Battambang (Cambodia). 13/01/2004: Phare Ponleu Selpak circus school.©JohnVink
Ka-set
By Stéphanie Gée
05-03-2009
The circus school ran by the Cambodian organisation Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) really is into acrobatics: there, artists reach nirvana through light and agile aerobatics, air circus, intermingling humour, tricks, wit and poetry while walking on a very tight rope… when it comes to finances. March 27th will mark the kick-off in Phnom Penh of the 6th edition of the Tini Tinou Circus Festival, organised by PPS, which will then reach Battambang in North-West Cambodia, where the organisation has its stronghold as tradition has it, but this time, they will have to do with only half the amount of funds they usually have available. It does not matter: the cheerful and committed acrobats have decided that their show had to go on...
Rising success
Over the years, the International Cambodian Circus Festival, better known as Tini Tinou (“from here and elsewhere”) has won acclaim and distinction in the region thanks to an innovative schedule, a quick opening and legions of guests coming to watch air circus from all over the world. Last year, their show attracted between 1,500 and 2,000 viewers under the big top.
Launched in the Cambodian capital in November 2004 by the French Cultural Centre (CCF) in Phnom Penh, this event was conducted by the local NGO Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS), where the main circus school in the Kingdom can be found. Settled in the third town of Cambodia, the organisation naturally decided to move the event there in 2006. When in 2007 the French Association of Artistic Action (AFAA) ceased to provide financial support, the CCF considered putting an end to the Tini Tinou event. But Phare did not see things like that and decided to take over the responsibility of the running of the festival and became its organiser, on its own: more than ever, the focus was put on international and intergenerational exchanges to stimulate creation.
Age-old tradition
One could say that the commitment to this scenic art is almost a question of genes for Khmer people. At Angkor, the Bayon temple gives early evidence of the existence of acrobats at the time of construction in the 13th century: they are represented in full swing on the bas-reliefs of the site. After the Khmer Rouge tragedy, it was not until 1986 that a National Circus School opened, at the Royal Fine Arts University, thanks to Vietnamese cooperation. It is 12 years later that Phare established its own school in Battambang, with the help of the National Circus School; the goal was then to familiarise street children or kids coming from underprivileged backgrounds with the subtlety of acrobatics and squirming, with hints of farcical clowning... Today, 150 students, all aged from 14 to 25 years old, attend the course. They are the fourth generation of artists and comedians looked after by Phare.
A circus to serve the community
The choice made by Phare Ponleu Selpak – which means “Light of the Arts” in Khmer – to organise a social circus makes sense when we get to know more about the genesis of the association, which emerged in 1986 in Khmer refugee camps at the Thai border. The idea was then to resort to arts and expression to help youngsters get over the trauma generated by the war. The first initiative launched by the six young co-founders of the programme was the creation of visual art workshops. Repatriated in 1994 to Battambang, they decided to continue the experience and expand the project by founding PPS, to heal the wounds of a generation torn apart by war and offer youngsters the opportunity to blossom and flourish.
That story calls to mind that of the Pa-Ra-Da Foundation in Romania, honour guest at this year’s Tini Tinou festival. Miloud Oukili, a French clown from the Fratellini Circus School in Saint-Denis, France, initiated in 1996 a programme to introduce street children of Bucharest, these little ghosts who haunt the sewers of the Romanian capital, to circus arts, and teach them the rudiments of his own profession.
What’s on in the 2009 edition
The 6th edition of Tini Tinou offers some tight-wire walking, a flying trapeze, aerial silk performing, a Hula Hoop here, martial arts there... the show will be a mixture of pantomiming, juggling and conjuring, performed by artists coming from Cambodia, Romania, Germany, Canada, France, Belgium, Japan, Vietnam, Laos and Australia. This array of red noses promises to be impressive enough to make one see stars...
The novelty this year at Tini Tinou is the organisation at PPS of two weeks of training courses and workshops, just before the festival, from March 15th to 26th, which will be the occasion for the festival’s multicoloured guests to share and learn together. The second new thing, adopted with much reluctance, is that for the first time, performances and shows will be subject to fares. Artists accept symbolical fees in exchange for their performances but all their personal and travel expenses are taken care of by Phare. To this day, the association has barely raised half of the funds needed.
“The circus must live on!” The appeal was voiced by Khuon Det, one of the co-founders of Phare, who is also the association’s artistic director. If the festival is to leave serious unpaid bills on the desk of the NGO, there is no doubt that the latter will have to ponder over the future of Tini Tinou, Khuon Det says. Let us simply hope that those who have still kept the child in them alive will rush to the aid of the Cambodian organisation.
Tini Tinou : more information
The festival will be held in Battambang from April 2nd to 5th, every day from 5pm till 11pm with, as a prelude in Phnom Penh, a show subject to fares at the French Cultural Centre (CCF) on Friday March 27th at 7pm and a parade on Saturday March 28th at 4.30pm followed by a public show at 6.30pm. More information is available on the Tini Tinou website.
Fares for a 4-day pass (all shows) in Battambang:
- 20 dollars for foreigners (8 dollars for under 16 years old and free for those... shorter than 1.20 metre)
- 3 dollars for Cambodians
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