Passing of Cambodian artist Vann Nath


Vann Nath, a Cambodian artist who survived the Khmer Rouge torture center Tuol Sleng, and documented the attrocities he witnessed there in his paintings for the rest of his life, died on Monday. He was 65.





His works are haunting presence at Tuol Sleng, the Genocide museum in Phnom Pehn.

Shackled and tortured along with other prisoners when he was arrested at the end of 1977, Vann Nath was spared to paint portraits of the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot. Just 7 prisoners are known to have survived Tuol Sleng, where at least 14,000 people were sent to their deaths.




A stop at the Genocide musem is a must to fully comprehend the atrocities that took place under the Khmer Rouge..