Culture Venture has been selected by Living Arts International to develop a five year plan for the period 2021 to 2025.
Living Arts International (LAI) was formed to coordinate and strengthen the work of Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) and to create a platform for LAI’s international programs, including regional work via Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH). All members of the Living Arts International family share a core belief that arts are at the heart of a vital society.
Cambodian Living Arts was founded in 1998 by genocide survivor and musician Arn CHORN-POND. For a decade, CLA focused on endangered performing art forms and rituals. As 90% of Cambodia’s artists did not survive the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodia’s artistic heritage was in danger of being lost forever.
Over the last 20 years, both Cambodia and the arts scene have developed rapidly and CLA has evolved its work. It has focused on helping talented people to build and develop careers in the arts, through scholarships, fellowships, and support to troupes and individuals.
Looking towards the future CLA aims to promote creativity and innovation in the arts sector, and to build links with its neighbours in the Greater Mekong region and further afield in Asia.
Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH) was set up to offer personal and professional development opportunities for creative cultural practitioners in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand and to build sustainable networks around Asia. Programmes include workshops, exchange, training and networking, and involves participants and practitioners from Taiwan, as well as other South-East Asian countries on particular programs.
MCH serves people who are working at the intersection of arts and society. It aims to support creative practitioners who are already established in their own contexts and are ready to widen their networks and their impact by developing regional projects and collaboration. One of the first projects of Mekong Cultural Hub was the Mekong Mapping, to learn more about the situation of cultural practitioners in the region and to develop a strong foundation for a network.