Hol Pidan: Cambodian Traditional Pictorial Silk Textile Preservation and Development, at the National Museum of Cambodia, 2016

The first temporary exhibition of 2016 at the National Museum of Cambodia (NMC) was a collection of 11 new silk textiles, hol pidan (ហូលពិន). All were produced since 2012 by Cambodian weavers working under the umbrella of a Japanese non-governmental organisation—Caring for Young Khmer (CYK). This was the third such collaborative exhibition at the NMC, with the express aims of promoting this unique weaving culture and supporting the preservation, revitalisation and development of this textile heritage.1 The beautifully curated show gave a welcome focus to Cambodian textiles and their presentday manufacture within an institution chiefly dedicated to the display of exceptional historic sculptural work. Anthropologist and art historian Siyonn Sophearith has thoroughly researched the functions and historical antecedents of the various types of pidan (ពិន), a term which generally refers to the wooden or concrete ceiling of a Buddhist worship hall.2 Often a tiered cloth structure is hung above a Buddha statue instead, called a pidan preah (ពិនពះ), which acts as a parasol