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| Dr. Melody Rod-ari stands near Khmer statues at the “Where Art Meets Science” exhibition at Norton Simom Museum in Pasadena, California on July 1, 2011. Where Art Meets Science exhibition displays ancient sculptures from the Hindu-Buddhist World. (Photo: Cheang Sophinarath, VOA Khmer) |
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| Dr.Melody Rod-ari, an assistant curator of Asian art, stands next to the god Harihara at the permanent collection of Khmer Arts at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California on July 1, 2011. (Cheang Sophinarath, VOA Khmer) |
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Sophinarath Cheang, VOA Khmer | California
“I think today it is easy to forget that Hinduism was a very important religion in Cambodia and all of Southeast Asia, because today everyone practices Theravada Buddhism.”
Here in Pasadena, California, the Norton Simon Museum is well known for extraordinary collections of art from around the world. The exterior is designed in a modern style, with a curvilinear face. It’s not the kind of place you would expect to find one of the best collections of Khmer art in the US. But it’s here.
Giant Khmer statues greet the museum visitor, but the real trove is downstairs, where the museum’s Khmer collection shines bright.
Melody Rod-ari is the curator of the collection. She walked me through her favorite works.
“This is a sculpture of Harihara,” she explained. “He is half Vishnu and half Shiva. Harihara became very important to the Khmer kings. These types of sculpture were made all the way up to the 13th Century, but they were very popular from 7th to 9th. I think today it is easy to forget that Hinduism was a very important religion in Cambodia and all of Southeast Asia, because today everyone practices Theravada Buddhism. But Hinduism was very important, so we have a lot of these earlier Hindu images.”
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