Events / Évènements

Last update: December 9, 2023

This presentation will overview research into a large-scale virtual reconstruction of the capital of the Khmer Empire in 1300. This is an especially interesting time in Angkor’s history. While eyewitness reports from Chinese dignitaries only three years prior describe a bustling and wealthy city, new geoarchaeological research suggests that a protracted demographic decline set in soon after. It was the beginning of the end for Angkor. Climatic events in the mid-1300s to the early 1400s hastened the breakdown of its hydraulic network, and by 1500, except for Angkor Wat and a smattering of villages, the city had been abandoned to the forests.

Much remains an enigma about this city, and we must necessarily draw upon a wide range of primary and secondary sources. Our foundation is the GIS datasets and airborne LIDAR surveys of Greater Angkor, but there are also other sources, including ethnomusicology, historical accounts, archival photography, and most importantly, the inscriptions that the people of Angkor wrote themselves.

This presentation will explore the technologies we have used to translate maps of a modern-day ruin into a living, operational metropolis, replete with glittering temples, dense wooden settlements, and a fully animated populace. (Source YouTube/ SensiLab Forum: Tom Chandler and Mike Yeates)

In addition to making a donation to the Royal Ballet, other objectives are being pursued:

• Promote Franco-Cambodian know-how.
• Offer Cambodian instrument makers the opportunity to go beyond their traditional know-how.
• Motivate a top-of-the-range instrument maker by representing it nationally and internationally.
• Create exceptional musical instruments for prestigious projects.

Sounds of Angkor opted for two harps with Garuda heads, inspired by the bas-reliefs of the Bayon and the Elephant Terrace (early 13th century). About their technological characteristics:

• Arched harp made with wild jackfruit wood. 
• Soundbox: carved with Angkorian motifs, covered with two-tone black and red acrylic lacquer, enhanced with gold lacquer with an aged look.
• Handle: carved and inlaid with the coat of arms of the Royal Court of Cambodia.
• Soundbox and handle: glued and pegged with bamboo.
• Top: Garuda head covered with gilded lacquer with an aged look.
• Soundboard: Nepalese goat skin studded and glued.
• Tuning system: by rosewood pegs.
• Strings: 16 strings in braided nylon microfibre "silk-like". 

These two harps are the most prestigious ever made in Cambodia since the re-creation of the instrument in 2012.

The instruments were entirely made in Siem Reap by several Cambodian and French craftsmen:

• Leng Pohy (Authentic Khmer sculpture): carving of the soundbox and neck, assembly and inlaying of the royal coat of arms.
• Thean Nga: installation of the Nepalese goatskin soundboard and rosewood pegs.
• Sat Sim: carving of the Angkorian motifs.
• Philippe Brousseau (Jayav Art): two-tone acrylic lacquering in successive layers.
• Lim Theam (Theam's Gallery): sculpture of Garuda heads.
• Patrick Kersalé: design, project management, supervision, string installation, tuning. 

Making of the harps of the Royal Ballet.

We owe the success of this evening to several actors and sponsors: Sofitel Phokeethra, Emeritus Master Yun Long Zi, Chef Eric Berrigaud, musicians Pon Pong & Sor Sophany, Painter Hay Choeum, Dancer Sok Pheak, the donor Christian Didier Michel.

• Body and head: Wild jackfruit, khnor prei (Moraceae family), a wood widely used in traditional Khmer instrument making.
• Pegs, neck/head joining ring, key: rosewood, kranhung (Fabaceae family), one of the most precious and densest in Cambodia. It was once reserved for royalty.
• Tailpiece: thnong wood (Fabaceae family), a precious species which, with its beautiful pinkish hue, brings a touch of elegance to the object.
• Soundboard: Nepalese goatskin treated according to ancient methods. 
• Strings (16) : Nylon microfibre. The original strings were probably made of silk, but for reasons of solidity, we prefer for the moment to use the microfiber which offers the same sound.
• Coating: 600 24 carat gold leaves of traditional Asian size (4x4 cm) were used to cover the frieze and the head of Garuda. They were placed on a yellow plate.

A Franco-Khmer team of six people based in Siem Reap made the Royal Harp:

• Patrick Kersalé. French ethno-archaeomusicologist, specialist of the Khmer harp and ancient musical instruments of Cambodia. Project leader, gilding.
• Leng Pohy (Authentic Khmer Sculpture workshop). Sculptor on wood and stone, maker of ancient musical instruments. Sculpture of the structure.
• Thean Nga. Fiddle maker, manufacturer of ancient and traditional musical instruments, multi-material expert: wood, horn, bone, leather, coconut, gourd, rattan, horsehair, bamboo. Manufacture of pegs and laying of goat skin.
• Sat Sim. Khmer sculptor. Sculpture of the frieze of the sound board.
• Lim Theam. Franco-Khmer artist, founder of Theam's Gallery. Draft of Garuda's head.
• Philippe Brousseau (Atelier Jayav Art): French artist, sculptor, draftsman, painter, specialist in papier-mâché, acrylic lacquer and textures. Preparation of the yellow plate for the laying of the gold leaf.
• In addition to this team, Nepalese correspondents, Rita Maharjan and Shiva Raj Parajuli, were mobilized to order and transport the goatskin.