Phnom Penh, its capital, is home to the art deco Central Market, glittering Royal Palace and the National Museum’s historical and archaeological exhibits. In the country’s northwest are the ruins of Angkor Wat, a massive stone temple complex built during the Khmer Empire.
The Globalist Podcast, Thursday, July 27, 2023: The Russia-Africa summit begins in St Petersburg. Also, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, announces his resignation and the country’s first new leader since 1985.
Plus, a check-in from the Women’s World Cup and a flick through the day’s papers.
The Globalist Podcast, Tuesday, July 25, 2023: Israel passes a controversial bill to limit the Supreme Court’s power. Plus: French president Emmanuel Macron’s Pacific tour, Cambodia’s one-horse election race, and, as thousands of people are evacuated from Greek islands, we ask: how do repatriation flights work?
The Globalist, May 19, 2023: Fiona Wilson, Monocle’s Asia editor and Tokyo bureau chief, tells us about Japan’s aims ahead of the G7 meeting in Hiroshima; then Florida governor Ron DeSantis is expected to enter the 2024 presidential race, and we examine the state of Cambodian democracy ahead of the July elections.
Plus: the latest from the Venice Biennale with Monocle’s Nic Monisse, and Andrew Mueller’s analysis of the week.
The eight most popular and central markets are Russian Market, Central Market, Olympic Market, Orussey Market, Boueng Keng Kang Market, Kandal Market, Old Market and Night Market.
Most markets have a wide selection ranging from fresh food to clothes to households supplies to motor parts, but the markets still differ a lot and they are specialize in different areas.
The most popular market among expats and tourist is definitely Russian Market, where you can find; souvenirs, handicraft, western sized clothes, handmade silk, fake bags and English DVDs. This is also the market where you will need to bargain the most.
Central Market, which is housed in a beautiful Art-Deco building, is the most spacious and cleanest market in Phnom Penh. Central market has the biggest supply of jewelry and gemstones of all markets and probably the freshest food section. You can also find a lot of shops selling electronics and household electronics around the market.
Friday May 27, 2022: Are stolen Cambodian statues hidden in the world’s great public collections?
We discuss Cambodia’s looted heritage with Celia Hatton, Asia Pacific editor and presenter at the BBC World Service, whose documentary for BBC TV and radio Cambodia: Returning the Gods exposes the connections between looters, smugglers and, allegedly, some of the world’s most famous encyclopaedic museums. Plus, the dark truth behind the art and antiques assembled by the Marcos family in the Philippines as they return to power.
We talk to the Filipino artist Pio Abad—who’s made art about Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and their collections for more than a decade—about Bongbong Marcos’s presidential election victory in the Philippines and what that means for the country and the art and antiquities seized by its government after the Marcoses were deposed in the 1980s. And in this episode’s Work of the Week, we discuss a sculpture by Ruth Asawa—Untitled (S.266, Hanging Seven-Lobed, Multi-Layered Interlocking Continuous Form within a Form) (1961)—a highlight of a new exhibition at Modern Art Oxford in the UK, with Emma Ridgway, the show’s co-curator. Remarkably, the solo exhibition is the first in a European institution dedicated to the Japanese-American artist.
You can read Celia’s report on Cambodian antiquities online at bbc.co.uk. Cambodia: Returning the Gods (radio version) is on the BBC website and the BBC Sounds app—under The Documentary Podcast stream for the World Service and the Crossing Continents podcast stream in the UK—and on other podcast platforms.
Cambodia: Returning the Gods (television version) is on iPlayer in the UK and will be shown again on the BBC World news channel, broadcast date tbc—check listings.Pio Abad: Fear of Freedom Makes Us See Ghosts, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, until 30 July, pioabad.com.
Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe, Modern Art Oxford, UK, 28 May-21 August; Stavanger Art Museum, Norway, 1 October-22 January 2023.
Angkor Wat, located in northwest Cambodia, is the largest religious structure in the world by land area, measuring 162.6 hectares. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of four towers surrounding a central spire that rises to a height of 65 m above the ground.
The cause of the Angkor empire’s demise in the early 15th century long remained a mystery. But researchers have now shown that intense monsoon rains that followed a prolonged drought in the region caused widespread damage to the city’s infrastructure, leading to its collapse.
The part of the Mekong River where Preah Vihear and Steung Treng Provinces meet transform into a system of raging rapids—on the Cambodian side of the river, the Sopheakmit Waterfalls reveals the power of the Mekong, embodied in a frothing rush of water over 26 meters of limestone rocks.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. On its walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, are the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market.
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