Specialist Looks To Help Save Cambodia's Culture

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Thursday, 22 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: by Ly Moryvan
Suon Bun Rith, country director for Amrita Performing Arts, visiting VOA Khmer, in Washington.

"If each Cambodian paid a dollar a year to a fund, the money could be used to support cultural preservation."

A leading Cambodian cultural specialist says the preservation of the country’s culture is still weak, due to limited understanding and a shortage of funding, among other reasons.

However, Suon Bun Rith, country director for Amrita Performing Arts, suggested that membership among Cambodians in culture groups should be considered.

Amrita is a non-profit organization for the promotion and development of performing arts in Cambodia. Suon Bun Rith is now at a summer fellowship program at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington.

He told VOA Khmer this week that if each Cambodian paid a dollar a year to a fund, the money could be used to support cultural preservation.

For his part, Suon Bun Rith will undertake an intensive four-week arts management program for three consecutive summers at the Kennedy Center. This will help him transfer his skills into management of organizations, he said in an interview.

Suon Bun Rith graduated from the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 1995 and then worked as a specialist for intangible cultural heritage at Unesco. He has undertaken internships at New York's Dance Theater Workshop, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and Boston's program Leveraging Investments for Creativity.