What We Stand For
Our Belief
We believe arts are at the heart of a vital society.
Our Mission
Our mission is to be a catalyst in a vibrant arts sector, inspiring new generations.
Our Vision
We envision the arts and cultural expression as essential to a thriving future for Cambodia.
A Word From Our Programs Director
YON Sokhorn, Program Director
When I started with CLA in 2012, I feel blessed to be able to accompany the master artists to impart their knowledge to the next generation of passionate artists, and this has been a core of our work for almost a decade. Later, I really enjoy working at CLA when we start planning the career development programs to support the artists and cultural practitioners to sustain their works and enable them to tell their stories of present Cambodian society through their creativity and expressions.
“Working with artists is a privilege and I’ve never been prouder than this through CLA’s work and my personal mission.”
Currently, we have provided more and more grants than we do in the past which reflects our evolving role and work as a grantmaker. It is very challenging to provide more and more funding because we have to be accountable for all the requirements and ensure transparency while accompanying the artists through this administration. It’s not common in Cambodia to have local grants for the arts and culture. Simply put, it is not only new to the artists, but also to CLA while we learn by doing, and keep improving through time.
As a personal reflection of my 10-year journey in this sector and despite the pandemic, I still continue to see more emerging talents, energy, leadership, and grassroots initiatives who are indeed of this investment and the key players to sustain the arts ecosystem in the long run. This makes me so optimistic about what CLA is doing now because we are able to plan ahead of time and play a crucial role to fulfill the gap in the sector.
Our Ongoing Programs
Grants
Grantmaking is a primary part of our role as a catalyst providing opportunities to the arts community, which needs financial assistance for their creativity, critical reflection, and capacity building from individual to grassroots initiatives. We offer two types of grants: core grants and special grants.
Core Grants (ongoing)
● Dam Dos Grant
● Springboard Grant
● Mobility Grant
● Open Call for New Creation
Special Grant
(for strategic initiatives)
● Thrive Program
Community Engagement and Outreach
To engage people with less access to arts opportunities and experiences, especially those in rural areas. We do this through village concerts and tours throughout the year, Community Arts Demonstrations, and on-site presentations.
Village Concerts
The focus of this program is on staging music concerts in remote communities where people have minimal access to arts events.
Community Arts Demonstrations
We promote rare musical instruments through travels across the villages of Cambodia, engaging and dialoguing with audiences through music demonstrations.
Learning and Development
Learning and development is a program that is responsible for empowering artists’ growth and developing their knowledge, skills, and capabilities to drive better artistic and leadership skills in the arts sector.
Talk and Training
We aim to increase the knowledge and skills of artists and cultural workers by collaborating with experienced artists, cultural practitioners, and trainers inside and outside Cambodia.
Arn Chorn Pond Living Arts Scholarship
We help talented people by providing financial assistance, enrichment training, and networking opportunities through cultural events.
Curatorial Fellowship
We support emerging and potential programmers in the arts sector to develop their skills and experience, with a particular focus on performing arts practitioners, with visual and film practitioners also welcome.
Special Projects
Special projects aim to strengthen the sustainability of the sector through strategic projects including:
Cultural Season
Annual arts and cultural programming featuring performances, panel discussions, film screenings, exhibitions, and workshops, curated with an annual theme.
Provincial Tours
In addition to the Cultural Season in Phnom Penh, we also bring programs to target provinces around Cambodia where the local community is able to experience new works and interact and engage in conversation. (1-2 sentences)
Culture and Arts Education
We started this 5-year pilot program in 2017 with the aim of advocating for arts integration into the public education system, focusing on two areas: creative pedagogy training and curriculum development.