{"id":82350,"date":"2024-04-23T12:38:05","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T19:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=82350"},"modified":"2024-04-23T12:40:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T19:40:34","slug":"in-the-studio-yary-livan-is-a-master-in-the-nearly-lost-art-of-cambodian-ceramics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/in-the-studio\/in-the-studio-yary-livan-is-a-master-in-the-nearly-lost-art-of-cambodian-ceramics","title":{"rendered":"In The Studio: Yary Livan is a master in the nearly lost art of Cambodian ceramics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"In The Studio: Traditional Cambodian Master Ceramist Yary Livan\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9EBa3p0E8Zg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Vanndearlyn Vong, <a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/in-the-studio\/vanndearlyn-vong-cambodian-donut-pipes-in-the-studio-ceramist\/\">a rising Long Beach artist<\/a>, yearned to learn from a man she&#8217;d never met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a first-generation Cambodian-American, Vong understood the precious legacy of the work created by Yary Livan, a traditional Cambodian ceramist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Livan, who works and teaches in Lowell, Massachusetts, is considered one of only a few living masters still working in traditional Cambodian ceramics \u2014 an art form that was nearly lost in the country during the Khmer Rouge&#8217;s dictatorial reign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDuring my parents&#8217; generation, the arts and really the culture was systemically destroyed during the genocide for four years,&#8221; Vong said. &#8220;And so seeing that master Yary is one of three left \u2014 and also our other traditional arts are really hanging by a thread.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vong connected with Livan and arranged to study under him, learning about the traditional imagery in Cambodian art and how to keep alive practices like firing ceramics in a wood-burning kiln.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this month, during Long Beach&#8217;s annual Cambodian New Year, Livan shared his artistic legacy with a wider local audience. He came to the city and taught groups the basic techniques and importance of his practice while helping them hand-carve clay tiles with a traditional Cambodian design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized wp-image-82353 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82353\" style=\"width:810px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145217\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145217\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145217\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145217\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145217\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i-162x108.jpg 162w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145217\/12-cambodianpottery-apr08-136065-6vcvlawu-807976-2MXaoY4i-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cambodian ceramist Yary Livan, right, gives advice to Kuntheary Simon, center, and Christine Schwandt, left, during a clay class by Livan, on Monday, April 06, 2024, in Long Beach. Photo by William Liang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-82354 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O.jpg\" alt=\"Sophea Chim carves a design into her clay plate during a clay ceramics class by Cambodian ceramist, Yary Livan, on Monday, April 06, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Photograph by William Liang.\" class=\"wp-image-82354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145221\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145221\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145221\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145221\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145221\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O-162x108.jpg 162w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145221\/03-cambodianpottery-apr08-680541-nbdlvsmy-889964-bMzPy69O-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sophea Chim carves a design into her clay plate during a ceramics class by Cambodian ceramist Yary Livan, on Monday, April 06, 2024, in Long Beach. Photo by William Liang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want to spread my artwork for all the people here,&#8221; Livan said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discussions of Cambodian history so often dwell on the infamous Killing Fields, he said, and he wants to show that there&#8217;s more. There&#8217;s beauty and pride, and a reminder that the Khmer people &#8220;love each other.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hand-carved designs in his work reflect the same images as in centuries-old temples, Livan said, monuments that were built in unity for a common purpose, not simply money as much modern art is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-82351 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145210\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145210\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145210\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145210\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145210\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD-162x108.jpg 162w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145210\/28-cambodianpottery-apr08-994036-qat3zqzn-872312-jlmCecYD-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cambodian ceramist Yary Livan gives an introduction during his clay class on Monday, April 06, 2024, in Long Beach. Photo by William Liang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Livan said he wants to show people a&nbsp;\u201cCambodia from the past. They have beautiful artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ceramics are a perfect vehicle for this. They&#8217;re special, Vong said, because they \u201cwill outlast our lifetimes. And hopefully, keep the culture alive for the future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-82355 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145224\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145224\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145224\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145224\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145224\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU-162x108.jpg 162w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145224\/01-cambodianpottery-apr08-087333-qhea7rth-652706-5QSRjUuU-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cambodian ceramist Yary Livan, right, gives advice to Sophea Chim, left, during a clay ceramics class by Livan on Monday, April 06, 2024, in Long Beach. Photo by William Liang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-82356 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145354\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145354\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145354\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145354\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145354\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd-162x108.jpg 162w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/22145354\/04-cambodianpottery-apr08-443158-nboplwd8-495920-BPrJgCLd-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sophea Chim signs her clay plate during a ceramics class by Cambodian ceramist, Yary Livan, on Monday, April 06, 2024, in Long Beach. Photo by William Liang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the last remaining masters of traditional Cambodian ceramics came to Long Beach this month to spread a love of his country&#8217;s heritage and history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":82357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32100],"tags":[175],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2771,3336],"class_list":["post-82350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-studio","tag-in-the-studio","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82350"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82375,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82350\/revisions\/82375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82350"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=82350"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=82350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}