CAMBODIAN LIVING ARTS EVENT REFLECTION

Our work on Cambodian Living Arts/Arts4Peace this week was very inspiring and informative.  Each of the different activities we did made individual contributions to my understanding of the impact art and music can have on people.  The video The Flute Player gave a great analysis of Arn as a musician and as a person who had survived the Cambodian Genocide.  Through his journey to find the original music masters of Cambodia and change his country, I learned that remembering our roots and heritage can help restore people and culture.  By recalling our original ideals, a culture can start to try and transform back into the civilization it used to be. The seminar with the musicians during B block was very interesting.  It gave me a completely different perspective than the video had. Being in the same room as Arn and the other musicians proved the idea that even the smallest things can make huge change.  People often see music and art as a hobby or freetime activity, but the musicians proved that it is so much more than that. People use music to make themselves feel a certain way or to reflect their mood, and the musicians were able to start to bring back pieces of their culture in a calming and kind way.  When playing this music, people can remember who they were before the genocide and make them absorb their culture. Having Arn and the other musicians play for us at night was an amazing experience for me. I have never been exposed to such an alternative music form before. Arn and his friends told us about the struggles they faced earlier in life, beyond just the genocide.  They might have had a rough family life, been bullied or faced loneliness and depression, but music was what got them through the tough times. By playing music, they were able to remember their own culture and preserve all of the horrible things they faced in an impactful way. Of course no one wants to remember horrors like these, but by playing their country’s music, they can remember who they are.
Through all of these different experiences I have seen this week, I have realized that by using music, people can remember the good times that their culture was involved in before the horrors they faced.  By educating others on cultural and historical music, people can express their feelings and convey them in a passionate way that other people can relate to. There might be different genres and types, but everyone loves music and can relate to the music, even if they can’t relate to the struggles.  The Cambodian culture is making great strides as the young generation of kids is learning about their culture and hopefully changing their futures, as well as those of the people around them.