PROGRAM: Knowledge, Networks, and Policy
AIMED AT: Artists and arts managers
The Living Arts Fellows is a unique program for people working in arts and culture in Cambodia. It is designed for people who have already been working in the arts for several years (whether as an artist, a teacher, an organizer, a researcher) and are taking an active role to create new initiatives, lead projects in their community, or even to run an organization. Each year we select a small cohort of just 4-6 Fellows, who go through an intensive experience together.
The Living Arts Fellows Program is a professional development program for artists and arts managers. We select creative and dedicated individuals who are already leaders in their particular field, and help them to nurture their vision and values.
Throughout the year, our Fellows meet artists and cultural leaders from around the region, building a network of some of the most innovative people working in the arts and culture sector today. They explore topics relevant to their work in the arts, and develop their personal, professional and cultural perspectives.
Senior leaders in the arts community helped us to develop the program. It emphasizes research and analysis, exposes Fellows to global practices and case studies, and encourages debate, presenting conflicting ideas and opinions.
In 2019, CLA commissioned an independent review of the program, which found it to be “remarkably effective”. To read the review and hear more stories from the fellows, click here.
Sreynuth is an officer in the Culture and Information Section at the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia since 2015. Her current responsibilities include drafting and making proposals for events related to Japanese and Cambodian cultural exchange and she supports the embassy’s annual Japan-Cambodia Kizuna Festival — the largest program related to cultural exchange between the two nations. Sreynuth graduated with a Bachelor of Law from the Royal University of Law and Economics in 2012. At the same time, she completed a Japanese law course at the Research and Education Center for Japanese Law in Cambodia. In her free time, Sreynuth is an athlete of the Japanese martial art “Kendo.” She has represented Cambodia twice for the ASEAN Kendo Tournament. She speaks Khmer, Japanese, and English and is currently learning Thai and Bahasa Indonesian. Sreynuth is actively growing her knowledge of arts and culture to support Cambodia’s cultural development and bring Khmer culture to the international stage.
Piseth works as the chief of the Administration and coordination department at Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center. He has participated in organizing many cultural events and facilitating documentary filmmaking and multimedia training programs at Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center since 2015. In 2018 he received a scholarship to study the Master degree in Linguistics at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. In 2019 he got the first prize for a short story writing competition in the 2nd Buddhist Institute Literature Award. He obtained a bachelor degree of Cambodian law from the Royal University of Law and Economics and of French law from Université Lumière Lyon 2 in 2011. In 2013 he worked as Khmer-French interpreter and assistant to Set Design manager in a French film production which the shooting was in Kampot, Kep and Sihanouk province. He was trained on Documentary filmmaking and multimedia at the Bophana center in 2014 and became a staff a year after.
Sreivy is an officer at the ‘Association and Rural Community’ under the management of the General Directorate General of Techniques for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. After graduating from the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) Phnom Penh, majoring in Archaeology in 2015, Sreivy has been working with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts since 2017. In 2017, she was awarded the Alphawood Scholarship to pursue her Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art at SOAS University of London and completed in 2019.
Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and promoting Cultural industries are her priority responsibilities. To succeed them, she has coordinated through conducting numerous projects and events such as documenting the national inventory lists, revitalizing projects, strengthening the legal frameworks, promoting artist creativity, and organizing various cultural events.
Samnang came out as a gay person in public in 2016. Since then he has become an active member of LoveIsDiversity where he has engaged with many social activities in order to raise his voice as an individual LGBTIQ+ people. Samnang used to be a UN Youth Advisory Panel and SDGs youth ambassador. He is also a former recipient of Arn Chorn Pond Living Arts Scholarship in which he has developed stronger interests in the arts. Since the past few years, Samnang has led and coordinated various acting groups which highlight the value of the arts in the society and the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community. His dream is to become a leader in the arts in which he could contribute actively. He graduated from the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) in 2019 majoring in Archaeology. He speaks Khmer, English, and French.
