Arts festival in Cambodia explores climate change through community art

Solarpunk Cambodia will host the Saiyon Kongkea Festival at the Steung Sen riverside in Kampong Thom from November 20 to 25.

The free event brings together contemporary art, Indigenous crafts, and local stories to explore the relationship between the community and the river. The festival serves as Cambodia's part of Micro Constellations, a network of nine regional arts programs across the Asia-Pacific that respond to the COP31 climate summit. The program features public installations, storytelling circles, and craft workshops.

It includes a solar-powered cooling installation to explore heat-resilient infrastructure and a water tank tower for urban art. The festival also showcases the exhibition Ponleu: An Ecology of Hope, which features works by 76 artists from Southeast Asia. Organizers say the event highlights environmental pressures such as flooding, riverbank collapses, and extreme heat in the area. Local residents and the Kui community will participate in activities like craft-sharing workshops and the collection of natural materials from community forests.

Architect Karot Choeung is designing a workshop space using these materials to combine ancestral practices with contemporary design. Solarpunk Cambodia says the festival aims to help residents share their experiences and consider how their communities can adapt to a changing environment.