Experiencing Cambodia’s Living Arts through Tourism

Abstract

Summary Experience Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) was a nightly program showcasing traditional Cambodian arts to tourists while providing employment opportunities to artists. Produced by the Cambodia-based non-profit organization CLA for nearly a decade, this program used tourism as a platform for sharing traditional arts while also earning revenue to support other arts initiatives and providing employment to several of its arts students. This case study offers a glimpse into the arts-based programming of CLA, an organization based in Cambodia that has worked to revitalize traditional arts and inspire younger generations to engage with the arts over the past 25 years. ‘Experience CLA’ was one of the organization’s programs that offered nightly performances of traditional dance, music and performing arts between 2011 and 2020. These performances stood at the heart of CLA’s efforts in sharing traditional arts with international visitors through tourism, providing a platform for employment to young Cambodian artists, as well as helping the organization to earn revenue. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 on tourism as well as CLA adopting a new mission and vision that positioned it as more of an arts catalyst, rather than as an arts provider, the ‘Experience CLA’ program came to an end in 2020 as the organization began to shift its role in the Cambodian arts community. Information © The Authors 2024