This is the first report from Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) and deals with the Cambodian evictions from the land grab that has effected the students and the masters.
Presented by Arn Chorn-Pond. These reports were filmed, edited and completed by the students in cambodia. The DVD was then flown from Cambodia to the USA so it could be uploaded to sites.
Approximately ninety percent of Cambodia’s performing artists died during the Khmer Rouge regime, a devastating blow to all of Cambodia’s oral traditions. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, this cultural tragedy was compounded by two subsequent decades of economic hardship, when very few of the surviving master musicians could make a living performing or teaching.
Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) was founded eight years ago by Arn Chorn-Pond, a Cambodian-American refugee who was featured in the Emmy-nominated movie, The Flute Player. Originally called the Cambodian Masters Performing Project (CMPP), Arn founded this organization when he first returned to Cambodia in order to support the music teachers who helped him survive the horrors of the Khmer Rouge.
CLA’s four core programs—teaching, performing, recording, and new commissions—support 16 master musicians and nearly 300 students and assistant teachers to develop skills and relationships that will enable them to generate income and develop as leaders, while also helping to preserve and celebrate their heritage.
CLA works with the belief that supporting arts education is a way for people to grow and develop and heal from the traumas and hardships of both the past and the present, not only because knowing the traditional arts keeps younger generations connected to their heritage and the elders in their community, but because through the mentoring and guidance process, the students and masters build their confidence, are able to exercise leadership skills, and nurture hopes for the future.
Three Sixty Records is working with Cambodian Living Arts (A project of World Education) to release the music from this program globally with 100% of all proceeds going back to CLA.
