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Traditional Arts and Crafts in Cambodia – The Story of Cambodia's Creative Revival. Stonemasons, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Traditional Arts and Crafts in Cambodia – The Story of Cambodia’s Creative Revival

After exploring the temples around Siem Reap, one of the real pleasures for those interested in the traditional arts and crafts in Cambodia is to visit the workshops, ateliers and silk farms, where stone and wood are carved, silk is hand-woven, and handicrafts are made by Cambodian artisans as they have long been.

One couple can be thanked for the revival of traditional arts and crafts in Cambodia that has been such an inspiration to other artisans, craftspeople and designers around the country.

These days, beautiful boutiques, shops, ateliers and pop-ups are literally springing up all over Siem Reap each week, offering authentic handicrafts, woven textiles, refined clothes, handcrafted jewellery, elegant accessories, original art, and quirky design products.

But they wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for one couple who paved the way, Cambodian-French entrepreneur, researcher and hotelier, Nathalie Saphon Ridel and husband Jean-Pierre Martial, who also own beautiful Maison Polanka.

The couple did everything from identifying the traditional arts and crafts and seeking out the old master craftsmen to establishing training schools, workshops and co-operatives that created the circumstances for the revival of traditional arts and crafts in Cambodia.

We asked Nathalie about the creative renaissance that became her life’s work.

Traditional Arts and Crafts in Cambodia – The Story of Cambodia’s Creative Renaissance

Q. The last fifteen years have seen a slow but steady revival of traditional arts and crafts in Cambodia, including artisanal crafts such as stonemasonry, woodcarving, lacquer-ware, and silk painting, along with folk handicrafts, like weaving and basketry, all of which are flourishing now. You and your husband played a key role in the revitalization and renaissance of these traditions – can you tell us about that?

A. In France, I had been a buyer and importer for a small yet famous collection of contemporary Chinese and Iranian crafts stores. My project when I returned to Cambodia in 1994 was to establish an inventory of Khmer crafts after twenty years of war. I met Jean Pierre Martial who made the project happen.

I spent a whole year with a team of designers and managers from the Phnom Penh School of Fine Arts, systematically tracing the masters and craftspeople in the countryside, in all the provinces, at a time when communications and security was a major obstacle to any survey.

The research extended to private and museum collections, both in Cambodia and overseas, including the inventory of Khmer traditional patterns. The aim was to gather information that would help revive ancient crafts and bring back to light the lost traditions before they completely disappeared.

After the inventory was created in 1996, I contributed to helping establish a project that Jean-Pierre (who had become my husband by then) had already began – the Chantiers Ecoles, a pioneering vocational training school that was established in 1992 with the Ministry of Education. The Chantiers Ecoles trained young uneducated people in all building techniques, from sandstone and wood carving to silk weaving.

As the sculptures and textiles that the apprentices were creating were beginning to pile up, I created a basic collection of stone and woodcarvings, traditional stoles, cushions, and woven mats, to be sold to the rising tourism market. At that time, in 1996, there was absolutely nobody selling crafts in Siem Reap.

In 1997, as the project had grown, we decided to form a semi-private company that would sell these things and soon established Artisans d’Angkor. But we needed a design team.

Two months before the troubles of July 1997 (when the Cambodian People’s Party, led by the second prime minister Hun Sen, ousted the first prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, of the ruling royalist party FUNCINPEC) I met a painter in Psar Chas who had a very special eye for colour and I convinced him to join the project.

That is how I met Theam, who became and remained for more than 10 years the artistic director of the Artisans d’Angkor. That same year, in November, Eric Raisina who had travelled here and fallen in love with Siem Reap, created the first clothing collection for Artisans d’Angkors and Chantiers Ecoles.

We prepared a fashion show – the first one in Siem Reap maybe ever! I remember being backstage trying to convince the models, who were all weavers, to get on the catwalk. That was the very beginning of crafts and fashion in Siem Reap.

Theam and Eric can confirm that it was a world away from what the crafts and fashion scenes are today in Siem Reap. We have watched the revolution and evolution and are more than ever convinced that this is the place to be.

A lot of this development happened thanks to the vision of my husband, Jean Pierre, and his capacity to develop a sustainable model of development, and his talent in getting a group of people with different skills together to achieve a goal, which was sustainability and employment for under-privileged young adult Cambodians.

