Artists perform in Cambodia’s famous Battambang Circus
A young performer of the Phare Ponleu Selpak circus prepares to perform a handstand during the Bat Kong Khinion show in front of a crowd of tourists and locals on December 20, 2013 in Battambang, Cambodia. ‘Phare, the Cambodian Circus’ is part of a wider project called ‘Phare Ponleu Selpak,’ which means ‘the brightness of the arts.’ Phare began in 1986 in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border. A group of 9 of children who took part in drawing workshops in the camp had the idea to form a creative association to help other children express the trauma of war. Today, artistic practice and development is at the heart of the formal education, life and social skills offered to the young people they work with. Alongside a governmentally run public school for about 900 children, Phare Ponleu Selpak has provided art school, social support and education for almost 20 years in Battambang, Cambodia.