Cambodia needs to modernise and needs both the cultural and economic exchange with the rest of the world. But the swamping of the country with cultural influences from outside and the domination of extraneous forces are detrimental to this process.

In the centre of the picture is a man who symbolises the modern Cambodian civil servant. He wears a jacket, one half of which is made out of the traditional “hol” material. The other half corresponds with the typical Western model of a man’s jacket. The “hol” is a traditional wrap-around skirt which is also draped as trousers, that is to say, the material used as well as the designs were originally meant exclusively for that part of the body below the navel. With the growth in tourism, many tailoring units began to cater to the requirements of the visitors who wanted the beautiful designs and the silk fabric to be used for making trendy upper garments as well. Meanwhile, this trend has also had its impact on the Cambodians’ own traditions of clothing themselves. Thus to this extent, “Upside Down” symbolises aspects of mutual cultural exchange, generally felt to be double-edged and ambivalent. The pin on the lapel, depicts the famed five temple towers of the Angkor Wat, as well as the celestial Apsaras and the scene of the dana ceremony (donation of food) that involves the Buddhist laity and the monk in the background of the picture. Combined this serves to strengthen the impression that the preservation of the identity-constructing traditions of the Khmers in the course of Cambodia’s modernisation and integration into the global development process, remains a pressing and fervent desire.