The Full Essay
Field Findings
“The blistering heat of Phnom Penh was thick with murky air. Low pressure compounded by severe air pollution — Lao Mu pushed himself through the survey, and by the next day it had given him a lung infection.”
【Mekong Muslim Fishermen】
“Waking early by the Mekong, watching the Muslim fishermen who live in Cambodia. They are said to have no land of their own, and have raised fish on the upper Mekong since ancient times. Their method is in unity with nature, sustainable, ecological. Each day they take only some of the mature large fish, and release the rest.”
· A landless people, the river their home for generations
· Unity with nature, taking with measure
· Reminiscent of the traditional fishing grounds of Dianchi Lake in Kunming
【Ross, 78 years old】
“Each day he drove me through villages in his beat-up Toyota, handing money to the poor. Whenever we parted at night he would say: 'Remember, yesterday I had just turned eighteen.'”
By Ross's estimate, there are roughly 4,000 orphanages in Cambodia (the official count is just over 400).
The Orphanage Situation
· Among the "orphans," 80% have living biological parents
· Roughly 300,000 children under 18 work as child labour
· Global child-rights ranking: 128th of 181 countries
Orphanage tourism manufactures attachment trauma, commercialising children's suffering. UN, 2023: orphanage trafficking should be regarded as modern slavery.
Artistic Intervention
“Lao Mu invites the children of Cambodia to draw freely.”
· No purpose, no assessment, no expectation of donation
· The child is not a "pitiable object" to be looked at
· Not teaching how to paint — protecting the creativity that is already there
Ten-Year Accompaniment
“The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The same is true of cultivating an artist.”
Collaboration
· "Parent" sponsors: a ten-year commitment, with collection of works
· Foundations: project funding, joint setting of standards
· Art institutions: exhibition, collection, residency
Project cycle: 2026 — 2036.