Season of Cambodia has been in the works for over four years.
Image from seasonofcambodia.com
Here’s a celebration you won’t want to miss: the “Season of Cambodia” festival that’s been four years in the making. Beginning in April, New York City will host over 125 Cambodian artists for the festival, which is dedicated to the celebration of Cambodian arts, culture, and humanities.
“Distinctive works form master and emerging artists and scholars—in ritual, music, visual arts, performance, dance, shadow puppetry, film, and academic forums—will be presented by 30 of New York’s most renowned arts and educational institutions, marking an unprecedented city-wide partnership initiative to celebrate one of the world’s most vibrant and evocative cultures,” reads the Season of Cambodia website.
Season of Cambodia brings over 125 Cambodian artists to NYC’s finest venues.
Image from seasonofcambodia.com
The festival is particularly meaningful to Cambodians because it celebrates a revival of artistry in the country just one generation after the Khmer Regime (1975-1979), when “nearly 90% of the artists and intellectuals were tragically eliminated in an effort to devastate a flourishing artistic community.”
Cambodian Living Arts is the non-profit organization that gave life to Season of Cambodia. The organization once sought to preserve Cambodian arts even as they were being snuffed out, but today they are helping to propel the arts movement forward with initiatives like this festival.
Season of Cambodia celebrates music, ritual, visual arts, performance, dance, shadow puppetry, film, and academic forums.
Image from nyc-arts.org
“This is a moment that can make Cambodians proud of their culture,” said the communications director for Season of Cambodia, Vanna Sann. “And also to be inspiring to the next generation, who can look at this and say that this is what I want to have and be a part of in the future.”
The festival will feature music, dance, ritual & theatre, visual art, film, and humanities. Venues include prominent locations like the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), the Bronx Museum of Art, Columbia University, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and many more. Tickets can be purchased for specific events at each venue.