The chapei inscription at the Musée de la Musique de Paris

This discovery was made thanks to the intuitive and remote viewing skills of medium Katia Kolobaeva. At this time (2019), I (Patrick Kersalé) am commissioned by UNESCO and Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to carry out a study of the chapei lute, an instrument inscribed in 2016 by UNESCO on the "List of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding" under the title Chapei Dang Veng.

In April 2019, I meet for the umpteenth time with Russian medium Katia Kolobaeva, with whom I've worked before in my research on Angkorian musical instruments. We meet in a bakery - Le Pain du Cœur on Taphul Road in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I show him a photo of Émile Gsell's chapei player. I asked if the instrument was made in Cambodia or Thailand. She tells me:

- The maker was small, black, with small fingers.

- But was it made by a Khmer or a Thai?

- A Khmer!

Then I show her the instrument from the Musée de la Musique in Paris:

- It was made by another person, with thin white fingers. But in the same school. There's an inscription inside... This assertion will be confirmed when I examine the chapei at the Musée de la Musique de Paris!

For full details of this instrument, click here.