The second annual “Murals for Cambodia” music and art festival opened with a vernissage, talks and musical performances at the Factory in Phnom Penh this weekend.
The art festival highlights mural painting and hip hop music performances created by the Murals for Cambodia artists’ collective.
Wildlife Alliance (WA) collaborated with Murals for Cambodia who visited Chi-Phat in Koh Kong province last week to spread vibrant colours all around the community.
Suwanna Gauntlett, CEO of Wildlife Alliance (WA), said last week that the Music and Art festival inspires people to love wildlife and forests, and the bounty of nature found in Chi Phat community.
“We have painted attractive pictures and images of people and animals to inspire people to love nature,” she said.
She added that WA chose the Chi Phat community to cooperate with Murals for Cambodia because there are 22 natural water sources there which supply farms for 3,000 people in Koh Kong and Pursat provinces.
Artist Fonki is founder and curator of FT Gallery at the Factory in Phnom Penh.
He has joined with WA to transform the walls of Chi Phat Primary School into a captivating canvas of murals. Their work serves as a harmonious bridge between communities and cultivates a profound appreciation for Cambodia’s remarkable biodiversity.
He said, “We’re going to create an open air museum that people can visit for free and see art that has impact on the new generation.”
“Our team will create a travel map. We will go to paint images in one village and then go on to other villages, and so create a route for anyone who wants to explore Cambodia and discover the importance of its natural resources,” he added.
Fonki’s partner is an artist from Nepal named Imagine.
She said, “We met each other and it was an instant connection in terms of being proud of our cultural heritage. We’re together working hard to do our paintings with Chi Phat community.”
FT Gallery is hosting 13 artists from around the globe and Cambodia. The murals and exhibition celebrates three years of FT Gallery’s ongoing commitment to showcase a fusion of “Khmer Renaissance art” along with global artists who all come from a street art and graffiti background.
The exhibition showcases a wide spectrum of talented artists, including graffiti legend Zek One, a pioneer of the Canadian mural and graffiti scene, along with Imagine a contemporary artist who paints larger-than-life murals of Nepali Sanskrit, as well as the comeback of Khmer prodigy Ranon Phal who is reinventing Kbach Khmer ornaments with detailed paintings – to name a few.
FT gallery is located at the Factory in Phnom Penh and has become dynamic and thriving platform for exchanges between local and international artists for the last three years.