Q. On top of your role in revitalising traditional arts and crafts in Cambodia, you have also been responsible for identifying and nurturing creative talent and distributing and promoting beautiful products. Tell us about your work, your elegant retail spaces and your exquisite products, and how you sourced and developed those.

A. When I returned to Cambodia in 1992, there were not much left in terms of traditional crafts. Attention was focused on survival. It was a time when NGOs and the goodwill of individuals helped to provide basic designs and create products inspired from the region to give employment to communities. But at the time there was not a need for quality.

Still, artisanal skills were kept alive and there were good materials and fine products that could be sourced. We could buy silver, silk, stonework, and woodwork.

I had met the designers Romyda Keth, Theam and Eric Raisina, so when I opened Khmer Attitude in the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in 2000, I wanted to show that our products would stand apart in terms of quality and design and could compete on the international scene.

I could only create a retail space in a hotel that had a history. I had always traveled in countries for their old hotels – they were my destinations – the Old Cataract in Egypt, the Galle Face in Colombo, Le Crillon in Paris, Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, and Le Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap. So as I was living in Siem Reap, I opened Khmer Attitude in the Grand Hotel d’Angkor.

It was a window for Khmer excellence in crafts that had a distinctive style, that were made with perfection, simplicity in its form, luxury in their material, and excellence in their craftsmanship.

That first space and the set-up were innovative for Cambodia in 2000, with the boutique’s strict lines, warmed by the materials and colors.

Then in 2010, also in the Grand Hotel d’Angkor, I opened Galerie Cambodge, a conceptual store, alongside Khmer Attitude. My aim was to uphold Fair Trade values and promote good design and a high quality of craftsmanship.

Galerie Cambodge was thought as a balancing partner to Khmer Attitude. Galerie Cambodge was about natural blended colors whereas Khmer Attitude was bold and colorful. Galerie Cambodge was light wood with textured materials, whereas Khmer Attitude was strong and metallic. Galerie Cambodge was raw silk, Khmer Attitude was fine silk. Cambodge had a men’s collection whereas Attitude was very feminine.

For Khmer Attitude I worked with the best master silversmiths and the best designers in fashion and fabrics. With Galerie Cambodge, the collaboration was with Sirivan Chak who is very sensitive and prefers to remain in the shade.

It was a new story, because time had passed and things had progressed – it was a chic, urbane showcase, conceived for the global nomad.

Next: Nathalie’s Local Guide to Shopping Siem Reap.

We strong recommend consulting our guide to travelling responsibly in Cambodia and why it matters before you begin shopping Siem Reap. Lara also crafts bespoke Siem Reap itineraries and hosts Siem Reap shopping tours.

Support our Cambodia Cookbook & Culinary History Book with a donation or monthly pledge on Patreon.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Comments

  1. Elaine says

    February 21, 2015 at 11:01 am

    Great to see that the cultural assets of this nation being built back up again by its artisans … heartwarming!

  2. Lara Dunston says

    February 21, 2015 at 11:18 pm

    Isn’t it wonderful, Elaine? They are such talented, skilled and highly creative people, and it’s a privilege to view their exquisite work and see and touch and be able to purchase the beautiful products and works of art they create. And I’m pleased to see tourists buying them as souvenirs – so much better to be able to take home something so lovely than all the cheap junk that’s available. It’s great for the economy as much as the sense of pride and identity of Cambodians. Thanks for dropping by!

  3. Teri Bradley says

    January 1, 2019 at 10:27 pm

    Hello! I traveled in Cambodia and Vietnam during September 2018 and was very impressed with the young artisans and their beautiful work. I have a special place in my heart for the people of Cambodia and Vietnam.

    My daughter, Paige Bradley (Paigebradley.com) is a sculptor and is looking to place images of her figurative work on shirts and other wearable apparel. She has not been satisfied with companies available to her here in the US. The quality of the material is lacking.

    Is there a way to work with Artisans Angkor on this project. She will be in Hanoi and Thanh Hoa Province in the coming weeks working on the Monaco Nghi Son project.

    Thank you for any help you can give me.

  4. Lara Dunston says

    January 2, 2019 at 12:25 pm

    Hello Teri, I would recommend that Paige get in touch with Artisans Angkor directly herself about what she wants to do. They have a website and there are contact details there. Best of luck!

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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