Lowell, Ma -- As I walked into the 119 Gallery event the first thing that hit me was the music: a Christian guitar folk singer at a Cambodian new year event. Wrong building, perhaps? No. Once the models came out in traditional clothes it all made sense. The music was used as a backdrop for the fashion show and it worked so well I wondered why I ever doubted it. This is what the event was about. It's not just celebrating Cambodian New Year, it's celebrating being Cambodian American.Throughout the night the event highlighted a good balance of traditional and modern. After the fashion show, the women of Angkor Dance troupe performed the traditional Fan Dance to ring in the New Year. Later, a charity organization speaker, spoke her piece trying to raise awareness about the depletion of Cambodia's most valuable resource: its culture. This was followed by another guest speaker, Rachel Faller, informing the crowd about her group's mission to use the art of silk production, among other things, to help the economy in Cambodia. The poetry readings bring the audience back to the past as Ricky Orng and Sophy Sam talk about the killing fields of Cambodia. This was a very emotionally intense performance and I know it choked up more than a few audience members. On a lighter note, the other poetry reading of the night was one woman's reminiscence of celebrating Cambodian New Years as a little girl. Set to the sound of live flute music of Rady Mom, the performance was both nostalgic and effective. The guys of Adams Project brought in the energy with a dance number all the while taking the opportunity to raise awareness on teen alcohol drinking.
Finally, the creators of Lowell's t-shirt line, F.O.B.'s Clothing, launched their new campaign video. The concept of FOB Clothing is simple: throw out the negative connotation of the term FOB and challenge people to think about what FOB means to them. There were some very creative answers (and hilarious moments) from the models interviewed in the video. FOB Clothing more or less sums up the night's event. Embrace the past, but look to the future. Capping off the night was another fashion number with the models wearing FOB t-shirts. They get extra points for using my favorite Cambodian song (Chhnam Oun 16) for the runway show. -- Sophort Pauo
**pics courtesty of our good friend Justin Kwan**
Jessica Srey
Rachanna Sary
Marleka Menn
Monica Veth and Sophy Leng
Rady Mom
Adams Project
Chanvon Mom
Ricky Orng and Sophy Sam
Rachel Faller and Ricky Orng
Victoria Vann
A video by Flying Orb Production