Rina joined Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH) in May 2020 as a Program Officer. She is supporting logistics and coordination for MCH program activities, including the SEAD program, Regional Representative, Meeting Point, and other activities that are organized by MCH. She started her job at CLA as a program coordinator in the Artistic Development Program in 2015. Then in 2017, she became a Senior Program Coordinator in Experience Cambodian Living Arts, this is CLA’s cultural enterprise. Over the past 5 years, Rina has managed productions and cultural activities including regular shows, arts tours, and events, cultural delegations, workshops, demonstrations both locally and internationally. Rina graduated in the field of Business Administration from the Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and is currently living in Phnom Penh. Rina is interested in traveling, arts and cultural diversities, the taste of local food from different regions, and connecting with new people. She has always been very passionate about serving the arts sector and social work, and strongly believes in the positive power of arts to transform individuals and society.
Dy served as a Manager at the Phare Creative Studio, between 2016- 2020, which is a business unit of Phare Performing Social Enterprise, generated revenues in order to support Phare Ponleu Selpak. The main purpose is to provide durably free education on traditional/ contemporary dance, music, theater, circus performance, graphic design, animation and video to the communities. His main responsibility is to coordinate the workflow and support the team by strongly involved in the production process producing videos, animation, radio, and interactive voice recording (IVR) or voice-over recording. Based on these experiences, it enables him to visualize and articulate different production scenarios, ability to produce educational video, TV commercial, video promotion for social behavior change.
Currently, he works for 17 Triggers Consulting Asia as a Production Manager Assistance. His prominent responsibility is to manage the production process from the briefing to final delivery of all production tools including videos, animation, TV, radio, IVR, graphic design, printing, prototype tools, bespoke tools, Events, and digital. This means producing TV commercials around South East Asia and Africa.
Arun has worked as principal writer and script supervisor at Khmer Mekong Films since 2006. Before that she worked for BBC Trust as a script supervisor for the successful educational TV drama ‘Taste of Life’. She has also written a children’s book and a short story for the anthology ‘Crush Collection’. She joined the Asia Foundation’ ‘Let’s Read’ program to promote an E-book for children. Inspired by people living with disabilities, Arun has dedicated her time to learn Cambodian sign language from Deaf Development Programme, as she believes that knowing this language will help her to communicate more effectively with other people and give her practical ideas for script writing.
Yanna represents Artsolute-Cambodia in the “ASEAN Puppetry Exchange Program” (APEX), a collaboration between Sovannaphum Art Association, Artsolute-Singapore, ASEAN Foundation and Japanese Solidarity Fund. Through this program, he connects Cambodian artists with trainings, workshops and performance opportunities. Working with Sovannaphum Art Association, Yanna created a program with APEX in 2015 on the topic of Fire, called “APEX-Fire”. This aimed to raise awareness about discrimination, jealousy, and misunderstanding, using puppetry to build peace and understanding. Yanna is pursuing a degree in Communication, Media, and Arts at PUC.
Bandaulis a visual artist, arts teacher, and co-founder of Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPSA), a community-based visual and performing arts school that also provides general education and social support, based in Battambang. Bandaul has exhibited his works extensively both locally and internationally including in Norway, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, New York, London, Istanbul, and Myanmar. He has also published two books: Looking at Angkor and The Land of the Elephants. Bandaul is currently working on a memoir based on his life as a child refugee.
Seyma is co-founder and artistic director of The Khmer Magic Music Bus, which has made trips around Cambodia since 2013 to bring traditional music to rural parts of the country. Previously a singer, she was invited by Arn CHORN-POND to join Waterek Productions, a CD production company. Later, Seyma and Arn co-founded The Khmer Magic Music Bus (The KMMB), and called on musicians from different provinces to form a group. Seyma strongly believes that less well-known traditional musicians deserve the opportunity to perform and show their talents and should be able to transfer their skills to the next generation. The KMMB has recently become a program of Cambodian Living Arts.
