“The Root”: Pen Robit Traces the Roots of Cambodian Farming Life in Phnom Penh

From September 4 to December 5, 2026, SNA Arts Management presents, in collaboration with Richard Koh Fine Art, painter Pen Robit's new solo exhibition. Titled “The Root” (Ersokol), it delves into the daily life of Cambodian farmers, between the labour of the land, transmission and hope.

Pen Robit, Planting, 2026, oil on canvas, 60 x 90 x 3 cm. Credit: SNA Arts Management / Richard Koh Fine Art

Pen Robit's new solo exhibition opens in Phnom Penh on Friday, September 4, with an opening reception from 5 to 8pm at SNA Arts Management. Titled “The Root,” it brings together a new series of works exploring the livelihoods, sources of life, and daily struggles of Cambodian farmers in rural areas. Through the cultivation of crops, vegetables and fruits, agriculture emerges as the primary occupation of a people, their vital lifeline, and the thread that still connects humanity, land and nature.

The krama as a visual language of identity

Robit arranges his canvases like grids of colour, drawing on the patterns of the krama, the everyday chequered scarf that has become an icon of Cambodian identity. He blends it with imagery of rice, vegetables, fruits, and fragments of human and animal forms. The krama, at once an ordinary object and a symbol of national identity, is transformed into a powerful visual language capable of reflecting the complex, intertwined system connecting people, land, labour and the environment. Landscapes of rice fields sit alongside fragmented animal bones, evoking the exhaustion, hardship and vulnerability of farmers' lives, as well as the impacts of environmental change. Though the evening and night scenes carry an underlying sense of stillness, sorrow and tiredness, a warm orange-yellow sky, standing for sunrise or sunset, persists as a symbol of hope that stays alive no matter how much uncertainty life brings.

Pen Robit, Embroidery, 2026, oil on canvas, 50 x 70 x 3 cm. Credit: SNA Arts Management / Richard Koh Fine Art

Everyday gestures as transmission

Each painting depicts a fragment of daily life: plowing, harvesting, sewing. Robit does not reduce these gestures to mere acts of survival; he presents them as vehicles for knowledge, skills and community bonds, passed down from one generation to the next. “The Root” is therefore not only a reminder of the land and the sources of life, but also a re-emergence of identity, memory and the emotional connections that tie everyone to their homeland and origins.

Pen Robit, Livelihood, 2026, oil on canvas, 80 x 80 x 3 cm. Credit: SNA Arts Management / Richard Koh Fine Art

Pen Robit, a lens on Cambodia's past and future

Born in 1991 in Battambang province, Pen Robit lives and works in Phnom Penh. He trained at Phare Ponleu Selpak's School of Visual and Applied Arts in Battambang, graduating in 2010, before continuing his studies at the Pivaut Applied School of Art in Nantes, France, in 2011. His work seeks to capture Cambodia's socio-political fabric, past, present and future, drawing on Cambodian cultural iconography as well as ongoing societal discourses. His solo exhibitions have taken him to Richard Koh Fine Art in Singapore and Malaysia, Sofitel Phnom Penh, Silapak Trotchaek Pneik (YK Art House), Tribe Cambodia in Siem Reap, Sa Sa Art Projects, and Romeet Gallery in Phnom Penh.

SNA Arts Management, a bridge to the world

The first Phnom Penh-based agency connecting contemporary Cambodian visual artists with the broader art world, SNA Arts Management supports artists at every stage of their career: strategic career management, professional guidance, and storage and conservation space for artworks. “I have spent my life surrounded by the arts. I grew up within a performing arts family, and married a visual artist. I revere great beauty and creativity, and I live to share my passion for the arts with others by showing the work of Cambodian visual artists to people the world over,” says Chum Chanveasna, founder of SNA Arts Management, who is co-organizing the exhibition with Richard Koh Fine Art.

Practical information

“The Root,” a solo exhibition by Pen Robit, from September 4 to December 5, 2026, at SNA Arts Management, #16, Street BT (Borey Sambath Mean Heng 3), Phum Tangov Kandal, Sangkat Niroth, Khan Chba Ampoeu, Phnom Penh. Open 1–5pm (morning visits by appointment only, 10am–12noon), closed Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. Opening reception Friday, September 4, 5–8pm. Information: snaartsmanagement.com, sna.artsmanagement@gmail.com, +855 12 422 062.