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: Ann Creevey, Picture by : Nathan Dexter. |
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One is washing
the oil and grease from his hands. The others, Sim
Sarak and his wife Chieng Yarin, dressed smartly,
look somehow out of place next to Krong Nguon Ly's
busy mechanics workshop. But their passion is the
same. All are dedicated to the Cambodian musical
kite, the kleng-ek, which would have died out along
with so much of Cambodia's culture if it wasn't
for the dedication of these few. Particularly Sim
Sarak's. The Director General of Administration
and Finance at the Ministry of Culture and Fine
Arts learned to love these special kites as a boy
in Kampong Cham Province. The kite was in decline
even before the Khmer Rouge regime came to power.
Once an important symbol of the end of rainy season,
the last king to entertain a passion for kites was
King Angduong. When he died in 1859, people stopped
making kleng-ek as much as before. In Khmer folklore,
kites have always been a symbol of freedom.
Legend has it that, many centuries ago, a Khmer
man was imprisoned by a cruel
Chinese king and locked in a tower. He used his
time to create a kite, and the noise it made when
he flew it from the window of his cell so frightened
the king that he ordered him released.
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A butterfly kite, a lantern
kite and (right) the magnificent kleng-ek.
All are traditional Khmer kites, but the
kleng-ek is unique.
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"I was always
fascinated by the kleng-ek especially, with its beautiful
sound. The kleng-ek is the only truly musical kite in
the world-a great kite maker can get seven different tones
out of the musical bow," Sim Sarak, now 52, explained.
Growing up nearby in the same province, Krong Nguon Ly,
now 45, learned how to make kleng-ek from his father.
Kleng-ek are huge kites, sometimes more than a meter long
and a meter wide. They do not transport easily and few
dedicated kite makers will scale down their models to
make them more attractive to overseas buyers.
"Any smaller and they are much less stable. You cannot
really do that," Krong Nguon Ly explained.
"If we need to transport them, we dismantle them
and reassemble them when we get where we are going. I
can sell one of my kites for $70 to $100 overseas, but
I am a mechanic. I don't have time to make kleng-ek for
sale. There isn't enough money in it. I do it for love."
In the old days, kleng-ek were made of silk cloth.
Now, most kite makers can only afford brown paper such
as the type used to pack cement, but despite this, the
elegant curves and sheer size of these unique kites means
they are still beautiful works of art, and one kite will
take its maker weeks to perfect.
The bow at the front is what makes the noise a low, distinct
humming that makes the kite seem like it is singing. This
is called the ek. The bow is usually fashioned from bamboo,
and a fine strip of bamboo or rattan is strung tightly
across the top, giving the kite its distinctive appearance.
Perhaps because people had so little freedom and lived
in such fear during the Khmer Rouge regime, both Sim Sarak
and Krong Nguon Ly returned to Phnom Penh after the fall
of the Khmer Rouge with an aching desire to resurrect
the ancient art.
"When I returned to the city in 1979, the first thing
I saw were children flying makeshift kites," Krong
Nguon Ly said.
"That's when I knew that kites and freedom are the
same thing. Without kites, there is no peace. Without
peace, we have no kites."
Kites are traditionally flown to mark the end of wet season
and the beginning of harvest season.
"Traditional Khmers will never fly a kite before
Water Festival (in November)," Sim Sarak explained.
"That would be bad luck. There is a time for everything,
and that includes kites."
Kites must not be flown after February. So for nine long
months, lovers of the kleng-ek must wait and watch over
their kites in their homes before they can fly them once
more.
The two passionate kite makers eventually met when Sim
Sarak made his dream come true.
In 1996, he organized the first National Kite Flying Competition.
Krong Nguon Ly came second, but the two became friends
across the wings of kites.
Now the kite competition is an annual event, and various
traditional kites besides the kleng-ek also compete-butterfly
kites, lantern kites and moon kites.
But for Sim Sarak, the kleng-ek is the greatest of the
kites. It is the one he and Krong Nguon Ly take to Dieppe,
France, for one of the world's top annual kite flying
events.
"He is the father of modern kite makers in Cambodia,"
Sim Sarak's wife Chieng Yarin said proudly. "Without
him, there may not be any kites any more."
"I am proud to have helped save a tiny piece of Khmer
culture. I do it for love," Sim Sarak said. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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