More Than Memory: Visual Legacies of the Pol Pot Regime

This thesis examines the work of Cambodian and non-Cambodian artists that represent the Khmer Rouge period. It traces their artistic approach and identifies links with historical and contemporary political, social and cultural developments, as well as exploring the links with cultural institutions that have supported and promoted the rebuilding of visual arts practice in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge era. I analyse and interpret 184 images created between 1980 and 2016, drawing on theories and concepts from art history, visual culture and the social sciences, producing the first critical survey of visual representations of this calamitous period in Cambodia’s history.