World Wood Day 2018 held in Siem Reap, Cambodia March 20-25, 2018
The “over the hill gang;” myself, Chung-Yun Hse, and Mon-Lin Kuo; represented SWST at the 6th World Wood Day (WWD) celebrated on March 21st and continued until March 25th in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This celebration was held to raise public awareness and to better understand the importance of wood in our society, as well as to explore the value and usage of wood from a cultural perspective. The previous five celebrations were in Tanzania, China, Turkey, Nepal and the USA. About 550 people from 100 countries and regions attended this event at the Angkor Resort and Spa grounds.
The overall theme of WWD 2018 was “Life” to represent the use of wood in all aspects of people’s lives. The Mekong River Delta was chosen as the area of the world to emphasize and Siem Reap, the ancient capital city of the Khmer civilization from the 9th to the 15th century in northwest Cambodia was the main city for the 2018 celebration. The spectacular sites in Angkor are marvels to behold in today’s world including Angkor Wat, Angkor, and Ta Prohm, where the roots of the spung tree grows through and around the ancient structures as shown by the figure below. The temples of Angkor made a spectacular setting for the events of WWD 2018.
Besides programs including a tree planting, a 2½-day technical symposium with 36 speakers, young adult furniture making, about 90 wood carvers and wood turners, children’s programs, a folk-art workshop, a wood design project, a photo contest, and a music festival; there were special projects, such as the collaborative project involving 14 people from 10 countries. Wood carvers worked in groups of three from different countries to make intricate carvings from large slabs of wood. The WWD celebration extended to programs in Vientiane, Laos March 29-April 1 and Mandalay, Myanmar April 6-8.
More details and pictures from these meetings and tours can be found at the World Wood Day 2018 websites http://www.worldwoodday.org/2018/ and https://www.facebook.com/worldwoodday.
Howard Rosen
Chairman, WWD Foundation