Changing Lives through the Arts

 

Phare Ponleu Selpak – meaning the Brightness of the Arts – is a non-profit arts and circus school located in Battambang, Cambodia that empowers children, youth, and communities through artistic, educational, and social support programs.

students enrolled annually

invested yearly in education and the community

%

of graduates in jobs

What we do

Over 1,000 students are empowered every year through our schools and programs in performing, visual, and applied arts. Both leisure classes for children and vocational training for young adults develop their creativity, communication, and concentration skills, and give them access to a sustainable artistic career while preserving and promoting Cambodian arts and culture.

Support us

Help us spread a passion for the arts across Cambodia. We believe that all children, regardless of their background, deserve to have access to the healing powers of the arts. Our artistic training provides art therapy as well as professional skills that lead to lasting employment. Your donation directly supports these programs.

Come see a circus show!

Phare Circus Schedule of March

Circus shows

Experience a circus show by our talented students. Shows take place on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays starting at 7 p.m. Buy your tickets online or on campus!

Visit the campus

Mornings and afternoons, Monday to Friday, we welcome you on guided tours of our vibrant campus. Book your visit today!

Workshops & Events

We offer workshops and events for tourists and businesses alike. Spend a day studying art, dance, circus or music with our artists and performers, or host your next meeting or team building seminar at our lush and atmospheric campus.

Sponsor a Child

 

When you join our child sponsorship program, your monthly gift gives our most at-risk students the aid and support they need to stay in school and pursue their passions.

Volunteer with Us

 

We welcome committed and passionate volunteers who have specific expertise or experience which fills a current need. Those needs change over time, but some examples of skills often needed are in social media, communications, IT, lighting, sound design, merchandising, and customer service.

Job Openings

 

Do you believe in the power of the arts as a tool for human development and social change? If this is you, join our team! Check out our open positions here.

News & Stories

Tribute to Lokru Bandaul wrote by Kunthary, a supporter of Cambodian Arts

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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Check out our visual artists works created during the pandemic

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!

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Schools closed: Phare tries to keep the students, teachers, parents engaged

Schools closed: Phare tries to keep the students, teachers, parents engaged

This June 2021, the Cambodian Ministry of Education announced that all schools will remain closed and children will continue learning through online classes. For rural and less privileged communities, it still means a lot of active participation from teachers and parents to compensate for the lack of access to internet and digital devices, and the long term gap it is digging to reach back the standard education level all children are entitled to get.

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LOVE DOES NOT HURT: Phare is advocating for children rights and wellbeing

LOVE DOES NOT HURT: Phare is advocating for children rights and wellbeing

Phare is still taking an active role in the ‘Love Does Not Hurt Campaign’: a three-year advocacy campaign launched in 2020 to push for an end to Humiliating/Corporal Punishment and to promote Positive Discipline in the Southeast Asian Region. In May and June, our social support team conducted a new series of awareness sessions in 16 villages of Battambang Province, to which more than 330 persons attended. You might not be familiar with the concepts of Corporal Punishment and Positive Discipline? Read our article to know more!

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Guinness World Record: Phare artists performed 24h

Guinness World Record: Phare artists performed 24h

History was made at 08.10AM on Monday 8th March, when no less than 90 Phare circus performers took a final bow after a continuous circus performance that lasted 24h, 10min and 30sec in a stunningly ambitious Guinness World Record attempt in the category of Longest Circus Show.

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Keeping our visual art students’ vocations alive thanks to FinDac & Tribe Gallery  

Keeping our visual art students’ vocations alive thanks to FinDac & Tribe Gallery  

Those who have visited our campus after fall 2019 must remember the iconic «Anapyabal» mural on our circus building, painted by the world-famous Irish urban artist FinDac. After his visit to  Cambodia and Phare, he made limited edition prints of Anapyabal for Cambodia sold through our partner Tribe Gallery and another one for the international audience. 100% of profits have been donated towards Phare Visual and Applied Arts School students’ scholarship fund. 

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« Voice of older people » is making its way across Western Cambodia

« Voice of older people » is making its way across Western Cambodia

Along with our main programs targeting the youth, we continue to develop greater community outreach projects with « Voice of older people », which aims to use the arts as an innovative tool to raise awareness in the community about the condition and challenges of the elderly women, and notably the disabled. 

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Save the Date: Online Screening of « Cirque du Cambodia »

Save the Date: Online Screening of « Cirque du Cambodia »

Cirque du Cambodia is a documentary film showcasing the success story of Phare alumni Dina and Sopha. Starting on UN World Children’s Day, a special online benefit screening will be organized to raise money for our school and inspire people to help changing other Cambodian children’s lives through the arts!

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Read more about what’s happening at Phare Ponleu Selpak on our blog and news pages.