NEFA has a longstanding history of working with Cambodian artists in
the United States and Cambodia. Beginning in the early 1990s, NEFA and
its partners began a series of Cambodian artist residencies.
Fall 2000: Origins: Cambodian residencies in the US
In the September 2000 residency project, under the artistic direction
of Sam-Ang Sam, fourteen Cambodian dancers and musicians were hosted by:
• Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, Massachusetts
• Center for Cultural Exchange, Portland, Maine
• University of Maryland and the Cambodian American Heritage, College
Park, Maryland
• United Cambodian Community in Long Beach, California.
By October NEFA had received significant feedback and interest
from the field confirming the practicality and value for the major US
tour of Cambodian music and dance. The important connections Cambodian
masters made with their US counterparts are invaluable. These connections
firmly lay the groundwork for our program to conserve and further the
art forms being restored and taught at the Royal University of Fine Arts
in Phnom Penh and in Cambodian American communities in the United States.
2001: National Tour of Dance, the Spirit of Cambodia
In the summer and fall of 2001, NEFA presented Dance, the Spirit of Cambodia,
the first formal U.S. tour of Cambodian dance and music in over a decade.
Forty master dancers and musicians from RUFA toured to twelve U.S. cities,
and offered a rare opportunity for communities around the country to experience
and learn about Cambodia’s honored art forms.
The tour also provided the chance for NEFA to strengthen its relationship-building
efforts between the U.S. and Cambodia in order to insure the ongoing vitality
of Cambodian culture. Presenters, colleges and universities, and community-based
organizations became invested in the project through interaction with
the artists and outreach efforts. A new model for international arts presentation
was designed and implemented through the tour.
2002: Convenings The Cambodian Artists Project hosted the following convenings:
• Cambodia in March 2002
• Lowell, Massachusetts in late September 2002
• Long Beach, California in early October 2002.
Program participants, key partners, and project collaborators
met with a documentation team to help analyze the project and to begin
developing print and electronic materials that will be used to present
the project as a model of international work. Additionally, preliminary
plans were laid for how U.S. and Cambodian project partners can help continue
the project's mission to preserve and document the work of Cambodian performance
art traditions over the next ten years.
October 2003: Recent Work A late October/early November trip to Phnom Penh by NEFA was
designed to implement the next phase of the Cambodian Artists Project
at RUFA. This trip formally established NEFA’s commitment to working
in the region for the next three years.
The goal of this phase of the Cambodian Artists Project is to conserve,
document, and strengthen the arts and culture of Khmer communities in
Cambodia and in the United States. The activity took place over two weeks
in Phnom Penh (October 27-November 8, 2003) and was led by Judilee Reed,
NEFA working with PROEUNG Chhieng, RUFA, Fred Frumberg and SUON Bunrith,
Amrita Performing Arts, and Dr. Sam-Ang Sam.
February 2004 NEFA and the representatives of the Joyce Theater, NY; Center
for Cultural Exchange, ME; Asia Society, NY; and the Royal Cambodian Embassy,
DC; visited RUFA in Phnom Penh, viewed performances, and continued to
develop the Cambodian Artists Project at the school.
