Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture Cambodia

Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture provides a forum for preservation and promotion of traditional and contemporary Cambodian arts and culture. Their storefront gallery and cultural centre in Phnom Penh stimulates exchange of ideas, promotes creative expression and encourages research through exhibitions, lectures, dance performances, film evenings, art classes and publications. Among the traditional arts that suffered under 20 years of communist rule and which have been reinstated by Reyum are classical Cambodian dance, music, mask making and Kbach, a unique ornamental language. The Institute offers space for mounting changing exhibitions, a rare thing in Cambodia. It provides opportunities for contemporary artists to show new work and also mounts exhibitions on subjects such as silver craftsmanship, lacquerware techniques, community spirit houses and traditional Khmer painting. Reyum has built up an extensive archive of information often recorded from the last surviving craftspeople and artists, the bearers of a dying oral tradition. Another focus has been on the art of the Khmer Rouge period, a subject absent from Cambodian discussion. Their publications are of the highest quality and all printed and produced in Cambodia. Reyum offers free art classes for children and publishes children’s books in the Khmer language. It also provides university students with opportunities for study, archival research and preparation of texts. Reyum is a uniquely important institution for the protection of Cambodian arts and culture as well as for the development of creativity and originality.