Offline Resources: Funding, Development Programmes, and Archives

The lack of funding initiatives from the government for the performing arts in Cambodia contributes to the endangerment of these practices (Grant Reference Grant2016b). For this reason, CLA have focused on helping talented people, especially those living in poverty, to develop careers in the arts through scholarships and grants (e.g., Arn Chorn Pond Living Arts Scholarships and Dam Dos Grants); professional development for artists, administrators, students, and technical specialists; and educational courses and workshops (e.g., Living Arts Fellowship, “Nirmita Composers” workshop, Storytelling workshop and a course on the fundamentals of writing for the stage). In 2019, CLA hosted “Ethno Cambodia,” a week-long workshop with performances by young musicians and singers from Cambodia and the wider Mekong region to foster cultural exchanges and networking. Their fellowship programme promotes international exchanges, artistic collaborations, research, and networking trips, and training in key areas such as arts management and sustainability. For example, in 2019 CLA ran a course on “Arts for Transformation” which examined the roles of arts and culture in transforming post-conflict Cambodia.

Besides training courses and financial aid, CLA provides administrative and logistical support to artists—the involvement of local musicians, artists, and communities is considered a strategy of music sustainability (Grant Reference Grant, Schippers and Grant2016a). Their “Khmer Magic Music Bus” initiative showcased Khmer traditional music to tourists and, at the same time, raises awareness of local traditions among young people in rural areas. On another occasion, CLA produced five CDs which documented endangered Cambodian musical genres including classical wedding music, smot (poetry chanting), kantaoming (ancient funeral music), and phleng areak (music for animist possession ceremonies). These recordings are now sold during cultural shows and in local bookshops to provide vital revenue for CLA.

Online Resources: Festivals, Documentaries, and Interviews

In addition to preserving and reviving traditional performing arts, CLA now focuses on building the skills of future leaders in the arts. The organisation asked the Ministry of Culture and UNESCO for political support not only to promote its own projects but also to get more arts and cultural education into Cambodian public schools (e.g., their 2017 Culture & Arts Programme; https://www.cambodianlivingarts.org/arts-education/), and to increase performance opportunities for Cambodian artists. The “Festivals and Performances” section of their website showcases dance, music, and theatre performances from previous festivals (https://www.cambodianlivingarts.org/our-work/). For example, videos related to the “Art4Peace” festival in 2019, which was organised to celebrate the fortieth year since the fall of the Khmer Rouge and CLA’s twentieth anniversary, showcase performances of traditional theatre such as lakhon yike and lakhon bassac, storytelling, and contemporary dance (https://arts4peace.cambodianlivingarts.org/en/virtual-festival/). This section also includes an online exhibition, “Her Sounds,” curated by the ethnomusicologist Emily Howe and artist Neak Sophal. The exhibition represents the outcome of a multimedia research project documenting female musicians’ and dancers’ perspectives on gender and art in Cambodia.

The annual “Cultural Season” festival consists of three months of arts events (https://www.cambodianlivingarts.org/cultural-season-2022/). The rich 2022 programme, which was themed “Action Today, Consequences Tomorrow,” included theatre and music performances, contemporary dance performances, workshops and films which were also streamed online. These include the contemporary dance-film Saker by choreographer Nget Rady who experiments with a digital form, using techniques and gestures from masked theatre (lakhon khaol) and contemporary dance to re-create “The Ring” episode from the epic tale, the Reamker; the “Chapey Diary” concert, a forty-minute screening illustrating the musical evolution of the traditional long-necked lute (chapey dang weng) and ending with contemporary chapey music in dialogue with other Khmer and international instruments; and the film Rhythm, which portrayed a new composition featuring seven kinds of drum from Cambodia and other parts of the world, combined with creative tales of monkeys and giants from lakhon khaol. These performances exemplify the aim of CLA’s artists to combine traditional and modern features in an appealing modern presentation.

