It is a Khmer cultural belief that this body contains many proleung – spirits or souls – connected to different parts. Unbeknownst to the keeper, when one navigates a life transition, personal hardship, illness, trauma, or anything that might rock one’s stability and foundation – the proleung may wander and be left behind somewhere. This necessitates a Khmer ritual called, Hau Proleung, to call the soul(s) back and reintegrate what was lost. (Harris, 2005)

The keeper may never be the same, but calling the soul back is a spiritual reunion with, and a mirror that reflects to them – the version of self that was present during that specific point in time. The keeper recognizes the figure in the mirror and affirms their experience, welcoming them to come back home to oneself.

In 1999, Darozyl’s father was faced with a terminal diagnosis of Stage IV Liver Cancer with a prognosis of less than a year to live. Her mother took a leave of absence from work and her parents collectively decided to spend that “last” year traveling as a family to journey back to their homeland of Cambodia – a place they had been torn from the ravages of war and genocide. They sought to educate a young Darozyl and traveled to the places that brought them memories of profound joy and on the other end of the continuum – immense grief. Almost 24 years later, Darozyl has returned to her family’s vault in search of understanding her roots, synthesizing the complex histories of her parents’ migration to the United States with documented home video footage from family trips, historical archives her father left behind as a Khmer Republic soldier, and untold stories he recorded in his last video message to her in 2003. Hau Proleung explores the themes of death, rebirth, and transformation and is an expression of the depth of grief and loss on the continuum of unconditional love. It is ultimately an homage to the diasporic courage, bravery, and resiliency of her parents (and many others) and their will to survive – so that she (we) can thrive.