Diana At the Crossroad: Create Cambodia Arts Festival

Last weekend was the festival we have been working on for months here in Cambodia. It was our 1^st Annual Create Cambodia Fine Art Festival. And it went WONDERFULLY.

Saturday morning, we met at my co-teachers’ house- Lina and Daly. I thought the students would all be late because this is Cambodia, but I was actually the last one there! Well, the last one not including the no-shows. Unfortunately, 2 out of my 3 female singers didn’t show up. But everyone else was so excited, I was the only one who seemed to care. So we piled into the 14 person van- all 20 of us. I brought 15 students, 3 co-teachers, and myself (plus the driver).

The van ride there was just like any other high school field trip. The students were basically bouncing in their seats with excitement. Conversations and jokes were being shared from the back of the van to the front. They were singing along with the music at the top of their lungs. The choir kids even sang their concert pieces. It kind of reminded me of when I was in Italy EXACTLY a year ago on tour with the chorus and we did the same thing. We sang on the bus- as if we didn’t sing those pieces enough in rehearsals and at concerts. Except in this scenario, I was the Mark Shapiro to their music tour.

The festival was right on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, so we had to go through Phnom Penh. As we were approaching Phnom Penh, I realized that this was the first time for almost every person in the car to see any piece of their capital city. The first thing that amazed them was the Mekong River. We were crossing over the river and they were all pressing their faces against the window. One student said “teacher! Teacher! Look! BIG river!” Yeah, that would be the Mekong. Then once within Phnom Penh we took the most round-a-bout way through it, but I’m not complaining because the students got to drive past Wat Phnom, Central Market, the riverside, and tons of fancy stores and restaurants.

We finally arrived at the beautiful Khmer Arts stage, and my students were in awe. The stage is huge with temples and plants backing it up. My students poked around and watched the rest of the students from other provinces arrive. They had a welcoming greeting from a professional and famous Khmer dancer in Cambodia, and also one of the owners of the Khmer arts space.

After lunch students had a workshop led by the Royal University of Fine Arts, which is one of the best universities in Phnom Penh, and also one of the only ones with options in the Fine Arts. Representatives from the university talked about educational paths that many Khmer students don’t even know about. For example, they can major in architecture, art and temple preservation, and other stuff. I think it was good information for the students.

Then students were broken up into groups, given art supplies, and told to make masks. Each volunteer had about 10 students. I sat down with my students and they just stared at me at first. They kept asking “teacher… how? Do we cut it first? Do we draw it? Should it cover our whole face? Should it have a mouth?” I just kept telling them it’s up to YOU! Every mask should be different. So they stared blankly at their masks for about 5 minutes. Then they started. Within minutes, the most creative wonderful masks were being made. It was so simple, but it was something they’ve never been asked to do before. “Here’s some paper. Make something.” There has never been any reason to do that before. But they did it and they loved it and they came out great. Then we had a sort of parade with the masks. Later on, one of my students said it was his second favorite part of the festival.

I’ve waited too long in writing this blog, so now I’m getting a little fuzzy on the finer details and exact order of things, but I’ll proceed as if that’s not true.

After the masks, students went back to their seats for another workshop, this time led by Make Maek art gallery from Battambang. This was really cool for the students. The presenter was a real artist who makes his living from being an artist. He brought some of his artwork with him, and let the students critique his work. Also, his PCV counterpart, Arnoldo, brought a horse costume that he made. Two of his students walked around in the horse outfit. Then all the students were given an opportunity to discuss what they saw and how it made them feel.

I think after the workshop we had dinner.

Now.. to be honest we didn’t really have after dinner plans. We thought about possibly organizing a talent show, creating self portraits, or even just playing games. We played a couple spontaneous games of musical chairs. Then we just… left the music on.

And thus, Cambodia’s first prom night was born. The students DANCED like their lives depended on it. And it was HOT out. I thought their energy would last 3 songs, top. They danced for 2 hours. I thought MY energy would last 2 songs tops. I had the time of my life. It was just a completely comfortable space. Everyone danced and had a good time. They were free to MOVE and not have anyone judge them for it. They LOVED dancing with the foreigners, and I got really into. I even broke out the worm for them THREE TIMES! It was very much like prom, minus the “date” portion of it, and minus air conditioning of course. This was everyone’s favorite part of the festival, and it wasn’t even planned. But as our mission was to give these kids an opportunity to express themselves in a safe and welcoming environment, we found no reason to shut it down with any haste.

As we were approaching bedtime and the sweaty dancing was still persisting, we finally lowered the music, and asked everyone to form a circle. We gave out more art supplies and asked them to draw self portraits. This time wasn’t like when we asked them to make masks. They knew the deal, were excited, and got started right away. I sat there completely exhausted watching them with such pride. I felt like a mother lol, especially when all my kids came up afterward with their picture and said “teacher! Teacher! Look what I drew!”

Finally at around 10/10:30 all the students were in bed. The boys slept under mosquito nets under the roofed facility, and the girls slept in the dressing room. Sounds good for the girls, except it go SO hot and humid in there. With so many bodies lined up in there, it was difficult to BREATHE let alone sleep. Finally at around 2AM I started to drift off… barely even thinking about our 6AM wake-up call.

Then came 3:30AM. A few of the girls decided that was wake-up time. So they got up and took their baths and started doing each other’s hair to get ready for the day and the concert that wasn’t due to start until 10AM. I was FURIOUS! By 4AM more than half of the girls followed their lead and got up. Ok, I know this is Cambodia, and these are village girls used to getting up with the sun, but this was ABSURD! We set a curfew, and now for next year we know we have to make a quiet time rule. NO MOVING until at least 5AM!

