Karen Maru (karenmaru@aol.com) :: Culture and Identity in Women's Clothing of Greater Angkor

Culture and Identity in Women's Clothing of Greater Angkor

9 images in this album

From the 11th to the 13th centuries CE the Civilization of Greater Angkor dominated mainland Southeast Asia. Greater Angkor provided a rich context for the creation of an extraordinary fiber culture, as the handwovens of Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Camboda show. In the main temple of Angkor Wat itself, there are over 1800 sculpted Apsara (or deva, spiritual beings who take a female shape), each of which is different. In this spirit, I explore aspects of the culture of Greater Angkor as reflected in the fiber garments (women-produced art) using contemporary research. I first saw the temples in 1962 and have been back since. They were compelling to my young girl's imagination then and the connection has only grown over the years. For me it is the romanticism of castles and damsels and the very appealing complexities of cultural exchange (my academic training is as a sociologist); the pathos of a lost civilization and the joy of rediscovering aspects of women's art.



Apsara 1	Apsara 2	Apsara 3	Apsara 5



Apsara 6	Apsara 7	Apsara 8	Apsara 9



Apsara 10

Gallery: Karen Maru (karenmaru@aol.com)