Echoes Lost to Wind – Chath pierSath’s New Book of Powerful Poetry
Editor's Note: Chath pierSath asked me to write the introduction to this new collection of poetry, published in 2024 by Carbonation Press. I encourage you to acquire Echoes Lost to Wind with the knowledge that you will be captured in his echoes of the past and the...
In Praise of the film: Made in Cambodia – Contemporary Art in the Kingdom of Wonder
Koji Minami is a successful graphic designer and illustrator living in Seattle, Washington. He found his way to Cambodia and became smitten with its culture and explosive art scene. Minami has recently released a documentary about the contemporary art scene, which deserves our attention.
The Wonders Found in Nicholas Coffill’s Photography in Cambodia – 1866 to Present
Four friends relaxing near rice fields, Battambang, 1961Editor's Note: I was mulling over Nicholas Coffill's recent book Photography in Cambodia: 1866 to the Present long before I could download it on my Kindle Reader. Between conversations with friends in Cambodia...
Street Art is Resurrecting Cambodia’s Culture
Chifumi painting his mural in 2019, Battambang, Cambodia. Back in 2019, I spent several days watching a massive mural being painted on a wall in Battambang, Cambodia. The artist, high up on scaffolding, was Chifumi Krohom. The electric energy of the S'Art Urban Art...
A Thread is Connecting Us – Will You Connect with Artists Jean-Baptist PHOU and SAO Sreymao?
Jean-Baptiste PHOU wants you to think with him. Not like him – with him. Actually, with his collaborating artist SAO Sreymao, too. More than that, he wants you to participate in your explorations of identity, culture, exile, familial drama, language, memories, and all...
Thuokna SIN – The Artist Exploring Multiple Mediums to Grasp His Dreams
I had not met Thuokna during any of my visits to Battambang. Instead, I relied upon learning about him through the internet, messaging, and chatting with mutual friends. Morgane Darrasse, the Communications Consultant for Phare Creative Studio, had sent me links to...
The Natural Splendor of Black Pepper Resort រមណីយដ្ឋាន ម្រេចខ្មៅ
Black Pepper Resort in Siem Reap, Cambodia - Where nature becomes personalWebsite: Black Pepper Resort Location Black Pepper is located ~15km outside the city of Siem Reap, one turn off RD6 heading towards Thailand from Siem Reap (before Puok). PHONE: +855 071 14 67...
Wings of Tomorrow – The Fearless New Works of Pen Robit
Image: ©Phearun Yin/STP Cambodia, 2022Cambodia shut down for two years due to the pandemic. No tourists. No jobs. Even Angkor Wat and the many temples sat silent while playful monkeys scrambled like children at a playground, squealing in their private antics. Siem...
Srey Bandaul – The teacher who traded pain in exchange for magic
Srey Bandaul - Beloved teacher and visionary for Cambodia (1973- - 2021)The sudden death of Phare Ponleu Selpak's co-founder has reverberated across the nation, leaving a trail of tributes from authorities and personal posts from those who learned so much from him....
ON EARTH BENEATH SKY EXPLORES THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE
Chath pierSaths’s new book On Earth Between Sky is 68 intense yet soothing reflections in poetry and prose on life in Cambodia and the US – a strong new Khmer work to embrace.
in pictures – Cambodia through your eyes
Photograph by Bunnawath ChhunIn Pictures Magical Cambodia is collecting original photographs taken by Khmers, ex-pats, and visitors from around the world. We know you have your favorite photographs of Cambodia's life and landscapes that speak to you. Please share them...
RETURN TO K.I.D BY VANNA SEANG – a personal Cambodian odyssey
35-year-old Vanna Seang never got to see the film he directed. The 'Return to K.I.D' documentary is Vanna's personal legacy project. It was the last project he focused on before dying on September 5, 2018, after being diagnosed with a rare blood condition. Those that...
Krama Masks – Mok Rotha’s covid19 contribution
KRAMAS MEET CORONA19.
THE MOST POWERFUL SYMBOL OF CAMBODIA TRANSFORMS FOR THE TIMES, THANKS TO THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP OF MOK ROTHA.
Van Chhovorn – The Enduring Man Etching his Life into Art
There are times one is drawn to an artist for reasons that seem difficult to articulate but rumble inside you like an ancient memory resurfacing. Such it is with my relationship with Van Chhovorn and his sculptures and paintings. Holding a wood carving of his in my hands emits feelings far beyond their sight, touch or smell. The wood quietly whispers to me of a life, a family, and a culture that I may witness but never quite know. To many, this will sound hackneyed but to me, it is the gift that art sometimes offers.
