Cambodia · Costume Making / Textile / Metalwork
រោបាំព្រះរាជទ្រព្យ (Robam Preah Reach Trop)
Robam Preah Reach Trop (the Khmer Royal Court Dance — UNESCO inscribed as Khmer Classical Dance in 2008 and 2016) requires the most elaborate costume-making tradition in mainland Southeast Asia: a single full Apsara dancer's costume consists of over 30 separately crafted components — including the golden headdress (mukut), jeweled collar (srobak kor), arm and wrist ornaments (vong dey), silk brocade costume (hol), and golden belt (krobang). The mukut headdress is the most technically demanding: a multi-tiered golden crown constructed from hundreds of individually shaped and assembled metal elements, lacquered and gilded, assembled in a specific hierarchical sequence where each tier must be complete before the next can be set. The headdress-making tradition was nearly destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and was revived primarily through Chea Samy's efforts with refugee court dancers in the 1980s.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · UNESCO Representative List — Khmer Classical Dance (2008, expanded 2016)
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