Instagram story viewer> @sotheara> Posts

Sotheara Lim លឹម 林

@sotheara

3.1K

followers

1416

following

Founder, Bong បង, Child of Cambodia
@khmer_renaissance
@donutshop.creative

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

Chopped it up with @sotheara of @khmer_renaissance, one of the most important platforms on the 🇰🇭 diaspora. We ate some if our fav Khmer comfort foods, the nom pang fried chicken is next level and some of the best babaw cheam chrouk I ever had in my Cambodian life. Thanks for featuring me and everyone go support @nagacafekhmerstfood there’s no reason why they should be empty 🫶🏾 taken in Long Beach, California by @sotheara

506

17

2 days ago

Some Khmer art and objects I've collected since I was a kid.

Growing up in Long Beach, I always saw Khmer art and objects adorning Khmer diaspora homes: statues of Sovann Macha and Hanuman, old photos of the Cambodian countryside, and, of course, the obnoxiously large yet beautiful painting of Angkor Wat.

These were some of the first things I was exposed to, and they shaped my taste and, ultimately, who I am today.

Starting around middle school, I began collecting Khmer art and objects with no real reason in mind, other than feeling like I needed to have them and keep them for as long as I could.

I always told myself that when I had kids of my own, I wanted these objects around so they could absorb them passively, and maybe one day they would spark conversations about who we are as Khmer people. Now that I have a daughter, I can start doing that.

That's still true. But I've also come to realize that collecting these items since I was a preteen was a visceral response: an urge to preserve whatever fragments of our culture we had left, knowing that so much of it was destroyed during the genocide. Not realizing that this was a precursor to the work I'm doing today with Khmer Renaissance.

Some of these objects carry that history directly. Slide 6 is a Krong Reap mask that my mother-in-law kept safe through the Khmer Rouge. The first slide is an incredibly rare apsara poster printed in 1984. Some were gifts. Some are photos I took myself. Many of them have deep personal meaning.

I'm proud of this collection and of what it holds for our community.

Maybe one day I can showcase it in an exhibit. For now, this is a digital exhibit and an archive.

Keep walking, koun Khmer.
#KhmerRenaissance

Original Vintage Print of HRH Norodom Buppha Devi. She was pivotal of preserving ancient Khmer Robam post-KR, and even taught survivors the art in refugee camps.

Copies of film captures of, “The Killing Fields.” Gifted to me by @stamplibrary.kh.

Chef Nite Yun’s (@nite_nite_nite) debut cooking book following her Netflix special. Yesterday was actually her one year anniversary of releasing this book btw.

Bottom left: Photo gifted to me by @thekhmercollective.

Middle: Apsara by @sotheara

3k

62

15 days ago

Through it all, it has always been us. We started our journey together in September 2010, and sealed it forever 9 years later.

Happy 16th anniversary, babe.

09.01.2019 by @sotheara

363

20

a month ago

And I’ll cross oceans like never before. So you can feel it the way I feel it too. taken in Los Alamos, California by @sotheara

303

19

2 months ago

“In my world, only you
Make me do for love what I would not do.”

Happy 1st birthday, Audrey. Thank you for the best year of our lives.

We can’t wait to guide you through many more years to come. by @sotheara

202

34

3 months ago

You’ve given me everything. I was always meant to be your father. To guide you and to love you unconditionally. To be the one you can call home.

Thank you for being my greatest gift. taken in Dodger Stadium by @sotheara

328

14

4 months ago

I only know how to express myself truthfully through writing.

I honestly can’t fathom the strength it took for you to bring Audrey into this world, and how you balanced the duality of the pain of labor with the miracle of birthing life. An emotional dichotomy that happens every day, yet something a man can never truly understand.

I can’t comprehend what you were feeling during those months of postpartum — loving our daughter so deeply while trying to understand the changes happening within your own body. Both of your spirits were so deeply connected that, for a time, you were essentially one being.

I will never understand what it means to be a mother.

All I can do is support you the best that I can and hope that I can be the best father for our daughter — the same way you are the best mother for her.

Happy first Mother’s Day, babe. by @sotheara

249

12

5 months ago

You will always be a part of me. I’m part of you definitely. taken in California by @sotheara

237

8

6 months ago

Audrey Devi and the Lim family would like to wish all of you a Soustei Chnam Thmey សួស្តីឆ្នាំថ្មី!

May the year of the horse and Preah Neang Reaksa Devi watch over you and provide abundance, prosperity, and health!

Happy Khmer New Year! by @sotheara

506

36

6 months ago

Call my name, if you want me; If you need me, I promise I’ll be there.

A Love Dump. by @sotheara

241

3

7 months ago

Audrey & the Lim លឹម 林 family wishes all of you a sing ni kuai lak 新年快乐!

May the year of the fire horse bring you all wealth, prosperity, & abundance! by @sotheara

382

7

8 months ago

𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 — 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘜𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦

The Keep Walking fundraiser has now been reconciled.

Total sales came to $28,216.17. With production, fulfillment, and shipping costs fully accounted for, the final net donation for distribution is $10,000.

As conditions on the ground have evolved, this allocation will support both Cambodian families who remain displaced and recovery efforts for those returning home. Funds will be distributed across three trusted, community-aligned organizations, with full allocation details and documentation to follow.

Thank you to our friends at @shadowtheory.la (formerly known as Middle Child Workshop) for their help in production & fulfillment of these shirts.

Thank you to everyone who purchased a shirt and trusted this process. You each have made a difference in the lives of our people with your small purchase.

Impact updates will continue.

𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙠𝙤𝙪𝙣 𝙆𝙝𝙢𝙚𝙧.
#KhmerRenaissance by @sotheara

745

25

8 months ago