Catch up on everything that’s happening at Phare Ponleu Selpak we work to change lives through the arts in Battambang, Cambodia.
Meet the Volunteers of Phare Ponleu Selpak: Juliette DELORON, Graphic Designer [Video]
Changing lives through the arts requires the work of extraordinary teachers, staff, and volunteers from across Cambodia and all around the world. One volunteer we’re proud to have worked with is Juliette DELORON from Strasbourg, France. Juliette has been working...
Podcast: Hope of Lokru Srey Bandaul, the Smiling Hero
Earlier this month, on 4 August 2023, was the commemoration of two years since the passing of Lokru Srey Bandaul, one of the beloved teachers and co-founders of Phare Ponleu Selpak. We remember the great meaning, purpose, and vision he gave to the Phare Ponleu Selpak...
In Memory of Lokru Srey Bandaul: Inaugurating a New Reflection Garden at Phare Ponleu Selpak
Since 2021, every year in early August the Phare Ponleu Selpak community grieves the loss of one of our co-founders, Lokru SREY Bandaul. On August 4, 2023, we celebrated the memory of Bandaul who passed away two years ago from COVID-19, with the inauguration of a new...
UNESCO: Understanding Shared Cultural Heritage in the Mekong Region [Video]
What is cultural heritage? And what does it mean (or not mean) to share it with other overlapping ethnicities and cultures in the region? If you didn’t attend the S’Art Urban Arts Festival in June 2023 held here in Battambang, you might have missed out on the panel...
How Does My Circus Show Ticket Support Phare Ponleu Selpak?
When you purchase a ticket to the Phare Battambang Circus, did you know you’re supporting an entire community? It’s true. The funds from your ticket impact a wide variety of people and programs throughout Battambang Cambodia. But First… Before we dive into specifics,...
A Glimpse into the Life Skills Workshops at Phare Ponleu Selpak
You might know about Phare Ponleu Selpak for our circus shows in Battambang or for the arts education we offer to children, youth, and young adults in the community, but did you know we also offer our students a wide range of social support programs? One of those...
Smashing Success: The S’Art Festival Brought Urban Arts to Life in Battambang in 2023
That’s a wrap! The 2023 edition of the S’Art Urban Arts Festival was a remarkable success. From 12 to 17 June, the biennial S’Art Festival drew in over 7700 attendees across a wide range of activities and who hailed from around Cambodia and across Asia. After the...
Join Us at the S’Art Urban Arts Festival 2023!
The S’Art Urban Arts Festival is back! Join us on the streets of Battambang from 12 to 17 June 2023 for this biennial festival that introduces the public to urban art forms like hip-hop music and dance, as well as graffiti and mural painting. After cancelling the 2021...
A Year Gone by: Highlights from 2022 at Phare Ponleu Selpak
2022 has come to a close, and it is with both pride and gratitude that we look back on all the things we have achieved in this first full post-lockdown year. The highlights are too many to count, but here – in words and in pictures – is our attempt. Guinness World...
Arts Integration in Early Education: How We Trained Battambang Public Schools’ Kindergarten Teachers
Through a series of workshops in the fall, we’ve focused intensely on training Battambang’s public school kindergarten teachers on integrating arts in the education of young children. The first workshop took place back in September, where we hosted kindergarten...
Fight for Light: Virtual Fundraising Gala for Phare Ponleu Selpak
December 18th marked a day we had been looking forward to for a very long time. After months of hard work, we were able to present our virtual fundraising gala "Fight for Light," a one-of-a-kind musical circus adventure and multimedia love story about Phare Ponleu...
How Phare Ponleu Selpak Won the Guinness World Record for Longest Circus Performance
Cambodian non-profit Phare Ponleu Selpak completed an incredible journey that started on 7 March 2021, when it performed a 24-hour circus in a last-ditch effort to raise funds to survive the pandemic and set a Guinness World Record. Phare was finally able to announce...
A Recap of the “Love Does Not Hurt” Mini Arts Festival
Celebrating 3 Years of the Love Does Not Hurt Campaign On Friday 14 October, we held a Mini Arts Festival on our campus called "Today’s Tomorrow," wrapping up all the lessons learned during the past three years of implementing the LDNH project. Love Does Not Hurt was...
Meet Karona, the First Recipient of the Srey Bandaul Art Development Fund
The story of first recipient of the Srey Bandaul Art Development Fund.
Social Support Workshop: Be Like Bamboo, Bend But Don’t Break
As societies evolve, the difficulties that young people face – and the social support they need – change accordingly. For example, today's youth in Cambodia have to deal with a number of challenges, including: Scholastic and peer pressure Family breakdowns or abuse...
Promoting School Nutrition & Gardening at Phare Ponleu Selpak
Current situation Malnutrition still impacts many children in Cambodia. Rice, some meat and vegetables is in their diet but seldom fruit and dairy products, because they are not affordable by vulnerable households. Moreover, Cambodians consume excessive amount of...
Phare Ponleu Selpak Creates a Mobile Community Library
Out of the Tini Tinou International Circus Festival spotlight, which took everyone’s attention during the months of May and June, our education team was busy launching the community mobile library. Books have always played a significant role at Phare, engaging many...
Phare Ponleu Selpak Hosts Roundtable on Positive Discipline
On 23 March 2022 Phare Ponleu Selpak hosted a roundtable discussion on child protection and the promotion of positive discipline for children under the topic, “How to Apply Positive Discipline at School”, with seven guest speakers, including Mr. Chhun Ramy, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) and Mr. Teng Visal the Deputy Director of the Provincial Office of Education (PoE) in Battambang and representative of a few public schools. Student representatives participated in the audience as well.
Arts Integration in Phare Kindergarten & Child Development Center
Here at Phare Ponleu Selpak, we believe strongly in the power of the arts to change lives. And science is on our side!
Check out our visual artists works created during the pandemic
It’s been more than a year our visual arts students have been on and off school following the Government’s protocol as the pandemic spread over the Country. We had shown you back then how the first home confinement had provided Phare artists with time to reflect on this huge wave affecting us all. While Cambodia is facing a new outbreak, they have been expressing their insights and their appeal to pay closer attention to protect ourselves and others. Have a look at their latest works!
Tribute to Lokru Bandaul wrote by Kunthary, a supporter of Cambodian Arts
“My family’s connection to Phare, as I came to learn, dates back to the 1980’s when my father, as a Member of the Executive Committee of one of the resistance groups at the Thai-Cambodian border, had an oversight responsibility of the civilian affairs of all the refugee camps the group was overseeing, of which Site 2 – where Phare founders grew up and started drawing classes – was part of.”
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