From the Pantheon of Masterpieces [-Khmer Royal Ballet]

CAMBODIA: ROYAL BALLET Performers would traditionally accompany royal ceremonies and observances. (Getty Images)

September 23, 2008
The New York Times

If the United Nations cultural agency Unesco approves a proposal from France’s president, French food would join these “masterpieces” on the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage:

CAMBODIA: ROYAL BALLET Renowned for their graceful hand gestures and stunning costumes, performers would traditionally accompany royal ceremonies and observances. This art form, which narrowly escaped annihilation in the 1970s, is cherished by many Cambodians.

LATVIA, LITHUANIA AND ESTONIA: BALTIC SONG AND DANCE CELEBRATIONS Large festivals are held for several days every fifth year in Estonia and Latvia and every fourth year in Lithuania. As many as 40,000 singers and dancers assemble, mostly from amateur groups.

MEXICO: DAY OF THE DEAD This celebration commemorates the return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones each year at the end of October and the beginning of November. Families lay flower petals, candles and offerings on a path from the cemetery to their homes.

MOZAMBIQUE: CHOPI TIMBILA Chopi orchestras consist of wooden xylophones, called timbila, made from the highly resonant wood of the slow-growing sneezewort tree.

VANUATU SAND DRAWINGS Multifunctional “writing,” these drawings are produced directly on the ground. Using one finger, the drawer traces a continuous meandering line on an imagined grid to produce a graceful, often symmetrical, composition of geometric patterns.

ZIMBABWE: THE MBENDE JERUSAREMA DANCE A dance characterized by acrobatic and sensual movements by women and men, driven by a polyrhythmic drummer accompanied by men playing woodblock clappers and by women clapping hands, yodeling and blowing whistles.

Cambodia develops cultural heritage and eco-tourism

Mar 24, 2008
By Mohan Gunti

PHNOM PEHN, Cambodia (eTN) - In recent years, the government of Cambodia has given priority to the development of the country’s tourism industry, focusing on cultural and eco-tourism in order to promote the advancement of national economy and rapid poverty alleviation.

Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said that tourism plays a significant role in generating employment opportunities and expanding national economic base through its linkages with the agricultural, industrial and service sectors. The minister pointed out that Cambodia's tourism sector is the key to the country's development, thus helping economic development and poverty alleviation.

In response to the government's decision, on March 16, 2008, the Ministry of Tourism, Preah Vihear National Authority, APSARA Authority and other tourism industry members conducted a site visit Prasat Preah Vihear, an eleventh century monument in Preah Vihear province, northern Cambodia that is revered as one of the greatest Khmer temples of all times.

The Cambodian government has plans to develop the Preah Vihear temple into a cultural tourism destination in an effort to reach the goal of attracting 3 million tourists by 2010.

Minister Khon, Hang Soth, general director of the Preah Vihear National Authority, in a joint statement said that roads and infrastructure should be developed first so as to attract tourists.

CATA president Ho Vandy also stressed the same as an important factor to develop the tourism in the northern region.

Authorities have already outlined a plan to develop cultural and eco-tourism since Cambodia abounds with enormous potential in cultural and natural heritage, and most of which have not yet been developed.

Tourism Minister Khon said that the tourism ministry has accelerated its efforts in order to make northern cultural tourist attractions, adding that in the mean time, the ministry also has done its best to set up other cultural sites for tourism development.

To promote the development of cultural and eco-tourism the Ministry of Tourism, along with relevant ministries, authorities and international community, has made efforts to improve the efficiency of administration in tour operations and services, as well as to train human resources.

In recent years, the government allocated more financial budget for rehabilitation of roads in order to facilitate tourists.

Depending on its enriched cultural and natural resources, Cambodian authorities are determined to convert the country into the most preferred cultural and eco-tourist destination in the region.

Preah Vihear Temple is located in a pleasant environment with an attractive countryside slightly east of the mid section of the Dongrek Mountains. It is perched on the edge of a giant cliff, about 525 meters above sea level in Preah Vihear Province, Northern part of Cambodia. It is also situated close to the Cambodia-Thai border Sisaket province.

The Preah Vihear temple was built from year 900 to 1150. Preah Vihear, which means sacred monastery in Khmer, was built over a span of about 300 years, starting in the 9th century.

The Cambodian government has proposed the sacred Hindu Temple Preah Vihear to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to officially list as World Heritage site because of its outstanding historical, cultural and universal value.

Singer: Cambodian Art Heritage Remains Strong

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
20 February 2008

Click here to listen to Sok Khemara reports in Khmer

Cambodia's artists should remember the heritage of the country's past, in order to maintain self identity, culture and originality, a well-known singer said Monday.

"Some of them do not know about it," Ieng Sithul, president of the Khmer Artist Association. "We have our own culture and arts from our ancestors, who left it for us."

Artists are criticized in Cambodia for the words they use, the imitation of foreign songs and sometimes dressing provocatively.

Ieng Sithul, a well-known singer, said on "Hello VOA" Monday his association worked to reform artistic performances, though he admitted that the "individual or public [artist] is hard to control."

In the near future, he said, he hoped to contact foreign embassies and remind them to bring artists into the country through the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the Khmer Artists Association.