PHNOM PENH — The second Ekarieach Multi Art Award was presented on Feb. 12 to Soeung Vannara for his painting entitled “Makor Face” featuring this traditional figure with a 21st century vitality.  

In a ceremony during which the names and artworks of the winners in the four art categories were shown on a giant screen at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra hotel, Vannara received the main prize from Secretary of State Hab Touch of  the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. 

Makara is a legendary sea creature of the Hindu mythology often seen in sculpted scenes on Angkorian monuments. During the Water Festival, people who compete in the boat races often decorate their boats with images of Makara, Vannara explained after the award ceremony. 

“Since the theme was water, I felt that Makor (or makara) was a powerful figure [to feature],” he said. Previously dean of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Makara said that he has gone back to painting since he retired. “This is the first time that I have shown my work,” he said.  

For this second Ekarieach annual art contest, 220 participants had signed in to take part, which was twice the number of artists who had applied for the first contest, said Jean Morel, manager of Recreation Cambodia, and one of the contest organizers and jury members. However, only 110 submitted their works by deadline on Nov. 9, he said. “Then, jury members selected 70 works.” 

This year, there were four categories: painting, sculpture, photography and digital art, and each artist approached the theme in its own way, Morel said. 

“There were three or four works that were I would say without water,”he said. “The opposite of water is drought. So we discussed among jury members and agreed that the opposite of water, which is drought,…was actually in line with the theme…reflecting the absence of water. 

“So it was a very creative way for an artist to view the theme,” Morel said. 

“We have been amazed by the creativity, by the quality, and also by the age range of the different applicants…the youngest 8 years old and the oldest around 80 years old,” said Charles-Henri Chevet, general  manager of the Sofitel in Phnom Penh, and area general manager for Sofitel in Cambodia. 

 “The overall quality [of the works was] quite spectacular, quite good either by the size, either by the creativity, either by the pure quality, the finesse of the details,” said Chevet who was a member of the jury. “Some paintings have a real finesse of details, the work it represents [to produce it] is quite impressive.”

The scope and styles of the works varied tremendously, he said. In the photography category, first-prize winner Nakim Sereyvann depicted in a small black-and-white photo “Life along the Riverside.” As she explained in an interview, one person in the photo is about to jump in the Tonle Sap river for a swim, another is taking a walk along the river, and a vendor is sitting next to a cart, ready to serve customers, all this reflecting the various activities linked to the river, Sereyvann said.

And then, there is the sculpture of Cyril Berthet he named “Stalact,”which won first prize in the sculpture category. Done in bluish and pale coral tones, it stands several meters tall in the hotel lobby, set in muted light.  

The winner in the digital graphic art category was Rotanak Rith Bon; and in the art design, drawing and painting category Karona Hoeuy. 

The styles and techniques of the works selected to be exhibited range from the classic to the more unnovative. 

For instance, Thommy Hin created a giant drop of water using canvas fabric as base. “With wool and a special tool, I worked as in embroidery,”he said. “I had a drawing already done on the canvas…and I created the mountain and sun in relief with yarns. 

“I had to play with the diverse textures and reliefs, and this put me in the sculpture category [in the contest],”  Hin said, even though his work was on a canvas.

On the other hand, Kuy Ratanak David chose to do a classic, black-and-white scene of Cambodia’s countryside with a mountain in the distance and a stream flowing down. Working with black ink and a fine-line pen on paper, he said, “this is a scene out of my childhood with my grandfather in Banteay Meanchey province. You can see Sisophon mountain, you can see the ricefields…a pagoda, animals.” 

This year’s first-prize contest winners also include Rith Bonrotanak in digital graphic art, and Karona Hoeuy in art design, drawing, and painting. 

While the 60 artworks that had been chosen in the first selection were all potential prize winners, the judges had little difficulty agreeing on the final works, said Casey Barnett, president of CamEd Business School and the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, and one of the judges for the contest. 

 “As members of the jury, we viewed the works in person and then returned to our homes and offices, and scored the artworks online,” he said. “Some categories were clear such as painting and sculpture. But in some cases…the choice was not evident.

“However, when we met…there was a clear concensus about the choices,” he said. While choices and tastes in art may differ from one person to the other, Barnett said he found interesting that they agreed with no difficulty. “This may explain how come some artworks around the world touches us in a certain way,”  he said. 

All the arworks selected or considered for the second Ekarieach Multi Art Award are exhibited in the art gallery, lobby and main corridors of the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra hotel.