Garments that turn actors into Gods and Angels

A new exhibition will show off the artistry behind Cambodian traditional dance’s intricately designed costumes

In Cambodian classical dance, costuming is more than an aesthetic decision. Before each show, performers are carefully sewn into their tightly fitted garments, and the structured fitting makes a new vocabulary of movement possible.

“It makes it more comfortable to have the extreme arch of the back and to hyper extend the elbows, because the shapes are emphasized by that oneness of the body with the costumes,” explains cultural anthropologist and Cambodian dance specialist Toni Shapiro-Phim. “[They] are revealing of the body and encourage a certain aesthetic of movement.”

Opening this Wednesday, a new exhibition at Java Arts is offering a presentation that turns the spotlight on the costumes themselves. Gods and Angels is a retrospective of costumes used in dances by Sophiline Shapiro, Toni’s sister-in-law: the choreographer regularly hailed as a driving force behind the reinvigoration of Cambodian traditional dance.

It’s a show that aims to reveal the intricacy and artistry of designs that, during performances, are experienced as little more than evocative flashes of light and colour. Flattened and hung behind glass, visitors have the chance to experience them as works of art in themselves.

“Presenting these in an intimate space affords the public an opportunity to engage with the intricacy of patterns, the range of materials, and the ways in which fabrics are pleated and wrapped and layered to create full costumes,” Shapiro-Phim says.

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