This Cambodian collection comprises correspondence, minutes of meetings, postcards, newspaper cuttings, cablegrams, invitations, magazine articles, books, photographs, slides and cassette tapes. The papers were assembled during the course of Manton's work as a consultant and relate to aspects of Cambodia's history and post Khmer Rouge cultural, social and political redevelopment. The collection also documents Manton's activities in encouraging Australian participation in the re-establishment of some of Cambodia's fine art processes. Photographs and slides have been annotated by Manton.
The Acc08/201 instalment comprises research papers including correspondence, photographs, and draft chapters of Manton's publications, Cultural relations: the other side of the diplomatic coin: Australia's cultural engagement with Asia in the visual arts since 1948 (2003), and, Strange flowers on the diplomatic vine: U.S. detainees in Cambodia 1965-1970 (2007). Also includes correspondence with surviving United States detainees and copies of exchanges between Australian government and the United States and Cambodian governments. In addition, there are papers relating to various textile exhibitions.
Diplomat, author and art consultant. Neil Manton worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for thirty years, serving on diplomatic postings, before returning to Canberra where he became Director (South East Asia and Pacific) of the Department's Cultural Relations Branch. Manton returned to Cambodia in 1991 in this role. The visit was to assess future assistance to the rebuilding of Khmer cultural institutions and practices. Retiring in 1993, Neil established a Canberra-based consultancy specialising in the arts and cultures of Singapore, Malaysia and Indochina, and has served on the National Advisory Committee for the Queensland Art Gallery's Triennial of Asia Pacific Art. Among Manton's publications are, People, place, persona: glimpses of contemporary art from Malaysia since the 1960s (1997), and, St Michael and All Angels: the history of a village church (2000). Manton played a significant role in promoting Australian-Cambodian cultural relations after the Pol Pot era.
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