Eventually us PCVs got up and stopped being cranky. Coffee helped. Then I let one of the girls to my hair. I was lookin good.

I feel like stuff happened between the breakfast and the concert, but I can’t remember it. Oh wait, yes I do. We had time to rehearse with our students.

Then at 10AM the concert started. My chorus kids went first. My chorus consisted of 7 boys and 1 girl. They started with the Khmer National Anthem. Then it was showtime. They sang a song in English first. I think it’s called Cambodia, Kingdom of Wonder. It’s a tourist advertisement song, but it’s very beautiful. Plus it’s a song in English about their country so it was perfect. Then two of my singers sang solos a capella. Next was The Lion Sleeps Tonight. This was where I was particularly worried about having only one girl, because that meant half of the song was a solo for her. But she is a fantastic singer, and it came together quite well. The PCVs were particularly moved by this song. Then I had one more student solo, and we finished with a Khmer song. The boy I taught to play guitar accompanied his classmates. Now, from reading this paragraph it probably sounds like it went smoothly. In fact though, the students were like deer in headlights the whole time. I had to physically go on stage and form them into an arc, because they apparently lost the ability to understand English AND Khmer. And between every song they looked at me like “now what!?!?!” even though we went over it a million times. BUT all that shows is that clearly these kids have never had this opportunity before! Hey kids, this is what it feels like to perform!

Also at the concert were dancers and actors from other PCVs and other provinces. The dancers were really cool. They did traditional Khmer dancing, then had a costume change and did the Cupid Shuffle. All the role-plays were very well done (however very long). One particular role-play stood out. It was about the Khmer Rouge. The acting was really good, and the story way very moving.

I also had a role-play group. They win at being the longest performance (something that I tried so hard not to make the case). Actually, I think I wrote about this role-play group before. Go back and check my International Womens Day post. However, the role-play changed very much since I invited them to perform at the festival. It went from being 15 minutes long to 50 minutes long. It went from being about womens rights to being about domectic abuse, drugs, peer pressure, bullying, and human trafficking. It is a very good story and it was very well done. They even had comic relief. The human trafficker was a male student in a dress, wig, and make-up. Haha he was hilarious, squeaking all over the stage. He was a big hit.

Also, during the whole festival there was an art gallery with beautiful pictures from students who have an art club.

After the concert it was simply clean-up time and goodbye time.

Our van was the last one to arrive, by 2 whole hours. But still, I allowed my students to stop and explore Sorya Mall in Phnom Penh for a half hour. Just walking in was hilarious. “Teacher, it’s very cold!” “Yes, that’s what air conditioning feels like.” I have a video of them taking their very first escalator ride. We were going to go on the elevator too but it was too busy. They were most impressed with the roller skating rink on the top floor of the mall.

Finally, we were back on our way. I arrived home at almost 9PM.

The festival was a huge success. To me, one of the most amazing parts was how the students all interacted with each other. We were worried that the kids would be too shy to socialize outside of their provinces, but that wasn’t the case at all. They all became friends in such short time. Before they parted ways, they said the most heartfelt goodbyes, exchanged phone numbers, took pictures with each other, and even joked about stealing away on the wrong vans to be with their new friends. It’s just amazing how art and creativity can bring people together.

I’ll end this post with a quote from one of my students’ facebook.

Hello Everyone! I want to tell all of u about my best happy time that i never meet in my life. On May 12-13 2012 in Kandal with Create Cambodia Arts Festival there are a lot of high school student from 6 province( Prey Veng, Kompong Cham, Kompong Chhnang, Porsat, Battambong, Kompong Thom).2 days and 1 night we dance, sing, make the mask, eat rice together, sleep, take photo with the best view at Khmer Art and... we are very very very very HAPPY! when the festival finish i do not happy i don't want it finish. When my friend leave to the province i feel very sad i don't want they go( នៅពេលដែលពួកគេចាក់ចេញទៅខេត្តរបស់ពួកគេខ្ញុំមិនចង់ឲ្យពូកគេចាក់ចេញនោះទេ). I said GOOD BYE to them with my hand at that time my tear wants to drop "pls don't go don't leave me" ខ្ញុំបាននិយាយថា “GOOD BYE” ជាមួយនិងដៃរបស់ខ្ញុំ ខ្ញុំមិនដឹងថាហេតុអ្វីទេ ខ្ញុំចង់ស្រក់ទឹកភ្នែក. last morning when i see our photo our video clip i feel very very miss them and my tear was dropping (កាលពីព្រឹកមិញខ្ញុំបានមើលរូបភាព និង ខារ៉ាអូខេ ខ្ញុំនឹងអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នាណាស់ថែមទាំងស្រក់ទឹកភ្នែកទៀត. What time am I going to meet u again? I want all of u see the message(ពេលណាទៅបាចជួបគ្នាទៀត? ចង់ឲ្យអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នាឃើញអត្ថបទនេះ) . I MISS all of u so much next year i must go. ខ្ញុំនឹក all of u… Khmer Art you are the best view make me happy with my friend.

I’ll share the few photos that I do have, but I also want to link to my friend’s blog where you can check out more, better photos. She’s a great photographer. http://bbmacias.blogspot.com/2012/05/create-cambodia-arts-festival.html

AND another friend was kind enough to take videos of the chorus for me! She's uploading them onto youtube for me THANKS CHRISTINE! The first one is up already. Check it out:

This is the song Cambodia, Kingdom of Wonder

This is not from the festival. This is from the fundraiser concert I had at my school in order to help pay for the festival. We had over 300 students come to the fundraiser concert!