KHIEV Kanel, KHUN Vannak, SOVAN Philong

"Metis : Exploring Humanity's Ties to the Ocean"

Institut Français du Cambodge — gallery

19 November –19 December 2025

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In 2025, Cambodia was selected, along with Turkey, Bangladesh, Madagascar, Martinique,

Mexico, Costa Rica, Congo-Brazzaville, Ecuador, the Pacific Islands (Fiji, Polynesia), São

Tomé and Príncipe, Indonesia, Senegal, Cape Verde, Morocco, and Mauritania, to carry out

a project presented at the Third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025.

This initiative of the Metis Fund, created by the French Development Agency (AFD), aims to

integrate arts and culture into development projects and this year focused on issues related

to the oceans.

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The proposal jointly developed by Khiev Kanel, a video artist who has continued his work on

and with surveillance cameras, Khun Vannak, a performer, and Sovan Philong, a

photographer, was selected. They chose to work with the community of a small fishing

village near the Thai border. As one of the artists explains: “It’s like an adventure, a journey

across the ocean to a crossroads where a community of people lives and works, known as

the Avlatan Bridge or Avlatan Village. Apart from travelling by boat, the only means of

transport, the inhabitants can communicate with one another thanks to a wooden bridge one

kilometre long, which is the only route allowing them to move from house to house, or from

home to the school or the village pagoda.”

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In keeping with the objectives of Metis, the artists worked in dialogue with the local

population, immersed themselves in the community, set up workshops with children, created

their own artworks, and presented them locally during three stays of at least one week each,

knowing that every trip to and from the village requires a full day of travel.

This exhibition reflects the entire experience, presenting the works created by the three

artists — a video installation, a filmed account of the performance, an exhibition of

photographs — as well as a documentary video about the project and works produced

during the workshops conducted with the villagers.

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Whatever the artistic forms or techniques used, the whole project highlights the inhabitants’

relationship with the ocean, their only horizon and sole source of livelihood. Something that

must be preserved at all costs.

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Bio

Khiev Kanel was born in 1988 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He graduated in Computer

Science and Auditing but turned to photography in 2013. His practice spans photography,

moving images and performance with a focus on personal stories, environment, economic

and social concerns.

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His work engages with themes of loss and vulnerability, drawing on his own experiences

while resonating with others who have faced similar issues. Another strand of his practice

addresses social oppression, justice, and human rights, focusing on issues arising from

urbanization and environmental degradation, such as evictions, land rights, and pollution

(water, air, noise, and light). His video works address issues related to surveillance and

monitoring.

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Khiev Kanel has been exhibited widely in Cambodia and regionally. His solo exhibitions

include Staircases, Java Art Gallery Touk Kork, Phnom Penh (2018). His selected group

exhibitions and performances include: Plastic Kingdom, Meta House, Phnom Penh; Being

No one and Going Nowhere, Festival Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; We Will Have Been Young, Ilham

Gallery, Kuala Lumpur (2017-2018); Mabini Projects, Manila; Komunitas Salihara, Jakarta;

NU Art Sculpture Park, Bandung; Objectifs, Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore;

Hin Bus, Penang; Body of Sorrow, Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh; Remains, pop up

exhibition, Kon Leng Khnhom, Phnom Penh (2018); and Bricks, Photo Phnom Penh 2017,

French Institute, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

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Khiev Kanel is a recipient of Creative Generation Award 2018 from Java and The Best

Performance Award 2018 (with collaborator YON Davy) from the Cambodian Ministry of

Culture and Fine Arts.

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