Calling the Souls | ហៅព្រលឹង

A story in sound and 19 images

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About Calling the Souls / ហៅព្រលឹង

This audio-visual composition documents the effects of Mekong River sand dredging on a community living along the river in Kandal province.

When I visited the small village, a riverbank had just collapsed, and four families were being evicted despite having no land on which to build new homes. My friends and I sat and talked with two women while their homes were deconstructed in front of us. In addition to their resigned despair at having to uproot their families, the women told us of the more quotidian changes wrought on their life by the dredging, including the constant “put put put” sound which lasts from rooster’s crow into the late evening. They told us that they see the river widening as a result of the dredging and are certain that is what caused the riverbank to collapse - and yet, when they speak with local officials, they are told that the collapse was simply a natural disaster, and the dredging is not to blame. And so boats continue to operate. The villagers are not certain who the operators are, or where they take the sand.

The audio here features the sounds of boats and dredging, the sound of the women’s grandchildren’s toy playing the songs “London Bridge is Falling Down” and “There’s No Place Like Home,” and excerpts from our recorded interview. The repeated phrases are:

“គេថាអត់មានប៉ះពាល់ទេ - ធម្មជាតិ | ke tha awt mien bahpoal te - tomejiet | They say it’s not a violation - it’s just a natural disaster”

“ខ្ញុំអត់ជឿ | khnhom awt chue | I don’t believe it.”

“Put, put, put, put, put” (mimicking the sound of dredging)

The title of this composition, Calling the Souls / ហៅព្រលឹង refers to a Cambodian Buddhist liturgy used to call a person’s 19 souls back to his or her body in cases of illness or out-of-body experiences including spirit possession. My wish for these families in Kandal is that, in the absence of true justice, they might at least find a home to return to.