“We concern over the loss of the truth in history if the script is adapted to current society. For instance, we wanted to show forgiveness as a moral of the story for this current society. But, ultimately, we decided that we must keep the originality—which means Lin Thong eventually didn’t spare the life of Ahkal […]

Founded in 1998 by genocide survivor and musician Arn CHORN-POND. For the first decade, we focused on reviving endangered traditional performing arts. Over the last 20 years, we have focused on supporting the potential in people to develop and sustain their careers in the arts, through scholarships, fellowships, and support to troupes and classes. After […]

Why CLA create these opportunities? Cambodia these days has many emerging artists and cultural practitioners who have full potential and creative concepts to make new works and leadership talent in varied initiatives, however, at a similar time they need support to reflect and develop their creative and non-artistic skills to form their vision. By seeing […]

“The Cultural Season has brought underrepresented artists and traditional arts to life. “Being able to commission artists who have worked tirelessly to preserve almost lost art forms, to facilitate them in bringing their work into stage is what delighted me most,” Bornnoem Milya, CLA Curatorial Fellow 2022 From early January, when Cultural Season 2023 took to […]

For the last several years, we were all isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world. You may start to resume your travels, so we believe this is an excellent time to invite you to visit us in Cambodia. Now is a unique opportunity experience to visit Angkor Wat without the crowds of mass […]

As the world is picking up where it left off by the drawn-out Covid-19 pandemic, many people have reacquainted themselves with favourite faces. And it comes in many ways for Cambodians, whether it’s attending a wedding reception, visiting hometown to see elder relatives, taking a friendship trip, meeting up at art galleries, or just a […]

“The term curator is quite new to me. Among my fellow classical dancers, we didn’t know about that before. We thought curator only applies to the visual artists and those who curate the photo galleries or paintings exhibitions. And curatorial concept hasn’t been common with performing art practitioners in Cambodia.” Serei Vankosoan, CLA Curatorial Fellow […]

In December 2021, CLA Executive Director Phloeun PRIM sat down with CLA supporter Dana White for a recorded conversation during a recent trip to the US. Dana reflected on his longtime involvement with CLA and why his experience in Cambodia—spanning five trips that date as far back as 2004—has been so meaningful. Below are excerpts […]

Dear Friends, In the first decade of the 2000s, arts development in Cambodia meant preservation. There was a fear that in the wake of Khmer Rouge control of Cambodia, which saw 90% of the country’s artists perish, Cambodian arts and culture were at risk of being lost forever. My dear brother Arn Chorn-Pond, our founder, […]