Sotheary is an independent arts therapist and a clinical psychologist with 12 years of experience working in the social development sector in Cambodia. Throughout her career, she has advocated for psychology as a necessary human right in Cambodian society. She was instrumental in producing a comprehensive handbook called “Understanding Trauma in Cambodia”. Sotheary has extensive professional experience with survivors of trauma from the Khmer Rouge era, and uses arts and culture as tools in her work. Recently, her work has focused specifically on gender-basedviolence, and has written the book “Past and the Present of Forced Marriage Survivors; Experience toward Healing”. Sotheary received her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and Counselling in 2010 from Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Support for Living Arts International fellowships is provided, in part, by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Support for Living Arts International fellowships is provided, in part, by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
-HUN Pen, dancer and choreographer and 2015 Fellow
– CHHAN Dina, visual artist and 2016 Fellow
– Sinath SOUS, Director of HR at Phare Performing Social Enterprsie and 2017 Fellow
There are three main elements:
Arun has worked as principal writer and script supervisor at Khmer Mekong Films since 2006. Before that she worked for BBC Trust as a script supervisor for the successful educational TV drama ‘Taste of Life’. She has also written a children’s book and a short story for the anthology ‘Crush Collection’. She joined the Asia Foundation’ ‘Let’s Read’ program to promote an E-book for children. Inspired by people living with disabilities, Arun has dedicated her time to learn Cambodian sign language from Deaf Development Programme, as she believes that knowing this language will help her to communicate more effectively with other people and give her practical ideas for script writing.
Yanna represents Artsolute-Cambodia in the “ASEAN Puppetry Exchange Program” (APEX), a collaboration between Sovannaphum Art Association, Artsolute-Singapore, ASEAN Foundation and Japanese Solidarity Fund. Through this program, he connects Cambodian artists with trainings, workshops and performance opportunities. Working with Sovannaphum Art Association, Yanna created a program with APEX in 2015 on the topic of Fire, called “APEX-Fire”. This aimed to raise awareness about discrimination, jealousy, and misunderstanding, using puppetry to build peace and understanding. Yanna is pursuing a degree in Communication, Media, and Arts at PUC.
Bandaulis a visual artist, arts teacher, and co-founder of Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPSA), a community-based visual and performing arts school that also provides general education and social support, based in Battambang. Bandaul has exhibited his works extensively both locally and internationally including in Norway, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, New York, London, Istanbul, and Myanmar. He has also published two books: Looking at Angkor and The Land of the Elephants. Bandaul is currently working on a memoir based on his life as a child refugee.
Seyma is co-founder and artistic director of The Khmer Magic Music Bus, which has made trips around Cambodia since 2013 to bring traditional music to rural parts of the country. Previously a singer, she was invited by Arn CHORN-POND to join Waterek Productions, a CD production company. Later, Seyma and Arn co-founded The Khmer Magic Music Bus (The KMMB), and called on musicians from different provinces to form a group. Seyma strongly believes that less well-known traditional musicians deserve the opportunity to perform and show their talents and should be able to transfer their skills to the next generation. The KMMB has recently become a program of Cambodian Living Arts.
Sotheary is an independent arts therapist and a clinical psychologist with 12 years of experience working in the social development sector in Cambodia. Throughout her career, she has advocated for psychology as a necessary human right in Cambodian society. She was instrumental in producing a comprehensive handbook called “Understanding Trauma in Cambodia”. Sotheary has extensive professional experience with survivors of trauma from the Khmer Rouge era, and uses arts and culture as tools in her work. Recently, her work has focused specifically on gender-basedviolence, and has written the book “Past and the Present of Forced Marriage Survivors; Experience toward Healing”. Sotheary received her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and Counselling in 2010 from Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Raksmey is a senior technical officer from the Kampong Thom provincial Department of Culture and Fine Arts. He is an adventurer and art researcher, and founded the Living with Heritage Project, a Facebook page with his research, photographs, and writing on cultural practices, traditional ceremony, songs, and dialect.
