Memory and Justice: www.memoryandjustice.org

Design

Design of Choeung Ek

Choeung Ek is a large site, about the size of a soccer field, and is surrounded by farmland. The centerpiece of the site, a 62-meter concrete and plexiglass stupa, displays over 5,000 human skulls. During the day, the lower levels of the stupa are left open to give visitors an unobstructed view of the skulls, many of which have been shattered or smashed. Behind the stupa, visitors can walk freely around a series of partially exhumed mass graves, in which over 8,000 victims were buried. When it rains heavily, shards of human bones and scraps of the clothing worn by the victims sometimes surface in the walkways around the graves.

Under the direction of the Japanese company JC Royal, the current administrators of the site are constructing a new visitors' center where films will be shown. The company also helped construct the first paved road leading from Phnom Penh to Choeung Ek. As of this writing, however, the site itself is largely unchanged, including the original signage created decades ago by the Vietnamese designers. The site also features a gift shop where books and typical Cambodian souvenirs are sold.

Comment on this article

Related Site

---

References

This essay was adapted in part from this article: Moore, Lisa. “Recovering the Past, Remembering Trauma: The Politics of Commemoration at Sites of Atrocity.” Journal of Public and International Affairs, Princeton: Princeton University, Spring, 2009.

---