Chov Theanly – The Honest Painter
Chov Theanly announced years ago that he wanted to be an honest painter. His work accomplishes this with masterful skill and a powerful inquiry into life in Cambodia and beyond.
Ka-Lai Chan & MANAVA – The Designer in the Midst of Cambodia
Ka-Lai Chan had been on my horizon long before I moved to Cambodia. I was familiar with her home and furniture design so when I learned she had started MANAVA, a company supporting women artisans by creating artful rattan products, I set out to find her in Krobey Riel...
The Playful Recycled Fashion Art of Hin Koemyean
The Imaginative Art Fashion of Koemyean and his troupe Tepsyort Koemyean, a teacher of graphic design in Phare's Visual and Applied Arts School (VAAS) in Battambang, modestly declares his fashion ventures made from recycled plastic and rice bags are not professional...
Women Hitting the Road – NomadiX Tour
Marina Bopha's Ambitious New Project It's a determined project born out of the desire to bring art awareness to local people and students in the remote areas of Cambodia. NomadiX Tour 2020 is designed to closely engage local communities in the world of art through...
Words Sprouting Lives – Poetry from Writing Through
Poetry builds fresh connections between the old and the new, and between the familiar and the unconventional. It is a sublime voice of the personality of the human being who makes the poem, and of those who read it with appreciation. Like all art, it is a form of experience. Seldom are these experiences generated in schools or homes across the world’s landscapes. In Cambodia, these experiences rarely exist.
Medha – The Women Who Broke the Taboo
Meet the bold women drummers in Cambodia. It was taboo for a woman to touch a drum in Cambodia. Medha turned history into herstory.
Music is a life force behind the human experience. It emerges out of culture and in turn, it can shape and influence culture. Its power can be used towards emancipation – or as a destructive tool for domination. Power is omnipresent.
The Whimsical Trash Art of Monisilong Riem, aka Selong Vat
Cambodian Trash Art: See Selong Originals Artist Riem Mony Selong (AKA Monisilong Riem, Selong Vat) works with waste and garbage. He is a trash art artist of Cambodia. He plays with waste, lives with waste, and struggles to etch out his living with waste – but don’t...
Touch Khchao – The Buddha Mind in Battambang
Cambodian art: The Buddha Mind in Battambang She sits nimbly on the floor, robed in blue, her color of choice for the last several years. Khchao Touch is an artist in Battambang and she and her husband, Darren Swallow, have been deeply entwined in the Cambodian art...
Arn Chorn Pond – The Musical Magician Healing Cambodia
Cambodian art: Arn Chorn Pond the flute player of Cambodia It is near impossible to understand present-day Cambodia or its arts without learning about Arn Chorn Pond and his flute. His endeavors and collaborations are everywhere and they share unpretentious...
Epic Arts – Changing Lives with the Arts
Cambodian art (Epic Arts Cafe): Come Back Brighter celebrates Cambodia’s arts scene and narrates the country’s journey from the swinging sixties to the present day through the use of dance and archive footage. Phnom Penh Post heralded it as "Nothing short of an...
KAMA, KRWF, & the Cambodian Space Project – How Julien Poulson Energizes Rock ‘n’ Roll & the Arts
Julien Poulson, founder of the Cambodian Space Project & KAMA It's impossible to get a sense of contemporary Cambodia without an introduction to Julien Poulson, founder of the Cambodian Space Project, Kampot Arts & Music Association (KAMA) and Kampot Readers...
Pchum Ben Festival- How the Spirits Command Cambodia
Pchum Ben Festival In just a few days I will get to experience my first Pchum Ben festival. It does not bother me that most of the markets, restaurants, and services will be closed or that a tuk-tuk may be difficult to find. It simply fascinates me how the entire...
Sacred Ink Lotus Art – The Calm Conjuring of Morrison Polkinghorne
148913: Paths of the Lotus Ink by Morrison Polkinghorne at Bangkok, Thailand's Serindia Gallery Sacred Ink Lotus Art by Morrison Polkinghorne I kept bumping into Morrison Polkinghorne on my first visit to Battambang during the 2019 S’Art Urban Art Festival. S'Art...
Romcheik 5 Art Space – Illuminating the Darkness
In the quiet town of Battambang and away from the charming gallery district, Romcheik 5 Art Space stands alone. Named after their neighborhood, it is increasingly growing from the original factory space four young artists and their French benefactor began 7 years...
Sugar Talks at Sugar Spa – How Barbershops & Beauty Salons Create Culture
Cambodia art and culture: Sugar Talks? Stories worth listening to? Really? Put on by Sugar Spa – the place that does waxing, lashes, hair, and other ‘girlie’ stuff? You might cringe with the mental pictures that immediately dance around the head and scoff it off –...
