by Eliot Witherspoon | May 16, 2024
This past academic year, Phare Ponleu Selpak received two student volunteers from the United States. They have spent around 7 months at Phare and will be leaving soon to start their first year of university. As a farewell, we asked a few questions about their...
by CHIERN Piseth Samphallyka | May 9, 2024
It is always a joy to get to interview Vanthan, the music alumni from the Performing Arts School of Phare Ponleu Selpak Vanthan is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. The well-known singer of “Khmer Gentleman” at Baramey...
by Soree KIM | May 2, 2024
This past year, Phare Ponleu Selpak received two student volunteers from the United States. They have spent around seven months at Phare and will be leaving soon to start their first year of university. As a farewell, we asked a few questions about their internship...
by CHAN Rattanakoudom | Feb 29, 2024
The Social Support program of Phare Ponleu Selpak is dedicated to improving the living standard of Cambodian children and their families in the community while engaging them in safeguarding children’s rights and well-being. This is made possible by the Social...
by Osman KHAWAJA | Feb 22, 2024
Grab a slice of birthday cake and prepare the fireworks, because it’s time to celebrate. This year, 2024, is the 30th anniversary of Phare Ponleu Selpak! The idea for Phare began in 1986 when French humanitarian Véronique Decrop worked as a drawing teacher in the...
by CHIERN Piseth Samphallyka | Feb 15, 2024
At Phare Ponleu Selpak, we are fortunate to work with volunteers and interns from across Cambodia and around the world. It’s one of the best parts of being on our team – you get to form friendships and meet people from everywhere! This week we’re proud to interview...
by Eliot Witherspoon | Feb 1, 2024
Arts are at the center of everything we do at Phare Ponleu Selpak. Phare’s mission, vision, values – and even its name – are all based on the idea that creativity and artistic expression are inherently valuable. We also believe that the visual and performing arts...
by CHAN Rattanakoudom | Dec 6, 2023
We believe that all children – regardless of their background – deserve to have access to education and to the healing powers of the arts. By sponsoring a child at Phare Ponleu Selpak, you help us provide art programs and teach professional skills that lead to lasting...
by CHAN Rattanakoudom | Nov 8, 2023
If you’re ever traveling to Battambang in October, you might hear people talking about the water festival – or you might find yourself caught in the middle of it unknowingly if you’re down by the Sangker River and surrounded by racing boats and cheering crowds. ...
by Eliot Witherspoon | Nov 1, 2023
Did you know that Phare Ponleu Selpak has a TikTok account? Yep, you’ve been missing out this whole time! You might have already seen us on your “For You” page, but in case you haven’t, our new TikTok channel has got everything from interviews to “day in the life”...
by Emma Perry | Oct 19, 2023
The campus of Phare Ponleu Selpak is home to volunteers from Cambodia and all around the world. This week we’re proud to interview KIM Eunkyoo from South Korea who’s helping change lives through the arts across a few different subjects. Across the table, KIM Eunkyoo...
by CHIERN Piseth Samphallyka | Oct 5, 2023
LY Vanthan – better known today as just “Vanthan” – is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. You probably know him as the musician behind “Khmer Gentleman,” but did you know that Vanthan is also a graduate of Phare Ponleu Selpak? ...
by CHIERN Piseth Samphallyka | Aug 22, 2023
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...
by PPS Editor | Jan 2, 2023
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...
by PPS Editor | Nov 22, 2022
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...
by PPS Editor | Apr 5, 2022
How we are incorporating the arts into everything we do. And why it matters! Here at Phare Ponleu Selpak, we believe strongly in the power of the arts to change lives. And science is on our side! Many studies in Asia and around the world show that the arts have...
by PPS Editor | Aug 17, 2021
After the most difficult year in our history, including the closure of our circuses with disastrous impact on funding, we have triumphed against the odds to win four gold awards at the Stevie International Business Awards (IBAs)! Phare Ponleu Selpak has just been...
by PPS Editor | Jul 13, 2021
This June 2021, the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport announced that all schools will remain closed and children will continue learning through online classes due to the pandemic. For rural and less privileged communities in Battambang, it still means a...
by PPS Editor | Mar 26, 2021
This pandemic has brought the inequality and inequity in education to the forefront. The students we serve suffered greatly with the school closures as most of them cannot afford computers and access to internet at home to continue with online classes like their...
by PPS Editor | Mar 18, 2021
History was made at 08.10 am on Monday 8 March in Battambang, Cambodia when no less than 90 circus performers from Phare Ponleu Selpak took a final bow after a continuous circus performance that lasted 24h, 10min, and 30sec in a stunningly ambitious Guinness World...
by PPS Editor | Oct 2, 2020
These are strange times we are living in. Behind the scenes of Phare Ponleu Selpak are slices of life stories, with their ups and downs, but mostly carrying with them the hope of brighter days to come. Listen to Phare voices, round #2! “I knew about Phare since...
by PPS Editor | May 4, 2020
Like many content creators around the world, who are responding to the COVID-19 crisis online with engaging public health videos, Minor Act has teamed up with us to create a very unique Cambodian creative response: “Wash Ya Handz!!!”. The music video, bursting with...
by PPS Editor | Aug 13, 2019
In 2014, a section of the old music school fell apart, and for safety reasons the whole building had to be destroyed. Since they don’t have any dedicated space to learn and create, our young musicians find themselves forced to train and perform anywhere they can find...
by PPS Editor | Mar 31, 2017
For nearly 25 years, Phare Ponleu Selpak has been using the arts to transform the lives of children in Battambang, Cambodia. Originally, we helped refugee children cope with trauma through drawing and arts education. Over the years, we added more arts, including...
by PPS Editor | Oct 19, 2016
The lights dim and the room falls silent. A soft light issues from behind a white screen as the drums begin to play. Suddenly, shapes appear dancing across the screen. A narrator’s voice emerges telling a tale of a monkey, Hanuman, trying to rescue his wife, Sita. If...