences and connect to elements of Cambodian culture not commonly taught in public school curriculum in the United States. In turn, shared cultural experience sparks curiosity amongst younger generations, creating space for conversation in the spirit of remembrance and healing between multiple generations of community members.
The Carving Legacies: Memories in Clay exhibit in January of 2025 shows how sculpture is an avenue of healing, when community members and the Master Ceramicist, Yary Livan, came together to sculpt ornate elephants, a symbol of strength and wisdom within the Cambodian community. The exhibit displays the elephants collectively marching and represents the will and legacy of Chicago’s Cambodian community. Elephants carry stories and memories of the creators and community, to continue learning and healing from the past, keeping close remembrance, a key pillar in honoring those lost at the Killing Fields. Dedicated space for creative outlets and cultural education reminds us of the importance of art and creative expression in bridging intergenerational gaps, generating space and curiosity, and knowledge amongst Chicago’s Cambodian population.
You can view photos from our visit on our Instagram – @chicagocultural