HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

EXPULSION OF THE REFUGEES > >

After the defeat of the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese troops, thousands of civilians fled war-torn Cambodia to the Thai border. The refugee camps swelled in number, and lacking the support from the international community to handle such a situation, the Thai government responded by conducting a brutal forced repatriation of the Cambodian people. An estimated 45,000 refugees were forced at gunpoint to climb down the mountain’s landmine studded jungle back into Cambodia. 13,000 lost their lives in the explosions.

YEAR 1979 < <

Composed of tiered platforms, curved staircases, lush greenery, and rising cliffside walls, this space emulates the mountain on which the refugees were abandoned. Visitors can gape down into the treacherous heights that the refugees were forced to descend. As they climb their way through the space, they are recounted the stories of the thousands of refugees who were abandoned to die on the mountainside with no food and no tools for survival.

There is an emphasis on natural materials within this space. Tall rock cliffs compose two major walls. The room is dotted through with informational pylons made of natural wood boards. While nature can be beautiful, it is also ruthless. As viewers move through this “controlled” space, they can contemplate what it must be like to be lost in a sprawling “uncontrolled” wilderness with no signs of rescue as they look upon the mountain outside.