Making Arts Accessible in Rural Areas of Cambodia
This article is the result of the research conducted by Tola SAY during the e-residency Virtual Crossovers, organised in April 2021 by ASEF and ENCACT, the European network for cultural management and policy. Tola worked closely with her mentors Carla Figueira and Musa Igrek to understand how arts can become more accessible to local communities in Cambodia. Here is what she discovered.
Chapei Master Kong Nai
Growing up in Pursat, in the western part of Cambodia, in the early 2000s, my daily life was accompanied by the songs of influential singers from the 1960s such as Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Sereysothea, and Pen Ran. These songs continue having deep power and meaning for Cambodians like myself in the present – especially because so many farmers, scholars, and artists, including the ones mentioned, were killed during the Democratic Kampuchea regime (1975-1979) known globally as the Khmer Rouge.
Virtual Crossovers: Meet our mentor | A conversation with Carla Figueira
Dr Carla Figueira was one of the mentors of Virtual Crossovers, an e-residency for arts journalists organised last month by culture360 in partnership with ENCACT. In this interview she talks about herself, her professional journey in the arts and why virtual exchanges are so vital in time of pandemic.
Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I am originally from Lisbon, Portugal. There I studied International Relations, specialising in Political and Cultural Relations. I started my career working for the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Lisbon in the beautiful Palácio Galveias, there I advised the Director and worked on funding of arts and cultural projects. As I developed my career, I eventually became responsible for operational and strategic management, and my last post at the City of Lisbon was Co-ordinator of the Fonoteca Municipal, the Municipal Sound Library. In what concerns, my ‘