Shinta Mani Foundation
Alright, now let’s talk art and, more precisely, art galleries. Many Cambodians see Siem Reap as the centre of fine art (I guess in proximity with Angkor) with a little ecology and nature thrown in. Compared with the bustle of Phnom Penh, it’s a pretty chill city: leafy, close to the archaeological park, and deeply connected to the classical Angkorian art and architecture nearby.
So a little history I’ve uncovered. The Shinta Mani Foundation grew out of a hospitality school founded in Siem Reap in 2004 by hotelier Sokoun Chanpreda and architect Bill Bensley. It started by offering free hotel training to young Cambodians, then expanded into programmes supporting education, health care, livelihoods and environmental conservation. The Foundation was legally registered in Cambodia in 2009.
That community focus also carries into its art. At Shinta Mani Angkor, the BENSLEY Outsider Gallery and Boutique brings together locally made works and a selection of Bill Bensley’s own art, with sales of his work benefiting the Foundation.
The gallery usually displays much more outrageous, almost kitsch art. I love it for the colours and for its radical, humanistic takes on Cambodia and Cambodian life. There’s a playful boldness to it, but the work can also feel like a vivid, sometimes uncomfortable portrait of the country and the people who live here. The prices can be as outrageous as the art, though.
When I visited, the collection had been set aside for The Drawn to the Wild Festival, so I didn’t get to see it. The festival brings art and wildlife conservation together across Siem Reap, which feels especially fitting for a city where culture and nature are so closely entwined.
