 ABOUT US
Amrita Performing Arts is an International NGO based in Phnom Penh, with US nonprofit status. Our organization was founded in 2003 with a mission to help revive the wide spectrum of Cambodia’s traditional performing arts through a program that emphasized national capacity building.
As a reflection of shifts in the country’s artistic climate, our mission has evolved to include pursuits in contemporary dance and theater. We are pleased to be a catalyst behind numerous new productions while encouraging artists to take responsibility for the direction of their artistic development. We are proud to be a vital part of a process that has contributed significantly to transforming Cambodia’s performing arts scene and proven this country‘s propensity for cultural regeneration.
These exciting developments have, however, coincided with a global financial crisis affecting every artistic corner of the world, including our work at Amrita. As sponsors and philanthropic organizations have been obliged to reassess their own priorities with respect to the arts; their recipients now have the opportunity to reevaluate their own goals and objectives, while reinventing their means of survival.
Our response, taking effect as of January 2011, has been to restructure our organization by combining resources with another arts organization with which we share common objectives and values. To this end, Amrita Performing Arts has come to an agreement with Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) to enter into an administrative collaboration.
Amrita will continue to share an office space with CLA in its current Phnom Penh location, though CLA will be the primary tenant. The Executive Director of Amrita, Fred Frumberg, will continue to run the organization. Amrita’s Country Director, Suon Bun Rith, will now also serve as Head of Production for CLA. Amrita will develop new programs with the support of freelance staff, including our former Program Director Kang Rithisal once he returns from the US in the summer of 2011 where he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in arts management.
Cambodian Living Arts is also a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the US whose mission is to support the revival of Cambodian traditional performing arts and to inspire contemporary artistic expression. Amrita has already joined forces with CLA on several collaborations including the critically and commercially successful Cambodian rock opera, Where Elephants Weep. This sharing of resources will create a cost effective means for Amrita to continue to develop its current programs while sharing its expertise in production management with CLA. Amrita will remain an independent not-for-profit organization, reporting to its own board of directors.
The works of dance and theater Amrita initiates will nurture the skill sets of highly qualified Cambodian practitioners who we believe will emerge as effective leaders of a burgeoning artistic community. These works will evolve through meaningful artistic exchange spurned by a stronger international network, hosting international artists, presenting new works to the Cambodian audience and touring productions to a wide range of arts organizations throughout the world.
We at Amrita Performing Arts look forward to this new level of cooperation with our long term friends and colleagues at Cambodian Living Arts.  Together, we will be better equipped to meet the new challenges of our times.
Amrita is a proud member of World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific and serves as chair for the Cambodian chapter. |
