The Sleuk Rith Institute, established to help genocide researchers worldwide, has won an award for its website from the Web Marketing Association.
The W3 Award honors “creative excellence on the web,” and are selected by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts.
Chhang Youk, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, who is behind the institute, said its goal is reconciliation, which requires study and education of genocide, in order to prevent it.
It is in that same spirit that the website was designed, he said. “The website must be done the best, as a tribute to the dead.” The site, which took six months to design, includes concepts of women’s issue, the environment and the culture of contemporary Cambodia.
It is meant to communicate with the public. “It’s like a human being that can talk to us,” Chhang Youk said.
The site’s design includes 10 photos from nine provinces, selected from 4,000, showing ancient architecture from Jayavarman VII, as well as rice, children, and a plant called “sror lao.” It also includes the design of the actual institute, from award-winning architect Zaha Hadid.
On it, Chhang Youk leaves visitors with a message: “A society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
