It’s a hot and dusty day in Phnom Penh as our touk touk driver navigates his way across the morning traffic. We gesture, keep going, yes down there. He tentatively passes the French Embassy, into a district named Boeung Kak. We’re here to meet the people bringing street art to Cambodia.
Around the back of the building are a few small houses, and remains of others. In some places the rubbish is a foot deep. The walls have been painted by some of the worlds best street artists. 18 year olds David Myers and Kimchean Koy are among the first generation of Cambodian-born street artists. While Banksy was becoming a household name in Europe, Cambodia was recovering from the genocide inflicted by Khmer Rouge. “Most Cambodians have never set foot in a gallery before” says Myers, who goes by the artist name of Davido. It’s one of the reasons he is drawn to this medium. The intent of street art is to share your art with everybody. It’s exposed to the elements, it evolves, it becomes part of the community. It’s a different vision of art.
I skirt round the garbage piles to meet Koy and Myers’ mentor, Jerome Jean or ‘Chifumi.’ He and fellow artist Vallier are starting to paint their first mural for 2016. An expat from France, who casually compares himself to Picasso Chifumi is the founder of the first Cambodian Urban Art Festival which took place in April of 2015 and runs an online community on Facebook. Chifumi first came to Phnom Penh on assignment with French TV and realised the potential to be a pioneer of the street art movement in Cambodia. The hands, a signature feature in his work is taken from gestures in traditional Cambodian dance. His message for upcoming Cambodian street artists “don’t follow, don’t copy, do your own stuff, develop your own style.”
The sun beads down, and it seems like the whole neighbourhood has come out to watch the guys paint. There may not be a lot of knowledge about street art amongst the locals, but there sure is a lot of curiosity. Chifumi recommends we visit a local bar called Simone, when we meet the owners Ludi Labille and Marj Arnaud we realise we have found the heart of this movement.
Once a thriving backpacking district on the edge of Boeung Kak Lake, The neighbourhood became a dark place after the lake was drained for development in 2008. The developers built three meter high concrete walls around the perimeter. More than four thousand families were forced out of their homes, the local economy died.
Labille and Arnaud are both originally from France, have been living in the neighbourhood for a few years. As locals, they felt a responsibility to give back to the community which they had fallen in love with. They founded the Develop Boeung Kak Art project with the goal of reviving the vibrant neighbourhood Boeung Kak had once been. “For us it is not only about street art, it is an excuse to try to develop something… it’s more like, okay take this colour, give life. This brush can change culture.” says Labille. She thinks of it as “quiet activism.” Artists from all over the world have come to paint the walls around the drained lake. Labille and Arnaud ask the artists to give their heart, “give love to this neighbourhood.” Not only has it helped invigorate local business, the presence of street art has inspired a new generation of artists. “The children and the young artists can come and see the new styles, what’s the technique? what’s the material they use?” says Labille.
Boeung Kak Community Chief Men Sokha has thrown her support behind the DBK Art project. “At the moment the government accepts the project because they’ve seen it revive the neighbourhood… So for the moment they accept it and let us do it because they see everything improving.” says Labille. In a city that is changing as rapidly as Phnom Penh, nothing is certain. But that is the nature of street art.
Two locals watching French street artists Chifumi and Vallier paint their first mural of 2016. Boeung Kak, Phnom Pen 16th January 2016. Street art is an emerging practice in Cambodia, cultivated by international artists. Photo by Angela Cornish