SOC:
New York City will host more than 125 artists from Cambodia for a major celebration of Cambodian arts, culture, and humanities when Season of Cambodia lights up the city’s cultural landscape in April and May 2013. Distinctive works from master and emerging artists and scholars—in ritual, music, visual arts, performance, dance, shadow puppetry, film, and academic forums—will be presented by 30 of New York’s most renowned arts and educational institutions, marking an unprecedented city-wide partnership initiative to celebrate one of the world’s most vibrant and evocative cultures.
 The festival celebrates Cambodia’s artistic revival just one generation removed from the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979), a dark period in Cambodia’s history during which nearly 90% of the artists and intellectuals were tragically eliminated in an effort to devastate a flourishing artistic community. Season of Cambodia, then, will serve as an international platform that not only highlights the extraordinary resilience of the Cambodian nation and its artists, and also sets the stage for other post-conflict nations seeking renewal through artistic expression.
 Season of Cambodia is an initiative of Cambodian Living Arts, a non-profit organization based in Phnom Penh and the U.S. founded in 1998 by artist and Khmer Rouge survivor Arn Chorn-Pond. Once focused on the critical task of preserving endangered artists and traditional art forms in the country, Cambodian Living Arts today collaborates with Cambodian artists and organizations, serving as a catalyst to help develop and foster arts in Cambodia.