National Road No. 5

In 2015, Lim Sokchanlina began documenting private residences that line National Road No. 5, an expanded highway project, funded in part by Japanese and Chinese foreign investment, that will connect Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia with the border of Thailand and is part of a larger international road system that links the two countries to China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. 

The conversion of the farmland along this thoroughfare into a roadside industrial zone meant that residents lost parts of their property to make way for the expanded 4-lane highway.  While some locals abandoned their property temporarily, hoping to return and re-establish their businesses when the highway is completed, others chose to move parts of the structures away from the roadside and found ways to survive amidst the ongoing construction. His images depict houses in various states of transition, some seemingly cut in half or demolished, surrounded by dust, soil, construction materials and debris.  For the artist, the work reveals much about the resilience and spirit of the Cambodian people in the face of rapid change.  In their temporal state of disrepair, these structures along National Road #5 raise important questions about the economic, social, and environmental impact of rapid urbanization and development in Cambodia.