Help Young Cambodian Artists Start Their Career

Learning from the arts community is a great way for artists to improve their skills, learn about other art forms and projects, and to build networks. Over the past months, our scholarship students did just that, integrating further into the arts sector in Cambodia and across Asia by joining workshops, performing at different events and taking every chance to present their skills and learn more about the arts.

Workshops are a great way for scholars to challenge themselves and expand their personal and professional capacity. Each month we held an enrichment workshop for the students and at the same time encouraged them to participate in as many other workshops and arts activities around Phnom Penh as they could.

In October, the scholarship students were provided with a workshop on the topic “Who Am I?” through our enrichment program. Meanwhile three scholars took advantage of a workshop conducted by Room to Read, an NGO in Phnom Penh, and learned how to illustrate children’s picture books.

November was an even busier month! “Values, Vision and Mission” was the topic of the monthly enrichment program. The workshop taught our scholars how to shape their personal identity through strong and consistent values and how to identify and follow their personal mission. Gaining some international experience, some of our scholars joined the very exciting Dream Project, an exchange program which brought six arts teachers from Korea to Cambodia in order to teach Korean Traditional Dance to our students as well as sharing Khmer Traditional Dance back to the Korean teachers. Rounding out the month, our scholars visited a contemporary dance performance at the Ministry’s Department of Performing Arts and took part in the Chaktomuk Short Film Festival.

In December, the scholars kept staying very active and did a lot to learn more about arts. They attended a comic book workshop at the Institut français du Cambodge, visited Phnom Penh’s International Film Festival at the Chaktomuk Theater, took in the 4^th Cambodian Book Fare at the National Library, and participated in the Youth Cultural Innovator Presentation held by the organization Sa Sa Bassac. “Personal Planning and Goal Setting” was the topic of the last 2015 enrichment workshop in December and rounded out a great quarter of reflection and exploration.

Our scholars also had some groundbreaking performances and presentations this quarter and we are very proud of their achievements. In October, our scholar Chanrith performed at an event for the Orphan Association who were so pleased with his work, they gave him a gratitude letter for his artistic contributions. In November, several of our scholars travelled internationally to perform at the Gusi Peace Award presentation ceremony in the Philippines as part of the Amrita Performing Arts dance troupe. Our scholars were also actively involved in the organization of the ASEAN puppet show and a performance in the 3rd memorial concert for Cambodia’s former King Sihanouk, both at Phnom Penh’s Chaktomuk Theater. In December, two short stories by scholar Makara were published on Sabay New Online. Huyno, our talented painting scholar, got the first prize for his work visualizing the topic “Prevent driving under alcohol”. At the German cultural center Meta House in Phnom Penh, Chanrith presented his self-created performance featuring traditional, classical and contemporary dance.

A final highlight from the quarter to share was the joint event of Krom Monster, a Cambodian-American music troupe, the Cambodian troupe Community of Living Chapei and our scholarship dancing students. All three troupes performed different, unique performances under the topic “Youth, Arts, Creativity” at the National Museum on our stage in Phnom Penh. The scholars who are not dancers provided administrational support.

Our scholarship students made a great step forward in their personal and professional development during the busy last months of 2015. With the support of you, our Global Giving donors, we expect to see this growth and expression continuing in 2016.

After an exciting final quarter of our 2015 Arn Chorn-Pond Scholarship Program Cambodian Living Arts is heading towards a new program year. Let’s take a look back on the past program year and – of course – a look forward to a new program year with new students and new activities!

Cambodian Arts Launch Pad Campaign

In August, we ran our Cambodian Arts Launch Pad, an online campaign on Facebook and here on Global Giving to raise funds for our scholarship program. The month-long campaign was supported by international musician and human rights activist Peter Gabriel, a friend of Arn. Peter promoted the Cambodian Arts Launch Pad through videos featuring interviews with Arn talking about his work with Cambodian Living Arts.

Throughout the month, our campaign activities highlighted our scholarship students, their talents, their motivation and achievements and received a great response from you, our Global Giving supporters.

Besides the photos and messages posted on Facebook, this video of our dancing student Borey performing the Monkey Dance to his scholarship peers also impressed donors and followers.

A passionate supporter and major donor to our scholarship program provided the Cambodian Arts Launch Pad with an inspiring testimonial explaining what motivates her to keep on giving to the program.

‘[…] The need in Cambodia is great and the young people of the country are so deserving.  Those who wish to pursue the arts need the financial assistance.  A gift of $1,200, which provides for a year-long scholarship, can not only change the life of the individual, but an entire family.  Unfortunately, in the U.S. and many other places, this amount would barely make a dent.  I do give to local and national organizations, but truly feel the impact of the contributions to Cambodian Living Arts.

A new generation of artists is taking shape and Cambodia is reclaiming its heritage.’

Through the Cambodian Living Arts Launch Pad campaign and thanks to everyone’s support we raised $2,632 for our scholarship program.

Old and new scholarship students

In July and August, four new talented students were selected to become part of the scholarship program, while 21 existing students have had their scholarships renewed so they can continue their studies for another year.

The new scholarship year was launched in September with a performance presented by all 25 scholarship students. It was a joyful event showing solidarity and great teamwork between the new and the existing scholarship students as they staged their first joint production.

A successful scholarship year

In September, at the end of our 2015 program year we were pleased to reflect and debrief on the many improvements we made in the program. Monthly meetings of the scholarship students were given a more engaging format with skills-sharing-performances, creative joint projects, soft-skill trainings and a good combination of exchange, learning, and fun activities. We are happy to say that the funded students even started becoming active beyond the scholarship program, many of them participating in projects such as fundraising, arts teaching and environment protection, initiated not only by Cambodian Living Arts but also other organizations in Cambodia.

We also improved the scholarship program by engaging one more important party: The students’ families. In September, we invited all scholarship students and their parents to a presentation on the program and the ideas behind it, giving parents an in depth understanding of the program and greater appreciation for their children’s arts education.

New program year, new aspirations and challenges

In the first quarter of the new program year, starting this month, the students will be given a range of trainings on soft and working skills. With supervision and funding from us they will also be organizing and facilitating an exchange event with professionals from the arts sector as well as social entrepreneurs.                                                 

For the new program year, we are planning to initiate an Alumni Network to involve former scholarship students in the current program, to allow them to share experiences, and to connect current scholarship students deeper with the arts society in Cambodia and in the wider world. Following requests from the students, we are also planning to establish new partnerships with English language and arts institutions by the end of the next program year.

The scholarship students are continuously developing their skills. No matter how talented they are, they all keep striving to improve, to learn more, and to contribute to a society that enjoys and appreciates the arts.

We thank you, our Global Giving donors, for your generous support which has enabled a generation of young artists to start realizing their dreams and to help Cambodia regain its arts and culture. There are many plans, tasks and professional challenges still awaiting the scholarship students in current and future program years. The donations made through you, our Global Giving family, will spur on their personal development and will bring Cambodian Living Arts closer to realizing our vision of societal transformation through the arts.