Thirty years in Siem Reap, and it is in Phnom Penh that Artisans Angkor has chosen to reinvent itself. The Artisans Festival, the first of its kind in the capital, was not just another event on the city’s cultural calendar. It was something else—something difficult to categorize.

Last night, more than 200 guests gathered at the Tribe Hotel in Phnom Penh for the inauguration of the Artisans Festival, the first event of its kind organized by the Khmer creative house in the capital.

For three days this June, Cambodia's most celebrated creative house leaves its Siem Reap stronghold to take over the capital — with a festival that fuses ancient heritage, contemporary art and live music.

In mid-2024, when the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), or International Organisation of La Francophonie, invited Millennium Destinations to explore a new way to promote sustainable tourism in a few pilot countries: Cambodia, Vietnam, Comoros, and Cape Verde.

Born in 1992 in the heart of a Cambodia in reconstruction, Artisans Angkor has established itself as the guardian of traditional Khmer know-how. Under the impetus of Kay Lot and Kean Kim Leang, it is reinventing itself today as a bold creative house, blending ancestral heritage, contemporary design, and immersive experiences at the Living Art Village in Siem Reap.

It was on Monday, February 23, that the groundbreaking ceremony took place for the Living Village Angkor, an ambitious project that will host the Immersive Angkor initiative, supported by Confluences, within its space.

In the city of Siem Reap, cradle of the Angkorian temples, Artisans Angkor unveils an ambitious $5 million project set to transform the cultural landscape of the province.