Cambodian Circus Carnival Extracts “Light from Art”

BY: MTCO COMMUNICATIONS
Cambodia’s circus extravaganza Tini Tinou is now in its sixth year and is bigger than ever. The spectacle is arranged and hosted by Phare Ponleu Selpak (“Light from Art”), whose roots are in the Thai refugee camps that filled with people fleeing Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.
Phare’s initial aim was to use visual arts to help children and young people overcome the torments of 20 years of civil war. Now based in Battambang, Cambodia, Phare offers fresh starts to disaffected youth.

Tini Tinou will take place in both Phnom Penh (Cambodia’s capital) and Battambang this coming March and April. A colorful parade through the streets of Phnom Penh by 120 artists from 10 countries will officially open the festival on March 28. Shows and festivities will continue in the Olympic Stadium for the next 24 hours.

In Battambang, April 2-5, companies from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Romania, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada and Australia, will entertain the public with feats of acrobatics, juggling, trapeze flying, tightrope walking, contorting, tumbling, and clowning around.

“This is truly a unique event in South East Asia,” said Mark Ellison, Managing Director of Asia Adventures, a tour operator that offers itineraries that include Tini Tinou. “The work Phare is doing with these youngsters … shouldn’t be missed by anyone who is in the country during this time.”

From March 10-26, prior to the festival opening, international artists will conduct two weeks of workshops to train young Cambodians.

Phare Ponleu Selpakis supported by the French Government.

Phare site (French, with English auto-translation). Asia Adventures site.