Art Festival To Showcase Renewed Classics

Cambodian Living Arts established a teaching program in 1999, encouraging surviving master musicians and performance artists to resume work with young apprentices.

The festival will allow some of these apprentices to showcase work they have practiced for years.

Kong Boran, a student of “chapei dang weng,” a musical oral tradition, said he learned from his father, Kong Nay, for seven years at the organization. The tradition includes melodies that are passed down from one generation to the next, though its lyrics are often newly composed or even improvised on the spot.

Lun Sophanith, student of the “khsae diew” instrument, learned from his grandfather, Sok Duch, for four years. Images of the soothing instrument, made partly from a gourd, can be found on the walls of Cambodian temples dating back to the 10th Century. It was popular with modern kings and leaders, who requested solo performances of the instrument to help them relax.

Sok Duch may be the last living master of the rare instrument, but he now teaches young apprentices. Two of them may become masters.

Much of Cambodia’s traditional culture was nearly silenced by the Khmer Rouge, which killed up to 90 percent of the country’s performers. The traditional cultures were passed down orally from teachers to students, so many skills were not recorded in writing.

“Each surviving performer is a living cultural treasure with a unique body of skills and knowledge to pass on,” Song Seng said. “A living library of Cambodia’s cultural legacy.”

Source: www.kimyi.info

New film delves into history and practice of bokator

A still image from Daniel Perrier’s film Une Breve Histoire du Boxkator shows students in training at the Bokator Academy of Phnom Penh.

A DOCUMENTARY film on the ancient Khmer martial art bokator, formally known as labokator, will be screened tonight at the French Cultural Centre (CCF) in Phnom Penh.

The 50-minute film, titled Une Breve Histoire du Boxkator (A Brief History of Bokator), was directed by Daniel Perrier, a French artist and instructor at the School of Fine Arts in Nantes.

Perrier shot footage for the documentary during a previous visit to Phnom Penh, and now he is back for an extended stay to take part in a series of art projects at CCF.

The artist said he became interested in bokator after he met San Kimsean, a coach of the martial art, in August 2008. The more Perrier learned about bokator from the coach, the more intrigued he became.

“When I came to Cambodia I met San Kimsean by chance, and as we talked he told me about labokator,” Perrier said. “I knew about martial arts like kung fu and judo, but now I have learned about labokator. I think it is not only a martial art, but also the art of self-defence with real tactics.”

According to oral tradition, bokator dates back to the ninth century and was used to fight enemies on the battlefield. Legends say the technique was created by Khmer farmers who lived near the forest and had to learn to fight wild animals with weapons and bare hands – thus the various bokator techniques that mimic the movements of animals such as tigers, horses and crocodiles. ( Please read more )

Dancing is Pupular During Khmer New Year in Cambodia

Do you like dancing? If your answer is yes then Khmer New Year is the best time for you to enjoy dancing with people old and new friends. In the village or district where people gathering you can see they setup the music with dancing space to welcome people to dance especially in the early of the night like from 6pm to 10pm.

During this time if you walk around near by your living area you can see all these activities. In Phnom Penh during Khmer New Year people also set up the dancing music infront of their house or at the corner of the street where space is convenience for them to dance.

Companies who produce music also make a good business before and during Khmer New Year. Usually, during this month they produce many songs for dancing because they know people like dancing in this season. You can also buy the music for cheaper price…more discount during Khmer New Year season.

I like to see people dance but sorry I don’t know how to dance and I don’t dance like monkey haha. Hope you enjoy your time and dancing. Find the nearest place to enjoy your time. Have fun!!!

Source : Khmer New Year.

Pop singer files court complaint

Source : www.Kimyi.info

CELEBRITY songstress Sok Pisey has filed a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Police after a pornographic video that features her name in its titles spread throughout the Kingdom.

Sok Pisey, a favourite pop star among Cambodian youths, said the video’s producers had used her name without authorisation, adding that the actress in the video bore no resemblance to her.

“I would never get involved in such an immoral endeavour. Out of 100 percent, the actress in the video looks only 1 or 2 percent like me,” Sok Pisey said Thursday.

The singer added that she had submitted her complaint with the anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection bureau of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police on Monday, and was seeking US$50,000 in compensation from the “anonymous, ignorant” filmmakers responsible for the video.

Keo Thea, head of the anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection bureau, said Thursday that his staff was looking into the case, but had not yet determined the identities of those involved. ( Please read more )

Yeak Loam musicians perform in Phnom Penh

Source : Photo from Kimyi website.

Yeak Loam Lake in Rattanakiri province is a place of eerie beauty: Nestled in the circular crater of an extinct volcano, the water is crystal-clear and surrounded by lush, semi-deciduous forestland.

Around the lake are five villages – Lapoe, Lon, Sil, Chree and Phnom – that are home to the Tampuen, a minority group who hold animistic beliefs and who consider the lake and forests to be inhabited by powerful spirits.

The area’s beauty has proven to be a blessing as well as a curse. In 2007, members of the Tampuen community formed the Yeak Loam Arts Group with the aim of preserving the region’s traditional music, dance and culture in the face of encroachments on indigenous lifestyles from outsiders seeking to buy up and develop land around the lake.

