Neak Sophal - Images

Neak Sophal (b. 1989, Cambodia), a graduate of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, has a growing reputation for her distinct aesthetic and ongoing thematic exploration of Cambodian society. Through composed portraiture staged collaboratively with her subjects, Sophal’s artwork often challenges social structures, illuminating the hidden memories and fear that animate people’s lives and identities.

Active locally and internationally, Sophal has participated in workshops and group and solo exhibitions in France, Sweden, the United States, Japan, and Australia, as well as at Angkor Photo Festival (Cambodia), Spot Art (Singapore), Hong Kong International Photo Festival, Bangkok Photo Festival, Asian Eye Culture (Thailand), Voice of Tacitness Exhibition (China), Our City Festival (Cambodia), SurVivArt (Germany), and Photo Phnom Penh Festival (Cambodia). Read more about her work at www.sophalneak.com.

Emily Howe - Sound

Emily Howe (b. 1987, USA) is an American ethnomusicologist, music educator, and conductor who through her research and practice explores music and sound as a lens into global history and culture, as well as a means of catalyzing social change in diverse contexts. Currently conducting research for her PhD dissertation about music in Cambodia, Emily has authored publications, given presentations, and taught university courses on topics related to music education, choral music, and world music cultures, and she continues to explore issues related to global repertoires, performance, and identity in her scholarly and creative practice. Read more about her work at www.emilyhowe.info.

Say Tola - Project Coordinator and Research Assistant

Say Tola is now a fourth year student of Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia majoring in International Relations. She has been actively attending numerous arts programmes and workshops since 2017 as such ‘Arts for Transformation’, ‘Arts and Environment’ ‘Arts, Memory and Healing’ and so. Therefore, she has changed her perspectives on regard to the crucial role of arts developing nation economically and sociologically.

So far, she has helped to organise workshops and festivals including ‘Khmer Literature Festival’, ‘Battambang Literature Festival’ and ‘Arts, Memory, and Healing Conference’. Asides, she has been working as a researcher’s assistant and arts writer for Khmer Times publication. By working on this area, she has travelled across Cambodia to witnessing arts and cultural practices in various communities. In the near future, she expects that all forms of arts could spread so then people can start to build passion to reviving Cambodian arts again.