CAMBODIAN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Arts
The Khmer's arts had certainly attained its finest level of elaboration. Unfortunately most of Khmer arts were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge Regime. Lots of arts books, artistic artefacts and architectural structures were destroyed; many of the talents of arts of Cambodia were killed. The temples of Angkor luckily were spared. Still there have been a lot of efforts made by the Khmer in Cambodia and abroad to bring back to lost treasures of the Cambodian people.

Most of the arts of Cambodia were influenced by religions with different artistic scultures depicting Hindu Gods. Traveling amid the ruins of the temples of Angkor, you'll find no difficulty finding a good scultures laying beneath the trees or hidden in the woods. If you are more interested in Khmer traditional arts, then the National Museum in Phnom Penh may be on your itinerary. For those of you who'd like to learn more about the trend of Cambodian arts in the future, you can have a trip to the School of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh.

Entertainment
Traditionally, there are the royal dances and popular dances in Cambodia. While the royal dances are similar to those which has the Indian influence and inspired by the Hindu epic of Ramayana, the popular dances depict the Cambodian daily life such as havesting, fishing...or expressing the wish of the common people. Apsara dance is unique to Cambodia and it seems to have the Cambodian history and culture in to the moves. Some restaurants in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap offer dinner with Khmer traditional performances.

For more live forms of entertainment you can visit many nightclubs and bars in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap which offer all Cambodian dances and Western ones.

CAMBODIA ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT TRAVEL PHOTOS

The traditional Khmer dance

Fine carvings at Angkor Temples

Scultures at the South Gate of Angkor Thom