Channy Chhoeun Art – A Modern Khmer Audubon
Channy Chhoeun Art Channy Chhoeun looks like he stepped out of a Hollywood movie set. In many ways, he represents the Cambodian version of Adonis, the Greek god of beauty and desire. He is poised and paints elegant images of birds and nature. Thousands and thousands...
One Eleven Gallery – Cambodia Images Gallery
How I failed to make the connection between Siem Reap's One Eleven Gallery and the 111 Mina Gallery in San Francisco bewilders me, especially since I have spent many delightful nights over the last two decades in the San Francisco gallery. I tried to shrug it off...
Serey Siv- Siem Reap’s Young Rennaisance Man
Cambodia Art: It's a tall order to be described as a 'Renaissance Man' but Serey Siv is a tall man. He seems to have the qualities required for such a label: curiosity, perseverance, self-discipline, a thirst for new experiences and understanding, a risk-taker, an...
Batia Sarem Contemporary Art Gallery Honors Curation
Batia Sarem owners Lyvann Loeuk and Yves Zlotowski with artist Sovan Philong and gallery manager Martin Phéline.Batia Sarem Contemporary Art Gallery The art scene in Cambodia is a wild frontier that is wide open for all kinds of galleries. When Batia Sarem...
Why the Rock Opera “Where Elephants Weep” was a hallmark of Cambodian Culture
Cambodia Art & Culture: The Rock Opera Where Elephants Weep Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been retold countless times, and so has the old and similar Cambodian love story Tum Teav. Where Elephants Weep is the first Cambodian rock opera. It tells a modern...
Dambaul, Kon Len Khnhom & Meta Moeng – The Woman Who Creates Space for Artists
Cambodian Art Spaces for earnest conversation and connection in the arts are vital but frequently lacking in communities - especially in Cambodia. Libraries and reading rooms that have collections of books that can truly open eyes and minds are even harder to find...
Bangsokol – A Requiem for Cambodia
Cambodia Art: BANGSOKOL Two beloved Khmers and survivors of the Khmer Rouge—composer Him Sophy and filmmaker Rithy Panh (The Missing Picture)—create a musical ritual to return dignity to Cambodia's dead from the genocide. Combining traditional Cambodian music, smot...
Street Art In Battambang
Battambang: Birthplace of Art in Cambodia Battambang is known for being the birthplace of much of the art in Cambodia, largely as a result of Phare Ponleu Selpak or 'The Brightness of the Arts' School and S'Art Urban Art Festival. During the Khmer Rouge reign from...
The Bold Women on Men’s Road – New Cambodian Artists
Cambodia Art & Dance: New Cambodian Artists
It is impossible for me to be objective in writing about the New Cambodian Artists – so I will not even try to hide my deep admiration for this female dance company in Siem Reap. Having seen hundreds of dance performances in my lifetime, these women strike me as the boldest and most intriguing I am ever encountered.
Their stories are not unlike those they share with so many others in Cambodia. They have intimately known poverty, exclusion from their families and friends for their choices to be artists, ridicule for not fulfilling traditional women’s roles, and stigmatization from the Aspara authorities for their right to dance without adhering to traditional forms.
The Powerful Impact of Phare
Cambodia Art: The Spider Web of Phare If you have thought about visiting Cambodia, chances are you have heard about the celebrated Phare Circus. Stay in Cambodia for a while and chances are you will continually meet people who are connected to Phare. The students, the...
Luke Hunt – Cambodia’s Treasured Journalist & Author
Cambodia Journalist: Luke Hunt Long before arriving in Cambodia, I was reading whatever I could find from the journalist Luke Hunt, the Southeast Asian Correspondent and author who has covered so many of the challenging issues and events in the area. Hailing from...
Tribe Cambodia – Siem Reap’s Gathering Gallery
Cambodia Art: Tribe Cambodia It has never failed: when I stop by Tribe I always end up in intriguing conversations with artists, locals, visitors, and dignitaries. Not to mention the luxurious chats with the co-owners, Nat Di Maggio & Terry McIlkenny. It is both a...
Jungle Guard – a Monk & a Forest in Danger
Camboida art & film: Jungle Guard - How Venerable Bun Saluth Protected the Land A film by Sleuk Rith Motion Picture Makara Ouch, Film Director The 2019 release of this film is being screened throughout Cambodia and Director Makara Ouch is generously offering his...
Textiles Weave Cultures Together – MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum
Textiles tell the story of how Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam are deeply interconnected. MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum reveals a deeply shared history.