Ethno workshops are international celebrations of music, culture and heritage. For 1 week, young musicians from around the world convene and teach each other music and songs from their hearts and homes. The first-ever Ethno Cambodia will bring young people from around the world with a passion for sharing traditional music to Siem Reap. It will focus especially on bringing together musicians from the Mekong region, where many young artists lack opportunities for cultural exchange and mobility.
Exchanging skills, music, and experiences is crucial for young artists. Due to funding constraints, language barriers, and more, artists in Cambodia and the Mekong region often lack this opportunity. Despite this, there are many young musicians passionate about preserving, continuing and transmitting the sometimes endangered traditional musical forms from their cultures. How can these global artists learn from one another, exchange and become advocates for cultural diversity and inclusion?
30 artists from the Mekong region and beyond will learn, teach, and live together. They will improve their musical skills through sharing techniques and repertoire, and gain experience of new styles and ensembles. At the same time, they will gain a deep understanding of their own and each other's cultures, and expand their horizons as musicians and as people. Through sharing and experimenting, Ethno stimulates creativity, promotes musical and cultural sensitivity, and encourages diversity.
For many young musicians, Ethno workshops are stepping stones, elevating their musical and personal aspirations, building long-lasting friendships, and setting in motion future cross-cultural artistic projects and collaborations. We hope that Ethno Cambodia will help to build a strong community of musicians in Cambodia, the Mekong Region and beyond, which respects diversity of cultures, celebrates and preserves intangible cultural heritage, and passes on these values in their own communities.