The “Research Center” page is divided into three main sections: “Publications,” “Research Topics,” and “Video Library” (https://www.cambodianlivingarts.org/research-center/). “Publications” covers research reports and descriptions of collaborative work with foreign scholars in the United Kingdom and Australia. Importantly, the second section includes a list of suggested research topics to encourage international collaboration. On the same page, the video library outlines a history of the CLA, and includes three documentaries on endangered musical genres. The first documentary is on kantaoming music. Nowadays, this genre is rarely performed within funeral ceremonies, where it has been mostly replaced by pre-recorded music. The documentary includes performances by and interviews with representative musicians and their families. The second documentary is on smot (poetic chanting), which accompanies the journey of the soul of the deceased. The video gives an overview of the current state of this endangered genre and emphasises the mission of CLA to preserve this knowledge. The third documentary showcases pheng kar classical wedding music. Representative musicians discuss the role of wedding music and ceremony in Khmer society and the educational message and sociocultural values expressed in wedding song lyrics. The video includes extracts of an old ceremony (three days) which is contrasted with modern ceremonies that have been shortened to one and a half days. All three documentaries were broadcast on the Cambodian TV channel CTN in 2013 and 2014. Each film gives representative masters an opportunity to speak about their art in Khmer (with English subtitles) while also showing them at work. Narration was provided by the Cambodian doctoral researcher Keo Narom, which adds further detail to the films. Following the artists, the viewer is guided though an overview of the work of CLA and its aim to document and preserve these art forms by engaging with younger generations. The interviewees, some of whom are now deceased, were well-known masters in Cambodia and acknowledged by UNESCO.

The section on “Inspiring Women in the Arts” provides interviews with five representative female artists, teachers, and managers. Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro, a well-known dancer and choreographer, explains her view of preserving traditional dance (robam boran) by promoting new creations that use traditional ideas. Khouth Sochampawatd, CLA’s Arts Learning Manager, describes her determination to fulfill her dream of working in the arts sector and her passion for training young people, despite being discouraged by her family. Chreck Sopha, a member of the “Messenger Band” and a former factory worker, talks about how the Messenger Band’s songs, which address social issues such as the poor working conditions of farmers, factory workers and sexual labours, encourage Khmer women “to do whatever it takes to make Khmer society become a better world.” Chhorn Sina, a middle-aged actress, teacher, and playwright, tells us how writing helps her to express her own ideas. And Hun Pen, a young choreographer and CLA’s cultural leader, shares her experience of learning Khmer traditional dance from her mother and getting inspired by Em Tevy, one of the most notable classical dancers who recently passed away. This series of interviews reflects the CLA’s aim to inspire young women to undertake a career in the arts and challenge prominent gender disparities.

The last section of the video library includes performances from the “Amatak” (Eternal) festival in 2014. This festival represents the CLA’s ideal of “living” arts—art that is creative and new while at the same time preserving traditional styles. The video clips include examples of folk dances from Cambodia’s ethnic minorities, the Khmer classical Apsara dance, and music performances by the Children of Bassac. This section also includes videos by the Chapey Amatak Band and the group, Community of Living Chapey, performing epic singing accompanied by the long-necked lute. These performances are mostly adapted and shaped for a tourist audience. In the same section, three videos of performances of a Lakhon Yike opera based on the love story of “Mak Therng” by Children of Bassac provide another example of the process of “festivalisation” of traditional genres (Billeri Reference Billeri and Giuriati2022:113). The Lakhon Yike opera, which traditionally lasts up to nine hours, is shortened to just sixty minutes. The scripts consist of shorter lyrics and the dance movements are simplified. Short performances of folk dances from different ethnicities, wedding rituals, and the iconic peacock dance are also included. Although the principal characteristics of these theatre genres have been simplified and adapted to appeal to a foreign audience, the modernisation of traditional performance practise keeps the art alive and encourages young artists to create new musical genres, and build their career by fostering creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

CLA’s online resources serve as a useful introduction to the culture and history of Cambodia. As Arn Chorn-pond emphasises in a written contribution to the website, this resource is an efficient tool for spreading awareness of Khmer cultural heritage: “Even today, we fail to notice that the image of Cambodia is so much more than just the killing fields. CLA is one small effort to rework this image of Cambodia to instead, give something to people that they can remember.” Through the work of CLA, Arn Chorn-pond wishes that “every child in Cambodia could sing, dance and carry musical instruments and not guns.” In this way, CLA is a model cultural organisation for post-conflict nations around the world.