iii) Artisans Angkor Siem Reap
This was our next destination after The War Museum. Before we went on, let me brief you a little bit on the history of Artisans Angkor.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Cambodia was faced with the challenge of rebuilding its economy. Artisans Angkor is a semi-public company whose story started in 1992 with an educational project called "Les Chantiers-Ecoles de Formation Professionnelle" (CEFP) implemented by the Cambodian Ministry of Education. This project aimed at rebuilding the country after the war period by training young people in the building sector, such as masonry, plumbing, tiling, painting, etc. It is the offshoot of an educational project aiming at providing professional skills to communities with limited educational opportunities and to help young rural people find work near their home village.
In the mid-1990s, this training was extended to traditional Khmer craftsmanship, as this essential part of the Khmer cultural heritage which had almost disappeared. Since then, Artisans Angkor has committed itself to the preservation of traditional skills that are rooted in the Khmer culture. The company is specialized in the fields of handmade ornamental sculpture, lacquering, gilding, silk painting and silk-making. It provides young craftsmen with an employment opportunity while giving them the possibility to work close to their homes and also helps to improve the economy of the country especially in the tourism sector.
Address : Stung Thmey Street, Siem Reap 17259, Cambodia
Operation Hour : 7:30 AM - 6:30 PM Daily
Entrance Fee : FREE
It took around 15 minutes from the War Museum, then we reached here. As ussual, Kassim helped us to get the pass. No entrance fee tho.
Entrance pass.
The Cambodian statue on my back.
Lets go in.
But first, we took group photo at the welcome hall.
The Artisans Angkor are divided into few sections. The first one we visited upon entrance was Silk and Textile factory. Free tour guide was provided to show us round and briefed us on the silk making processes.
Silk cocoons produced by the silkworms. These fibers then will be woven into textiles.
The coloured fibers.
Next we went to another section where there was a broad cross section of handicrafts being demonstrated, carving, stonework, lacquer work, pottery, painting, silver work and etc. There were also different guide on each section.
Painting on show.
One of the finished art and ready to be sold.
The guide explained the processes of various crafts created, from wood and stone carving to lacquer work, etchings and more. This kind of tour, gave us new appreciation of what's involved in the making of the many items we found for sale everywhere.
Very nice live display and demonstration on how nowadays classical arts were made:
One of the artist was painting The Angkor Wat inside the plates.
Lacquer painting.
Close up.
Recognize the place on this painting? U should know this place if you watch Tomb Rider movie. One of the temple inside Angkor Wat complex - Ta Phrom.
We could see the artisans working on their art pieces and also got information how every art crafts were made. Besides that, we also witnessed carvings being made, from handheld to life-sized, tools being sharpened on-site, observed instructors advising their students. All these in one place!!
Next, to the wood carving area.
Wood carving.
Artisans Angkor has pioneered a new social policy in Cambodia, guaranteeing a fair income as well as social and medical welfare to all its employees. Well done!
One of the skilled worker was doing the sandstone carving to form the Buddha statue.
The description of the process to complete the statue.
Isolated place was allocated to do the golden painting process.
Finished product of the Buddha Statue and it's description. It's about human size tall.
Smaller size of Buddha Statues.
Soapstone and Sandstone carvings.
This was interesting as we could see a beautiful statue or wooden carving emerging from a block of wood.
Apsara dancer image was painted in the wooden block.
The carving process took place.
Finally, tada....!! Imagine the process to crave from the thick block to this very detail statue. So impressive.
At the end of the tour, there is a showroom showcasing various products in stone, wood and cloth where you can enjoy to look around Khmer artcrafts and also to purchase. They also offer shipping for large purchases. The price is little bit higher than local markets, but I think it's worthy because the store is related to Cambodian artisans with handicaps.
Finished the tour and returned the visitor pass into the box provided outside the exhibition hall.
Overall the Artisans Angkor is a good place to see on how the handicrafts are made. Items are more expensive than at a market, but everything here is made in Cambodia and benefits the people.
Lets think this way, you shop while on the same time you help the local community. It's a win-win situation right? After all everything here are really in nice quality and simply beautiful.
Definitely worth a visit. Also there's lovely gardens you can walk around:-)
Don't forget to drop here once you're in Cambodia!
Next... as it's almost noon, we went for our first Khmer lunch in Cambodia. What was that?? Till my next post.
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