Vann Nath

Vann Nath វ៉ាន់ណាត
Vann Nath after having received a copy of theDuchverdict on 12 August 2010
Born	1946 Battambang,Cambodia,French Indochina
Died	5 September 2011(2011-09-05)(aged 64–65) Phnom Penh,Cambodia
Nationality	Cambodian
Education	Self-taught Painting at a Pagoda
Occupation(s)	Painter, writer

Painting ofwaterboardingat Cambodia'sTuol SlengPrison, by former inmate Vann Nath

Vann Nath(Khmer:វ៉ាន់ណាត;1946 – 5 September 2011)was aCambodianpainter, artist, writer, andhuman rights activist.He was the eighth Cambodian to win theLillian Hellman/Hammett Awardsince 1995. He was one of only seven known adult survivors ofS-21camp, where 20,000Cambodianswere tortured and executed during theKhmer Rougeregime (Democratic Kampuchea).

Biography

Vann Nath was born in Phum Sophy village, Srok Battambang district,Battambang Provincein northwestern Cambodia. The exact date and year of his birth is unknown, but it was common for poor Cambodians born in rural areas not to have a proper birth certificate. He was educated at Wat Sopee pagoda as a child. His parents were separated, and he had two brothers and an older sister. They earned a living by selling a type of Khmerrice noodlescallednum banhchok.They were so poor that Nath had no chance to get a proper education. By the time he was 14 or 15, he was working at factory jobs for 500-600riela month (less than US$0.25).

Nath became interested in painting while he was studying at Wat Sopee pagoda. "I became very attracted to painting when I went into the pagoda and I saw people painting a picture on the side of the wall of a temple." Instead of pursuing painting, he served as a monk from the age of 17 to 21. "Every family has a son...one of the sons must go and serve as a monk — it is considered bad for the Cambodian family to not have a son who is a monk", says Vann Nath.

When his sister died, Vann Nath left the monkhood to start working to help support the family. He enrolled in a private painting school in 1965. "School was far from my house, and I couldn't afford a bicycle. Because our family life was hard, only my mother was working to support the whole family and she became older and older and I had to pay the tuition for the painting school." Later, the school allowed Vann Nath to work there in exchange for the tuition fee. After two years, he was able to profit from his own painting work.

Khmer Rouge

At the time of his arrest on 7 January 1978, Vann Nath was working in a rice field in his home province of Battambang like many other Battambang locals. The Khmer Rouge took him toWat Kandal,a Buddhist temple used as a detainment center. They told him that he was accused of violating the moral code of the organization ofAngkar.He did not understand what that meant.

A week later, he was transferred and deported to a security prison in Phnom Penh.This security prison is known as S-21 by the Khmer Rouge and it was formerly a high school known as Chao Ponhea Yat high school. There, people were interrogated, tortured and executed on a daily basis. After the Vietnamese invasion in 1979 and the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, only seven adult prisoners made it out of the prison alive. Vann Nath was one of them.

Career

Vann Nath was a painter and writer whose memoirs andpaintings of his experiencesin the infamousTuol Sleng prisonare a powerful and poignant testimony to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge and the communist regime.

Vann Nath was an outspoken advocate for justice for victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge and this is reflected in his writing. His 1998 memoirA Cambodian Prison Portrait: One Year in the Khmer Rouge's S-21 Prison,about his experiences atS-21,at that time was the only written account by a survivor of the prison. It has been translated fromEnglishintoFrenchandSwedish.

Vann Nath was one of Cambodia's most prominent artists. His life was only spared by his captor,Comrade Duch,so that he could be put to work on painting and sculpting portraits ofPol Pot.He played an important role in helping to revive the arts in Cambodia after decades of war and genocide.

During 2001 and 2002, Vann Nath worked intensively with Cambodian film directorRithy Panhin the preparation of a documentary film entitledS-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine.Vann Nath was interviewed in the film, in which Panh brought together former prisoners and guards of the formerTuol Sleng prison.Vann Nath confronted and questioned his former torturers in the documentary film. To recognize their work, both Vann Nath and Rithy Panh have been conferred the title ofDr honoris causaby the University of Paris VIII on 24 May 2011.

Honours

He was a recipient ofLillian Hellman/Hammett Award,which recognises courage in the face of political persecution, which he faced during theKhmer Rouge.

Illness

Despite battling long-standing health problems, including chronic kidney disease, Vann Nath continued to paint and write about his experiences under the Pol Pot regime. He suffered from a heart attack and went into a coma. He died on 5 September 2011 at the Calmette Hospital inPhnom Penh.He was approximately 65 years old.

See also

• Kang Kek Iew
• John Dawson Dewhirst
• Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya
• Chum Mey
• Bou Meng
• Tuol Sleng
• Torture

References

• Amanpour, Christiane(7 April 2008)."Survivor recalls horrors of Cambodia genocide".CNN.Retrieved7 April2008.

External links

• Official website
• Vann Nath - The Lives They Lived - New York Times Magazine 2011
• Vann Nath - Paint Propaganda or Die - The Art History Archive
• Vann Nath,The Economist, 17 September 2011