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First Arts&Crafts Excellence Awards, Siem Reap

Updated: Mar 18, 2019


"When Shiva was dancing in Angkor"

On March 9, 2019, I had the honor and the joy to take part as a jury member in the first "Concours d'artisanat et du savoir faire" (A&CE Awards)in Cambodia, a competition launched by La Semaine française de Siem Reap.


With my distinguished co-members of the jury, we were tasked to distinguish craftsmen and craftswomen particularly remarkable for their creativity, their mastery of technical skills and know-how, their ability at keeping afresh ancestral techniques and their virtuosity in reflecting the competition´s main theme, "Cambodia, universe of land and water".


-- Marina Pok, Anicca Foundation Director


Grand Prize

"Quand Shiva dansait à Angkor" / When Shiva was dancing at Angkor (pictured above)

Artisans: Leng Pohy, Thean Nga, Sat Sim, Patrick Kersalé, Philippe Brousseau

Size: 70 x 80 x 20 cm

Weight: 7 kg

Medium: hand-sculpted wood, buffalo horn, hides, bottle gourds; palm tree fiber and pleated nylon strings; double-layered acrylic lacquer, 24-carat gold leaf gilding.

(based on a 10-year long research around ancient Khmer music instruments and the musical arts in Angkor civilization by musicologist Patrick Kersalé)


Second Prize, I

"Le passage"/ គ្រាមួយ /"Crossing Over"

Artisans: Rithy Rin, Jean-Pascal Vittori

Size: 60 x 80 cm. Maximum thickness, 2 cm.

Weight: from 400g to 3kg

Medium & Technique: 9-color silkscreen printing on gloss paper. Limited edition, signed and numbered (250 copies)


(illustration of a famous scene from the Reamker, the Khmer Ramayana saga: Sovanna Maccha the mermaid falling in love with Lord Hanuman.)










Second Prize, II

"Bopha, la dame qui tresse des couronnes de fleurs"/"Bopha, the flower-weaving lady"

Artisans: (Ms.)Chun Sinat, Chea Pech, Khon Khan

Size: H 80cm, W 60cm, T 10cm. Etching 5 to 6 cm deep.

Weight: 205 kg

Medium & Technique: cut sandstone block; the talented trio has spent more than 400 hours on the sculpting and etching work.

(bas-relief depicting a Cambodian daily life scene, a florist lady weaving jasmine flowers wreath at the market.)


Recognition Award

to Jacques Danger


for transmitting know-how and craftmanship to Cambodian artisans

"La Décalée"/"The Quirky One"

Size: 16 x 6cm

Weight: 0.015kg

Medium & technique: natural horn-rimming (Cambodian buffalo horn); sizing and adjusting to customer's features, assembling bi-color faces; manual cutting and curving of the glasses frame, pad-polishing, line and emery cloth finish.

(a black-and-white hand-made eyepiece with arms in reversed set-up.)



Special Honor Award


for his whole body of work, his mastery of natural, locally-sourced lacquer mediums, his committment in sharing knowledge and know-how.











Moments of the Awards event at The Raffles-Grand Hotel d'Angkor, Siem Reap



Do you wish to enter the 2020 edition of the A&CE Awards? Email us

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