Adventures and Shopping

Friends Visitor Center

Angkor Hospital for Children Visitor Center

If you are traveling to Cambodia, visiting the ancient temple of Angkor Wat will be at the top of your list of  things to do. You will quickly realize there is a whole lot more to do in Siem Reap as this article from the Unearthing Asia site describes. One thing that the author didn’t unearth is a visit to the Angkor Hospital for Children – an experience from Cambodia you will not forget. Visiting the hospital gives you the opportunity to see first hand what our fund-raising efforts are all about. We can help you to arrange a visit –  get in touch with us by phone or email through the Contact page.

Shopping in South East Asia

If you are looking for some gifts and mementos from your travels, consider visiting these artisans, designers, and artists. Each has been a long time supporter  of our efforts at AHC and MAM offering up donations in a heartbeat to support child healthcare.

WA Gallery Concept

This gallery/concept store has two outlets in the FCC and one across the street from Shinta Mani. The work of edgy contemporary Vietnamese artists and craftsmen are on offer, so if you want a brightly colored Buddha head or funky ethnic jewelry, stingray bangles or horn rings, this is a bit like an Asian Conran shop.

Wa Concept Gallery

Carol Cassidy Fine Silk Products and Textiles from Laos and Cambodia

Carol Cassidy has a line fine textiles created in Cambodia. From the red earth of Preah Vihear, a community of determined land mine survivors is creating a sustainable income through traditional weaving. Started in 1998 with five women making silk products, the Weaves of Cambodia project now employs over 40 rural artisans who use their artistic skills to earn a sustainable income. “We strive to uphold Fair Trade values by ensuring that all team members are able to enjoy a healthy and safe working environment.” Carol Cassidy

Silk-weaving project Weaves of Cambodia opened its first shop this month, in the Visitor Centre at Angkor Hospital for Children, where it will sell its trademark high-end silk scarves, cushions and bags.The Weaves of Cambodia shop will hold a grand opening on January 22, to coincide with the fifteenth anniversary of Angkor Hospital for Children. Read the full story in the Phnom Penh Post.

Visiting Laos? In Vientiane, stop by Carol Cassidy’s Lao Textiles workshop, studio and gallery that creates woven art. Specializing in 100 percent hand-woven silk, Carol and the 40 Lao artisans she employs produce exquisitely crafted wall hangings, scarves, shawls and custom furnishing fabrics. Carol’s pieces are displayed in galleries and museums throughout the Unites States: The Textile Museum in Washington, DC, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Stef’s Happy Cambodia Gallery

Stef’s Happy Cambodia Gallery

Old Market Quarter, Hospital Street Siem Reap (Between Pub St and Psar Chaas)

Also in Phnom Penh: 363 Sisowath Quay – Gallery on the Riverfront

Happy Cambodia Gallery was opened in 1997 as Siem Reap’s branch of Happy Painting Gallery in Phnom Penh. The concept of the Gallery is to offer the unique artworks and merchandising of Stephane Delapree (Stef). Born in France and raised in Canada, Stef started his artistic career in comic strip drawing and publishing. In 1992, while visiting a Crayola kids paintings exhibition in New York, his fascination with the artworks done by very young children inspired him to start the concept of Happy Painting. He soon developed his very personal style, in Costa Rica, using free figuration and bold colors to depict a world as seen through a child’s eyes. Stef’s paintings are very positive in spirit and he is a truly independent artist who does not rely on any government to continue his creation. In 1995, the King of Cambodia thanked Stef for his contribution to Contemporary Cambodian Art and in 2008; Happy painting Gallery received “Gold Status” by the Ministry of Tourism. If you’re visiting Siem Reap, Happy Cambodia Gallery is place you must see! Website:www.stefpaintings.com  Tel: +855 (0) 63 963 114

2 Thnou Street (Hospital Street)
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Hours (8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)

House of Theam by Michael Sloan, Phnom Penh Post, April 2011

Lim Muy Theam in his home cum gallery Theam’s House. The artist is passionate about promoting the arts and passing his skills down to younger generations. Photo by: MICHAEL SLOAN

Stepping inside the house gives visitors the feeling they are embarking on a walking tour of Cambodian art history and Lim Muy Theam’s own artistic development.

Each room contains paintings, sculptures and furniture exhibits designed during his time at Artisans d’Angkor, as well as more recent examples of his solo projects. Many of these express the initial sense of displacement he experienced when returning to Cambodia as an adult after spending his childhood raised overseas by adoptive French parents.

The decision by Lim Muy Theam to open his house to the public, and also use it as a studio for 25 apprentices, represents an extension of the work he has done to promote the visual arts in Cambodia since returning from France in 1995, according to the director of Cambodia Living Arts Phloeun Prim. He said: “The house displays Theam’s artistic development and his style of visual expression, and by training apprentices and opening his workshop to the public he is seeking to pass on his skills and experience.”

Lim Muy Theam’s sister Lim Maddy recently moved to Siem Reap from Paris with her family to assist him with his administrative affairs.

Former Cambodia Living Arts board president Charley Todd said he purchased one of Lim Muy Theam’s lacquered paintings as an investment and believes international interest in the artist’s work will grow.

Whimsical Elephants – Collectable

Created in the Ateliers & Artist’s Studio of Cambodian fame, Lim Muy-Theam
A generic whimsical style but each one is unique created by many different artists.
Why the elephant – “I wanted to encourage the people toiling in the countryside, I saw the elephant everywhere. And elephants bring good luck!”

The traditional Cambodia gold motif design is symbolic of protection and good luck to ward off bad spirits and bad energy.

To Purchase :  Friends Visitors Center Gift Shop at the  Angkor Hopsital for Children
Siem Reap Cambodia

Galerie Cambodge
Galerie Cambodge is the newest venture of Nathalie Saphon Ridel of Khmer Attitude (a popular shopping destination in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh) and the husband-and-wife team of Loic Dumas and Sirivan Dumas (an established Cambodian shoe designer in Paris!), and is now open at the shopping arcade of the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor.

Selling fair trade-friendly, organic and Cambodian products, as well as exquisite products culled from all over the globe, the Galerie is a true treasure trove. Their most coveted item is the original Panama Hat, made entirely by rural villagers inEcuador, and is made of grade AA materials so fine that even of folded or crumpled, goes back to its original shape!

Aside from a wealth of products made of cotton and silk, sandstone and lacquer, there is just a whole load of desirable stuff on the shelves. Definitely worth your visit, and your credit card!

Source: Galerie Cambodge – Siem Reap Life