Pheary is an art teacher and an independent artist. She has been awarded residencies at Hue Artists Residency in Vietnam and Sa Sa Art Projects in Phnom Penh. Her work focuses on environmental issues, ideals of natural beauty, and textiles. She has been conducting art workshops for one hundred children and high school students in collaboration with Create Cambodia, a Peace Corps Initiative.
Romdoul is a fashion designer, make-up artist, and hair stylist, who has demonstrated her talent and creativity by researching and uncovering many forgotten and rare elements of Khmer culture and tradition. Her creative costumes can be seen in various annual cultural events such as the Angkor Sangkran, film festivals, and Bonn Phum (Village Festival).
Buntheng is Operation and Tour Manager at Epic Arts in Kampot. He has worked and supported artists living with different kinds of disabilities to create creative dance movements and performances locally and internationally. Buntheng’s oldest son has Down’s syndrome, which inspired him to become a strong advocate for inclusiveness and for artists with disabilities.
Sinath is currently Director of HR and Community Engagement at Phare Performing Social Enterprise, and has worked with the organization for over 10 years. She has supported and led various festivals and performances locally and internationally. She is one of the core people working to curate and increase Phare’s social impact.
Dina works in a range of media including painting and sculpture. Her recent work is largely abstract, dealing with themes of life, music and everyday activities. She teaches visual art in a number of orphanages and international schools. Dina plans to continue making dynamic and engaging works of art, and hopes to open a workshop and gallery in Phnom Penh.
Hélène launched the first Cambodian internet TV channel, SAMAY.TV, with the mission to deliver entertaining and meaningful programs that both inspire people and broaden their knowledge. Her ambition for SAMAY.TV is to make it the first platform that promotes Cambodian video content, including culture and arts programming.
Dara leads and manages PPSE in its mission of supporting Phare Ponleu Selpak school. PPSE operates Phare, The Cambodian Circus and Phare Productions International. A student at Phare Ponleu Selpak in 2001, he became CEO of PPSE in 2013. Dara’s dream is to develop a reputable and internationally recognized Cambodian brand.
Borin has been in his role at the IFC since 2006 and is responsible for their cultural programming, coordinating exhibitions, shows, conferences, cinema screenings, and festivals. He would like to stay working at the IFC, and to continue curating interesting and valuable cultural activities for people living in Phnom Penh.
Sopheap is a historian and the Director of Bophana Audiovisual Resource Centre, where he has worked for over a decade. He has produced cultural events, run film festivals, and installed exhibitions. He is especially interested in the role of arts in telling stories about society.
Pen is a classically trained dancer and choreographer, who has been engaged in contemporary dance for the last decade. She is also an experienced arts manager, and is currently Deputy Director of the Department of Performing Arts in the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.
Sokny is the Country Director of Epic Arts, an inclusive arts organization that brings together people with and without disabilities. She is also a founding member of the Cambodian Arts Network, which brings together people working in the arts sector to increase collaboration and exchange.
Phalla trained as a painter, and has worked as a researcher across many artistic disciplines. He is currently the Deputy Director of the Department of Books and Reading at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, and has writer, edited, and published articles and books on topics including mural painting, classical dance, and Buddhist culture.
Phina is a writer and poet, and leads Women Writers Cambodia, a charter of PEN Cambodia. In 2016, she and five other female writers self-published an anthology of short stories, called the “Crush Collection”. She encourages women to write via her personal blog, dare2write.com. She is currently Knowledge, Networks, and Policy Program Manager at Cambodian Living Arts.
Sokny is the Country Director of Epic Arts, an inclusive arts organization that brings together people with and without disabilities. She is also a founding member of the Cambodian Arts Network, which brings together people working in the arts sector to increase collaboration and exchange.
Sopheap is a historian and the Director of Bophana Audiovisual Resource Centre, where he has worked for over a decade. He has produced cultural events, run film festivals, and installed exhibitions. He is especially interested in the role of arts in telling stories about society.
Thank you to the following institutions for making this program possible:
