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Sovanna Phum Art Association
(Performing Arts Ensemble and Theatre)
Sovanna Phum Art Association was established to provide Cambodian artists with space, time, and financial support for the creation and performance of dance, music, theatre, shadow puppetry, and circus arts. The Association also aims to contribute to the revival, preservation, and dissemination of Cambodian arts and culture to both local and international audiences.
Profile
Sovanna Phum (Golden Era), an independent Cambodian arts organization, was founded in 1994 by Delphine Kassem, a French citizen and former instructor in the Circus Department of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. The Association is now directed by shadow puppeteer Mann Kosal.
New work approaches, new themes
One of Sovanna Phum’s unique projects is the creation Lakhon Thmei, or “New Theatre.” New Theatre combines danced shadow puppet theatre with folk and classical dance, all-male masked dance and circus arts, incorporating an innovative style of recitation that differs from the recitation in traditional all-male masked dance and puppet theatre. New Theatres also takes an innovative approach to music and employs a range of Cambodian musical instruments from traditional theatrical and ritual ensembles.
Historically, danced shadow puppet theatre troupes in Cambodia have been known to perform only episodes from the Reamker, the Cambodian version of the Ramayana epic, but Sovanna Phum’s puppet theatre artists perform numerous stories, both old and new, including one related to the upheaval and genocide that occurred under the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
Educational Performances
At the request of international organizations, and non-governmental and governmental agencies, Sovanna Phum has developed new dance theatre performances for educational purposes, focusing on health, HIV/AIDS, the environment and human rights. They are also cooperating with the Ministry of the Environment and other NGOs to develop and perform new dance theatre pieces with a comic bent that highlight the benefits of raising chickens, pigs, and other animals without chemical growth substances.
About 200 artists are associated with Sovanna Phum; all receive compensation for their performances at the Association’s theatre. Sovanna Phum organizes public performances every Friday and Saturday night. Artists take turns creating, rehearsing, and performing. The Sovanna Phum Ensemble has toured to a number of countries, including England, Taiwan, and France, the U.S., Singapore, Sweden, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan, and engaged with visiting dancers from India, Indonesia, the U.S., Belgium, Canada, and elsewhere. The Association has its own shadow puppet workshop where they produce puppets to serve their performance needs and to sell to visitors. /San Phalla
Sovanna Phum Art Association
#159B, St. 99
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Phone: + 855 23 987 564 and 12 846 020
sp.communication@online.com.kh
Director: Mann Kosal
Sovanna Phum Art Association was established to provide Cambodian artists with space, time, and financial support for the creation and performance of dance, music, theatre, shadow puppetry, and circus arts. The Association also aims to contribute to the revival, preservation, and dissemination of Cambodian arts and culture to both local and international audiences.
Profile
Sovanna Phum (Golden Era), an independent Cambodian arts organization, was founded in 1994 by Delphine Kassem, a French citizen and former instructor in the Circus Department of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. The Association is now directed by shadow puppeteer Mann Kosal.
New work approaches, new themes
One of Sovanna Phum’s unique projects is the creation Lakhon Thmei, or “New Theatre.” New Theatre combines danced shadow puppet theatre with folk and classical dance, all-male masked dance and circus arts, incorporating an innovative style of recitation that differs from the recitation in traditional all-male masked dance and puppet theatre. New Theatres also takes an innovative approach to music and employs a range of Cambodian musical instruments from traditional theatrical and ritual ensembles.
Historically, danced shadow puppet theatre troupes in Cambodia have been known to perform only episodes from the Reamker, the Cambodian version of the Ramayana epic, but Sovanna Phum’s puppet theatre artists perform numerous stories, both old and new, including one related to the upheaval and genocide that occurred under the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
Educational Performances
At the request of international organizations, and non-governmental and governmental agencies, Sovanna Phum has developed new dance theatre performances for educational purposes, focusing on health, HIV/AIDS, the environment and human rights. They are also cooperating with the Ministry of the Environment and other NGOs to develop and perform new dance theatre pieces with a comic bent that highlight the benefits of raising chickens, pigs, and other animals without chemical growth substances.
About 200 artists are associated with Sovanna Phum; all receive compensation for their performances at the Association’s theatre. Sovanna Phum organizes public performances every Friday and Saturday night. Artists take turns creating, rehearsing, and performing. The Sovanna Phum Ensemble has toured to a number of countries, including England, Taiwan, and France, the U.S., Singapore, Sweden, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan, and engaged with visiting dancers from India, Indonesia, the U.S., Belgium, Canada, and elsewhere. The Association has its own shadow puppet workshop where they produce puppets to serve their performance needs and to sell to visitors. /San Phalla
Sovanna Phum Art Association
#159B, St. 99
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Phone: + 855 23 987 564 and 12 846 020
sp.communication@online.com.khDirector: Mann Kosal