Group spokesperson Van Cae explained that the survival of Tampuen culture was dependent on the health of the lake and the forests that surround it.

“The forest is very important to us. If there is no forest, life will be very difficult for the villagers,” he said. “If they take the land and the lake, it will mean the loss of our culture, the loss of everything. That’s why we want people to understand our culture.” ( Please read more )

Bassac Children aim to preserve traditional arts

Photo by: Uy Nousereimony
The Children of Bassac perform at the National Museum in Phnom Penh on March 25.

AT the beginning of March the Children of Bassac traditional Khmer dance troupe closed out the two-week National Drama and Arts Festival with an invitation-only performance at the National Museum in Phnom Penh.

The troupe is now performing for the public at the same venue, with the second of two shows scheduled for tonight at 7pm. The shows serve as a preview to the weekly performance season in November and December.

The Children of Bassac troupe was formed in 2003 by traditional theatre singer Ieng Sithol under the name Cultural Economic Association for Orphans and Poor Children. He renamed the group earlier this year to remind people of its origins in the Bassac community in Phnom Penh where the performers – a company of dancers aged 16 to 21 – still live and rehearse.

Ieng Sithol said he founded the group to provide poor and street children with the opportunity to learn traditional Khmer music and dance. ( Please read more )

Cambodia’s lone man on the freestyle cycling scene

Photo by: Pha Lina
With a lone spectator looking on, cyclist Keo Chhomyung practices his freestyle tricks at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh.

VISIT the Olympic Stadium on any given Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and you will be treated to a rare sight in Cambodia: A 20-something Khmer wearing a helmet and shin guards practicing freestyle tricks on a seatless bicycle.

The cyclist, 26-year-old Keo Chhomyung, demonstrates an impressive repertoire of stylish street tricks, jumping and playing off the man-made features around the stadium, including curbs and concrete stairs. He can balance on a single wheel – front or back – for minutes at a time.

Such freestyle riding is a rarity in Cambodia. The first time Keo Chhomyung witnessed anyone doing bicycle tricks in the country was 2002, when he glimpsed a Chinese rider practicing freestyle in front of a crowd at Phnom Penh’s riverside.

“It was so attractive to watch, I immediately decided to start teaching myself how to ride like that,” said Keo Chhomyung, who works as an administrator at the University of Health Sciences. ( Please read more )

Forgotten form of theatre comes out of the shadows

Photo by: Pha Lina
Actors rehearse a sbek por performace of the traditional Cambodian tale Preah Tinavong and Neang Pov.

KHAM Sokneang grasps two wooden sticks attached to a cow hide that has been cut into the shape of a young man and painted in bright colours. He holds the hide against a black screen and shakes it while he rehearses his lines for his role as Preah Tinavong, a character in the traditional Cambodian tale Preah Tinavong and Neang Pov.

The rehearsal was for a performance at Chaktomuk Theatre as part of the National Drama and Arts Festival, held from February18 to March 1 to mark the lead-up to National Culture Day, which falls on March 3.

Although Kham Sokneang, 31, has practiced many classical art forms as a professional in the past 17 years, he said he had to dig deep and use all of his talents for the Preah Tinavong and Neang Pov performance, rendered in a type of Cambodian shadow theatre called sbek por (colourful skin).

“While we are speaking, we have to shake the hide to show that the hide is also talking,” Kham Sokneang says, explaining the difficulty. “When we bow down, we have to make the hide bow down, but we still keep talking.” ( Please read more )

Organic meat lovers set to go hungry in Reap

This could be your grill: Just follow the instructions below.

Bad news for carnivorous expatriates living in Siem Reap who like their food natural and unprocessed: First Modern Butcher Shop, the only retail outlet in town supplying organic meat to consumers, has shut down due to lack of patronage.

“There were actually a lot of Koreans coming, but we just didn’t have enough customers to sustain it,” owner Rasy Sim said of the shop, which had opened on January 3, 2008.

But the good news is Rasy Sim has vowed to open another retail outlet in the future, so Eurocentric Siem Reap residents will be able to get their paté and sausage fix.

And he’s still supplying wholesale organic fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry from his farms in Pouk commune to hotels, restaurants and markets around Siem Reap. His buyers include such big names as Le Meridien Angkor and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor. ( Please read more )

Villagers risk life and limb to tap sap from palms

Photo by: Roth Meas
A tapper uses a bamboo ladder to scale a palm tree near the village of Dorkrong in Kampong Chhang province.

Every morning Long Lonh wakes in the predawn darkness, washes his face and loads his bicycle with plastic containers. With his trusty knife hanging from his belt, he pedals slowly along the paved road from his house to a rice field where thousands of palm trees grow.

Despite the early hour, Long Lonh isn’t alone in the field. Other men have arrived before him, some climbing to the tops of the swaying trees, others walking from one trunk to the next carrying containers of sap they have already collected from the palms’ highest reaches.

Long Lonh parks his bicycle near one of the trees. He ties a plastic container to his belt and starts climbing, using a bamboo ladder that he has permanently tied to the trunk.

Once at the top of the tree, he removes a plastic container filled with sap that has collected overnight, and replaces it with the empty container he has brought with him. Then he descends to the safety of the ground. (Please read more )