"Healing Nature"...and contributing to a noble cause

In a rare - and successful - move for a young yet acclaimed Cambodian artist, Channy Choeun decided to auction one of his major artworks, Healing Nature, on 27 June 2025. Moreover, the striking painting was created live the same day at the Conservatory at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor (Siem Reap)where the auction took place in the evening.

Complete with an online bidding registration, this bold initiative came in gratitude to Phare Ponleu Selpak, the Battambang-based famed art school and circus troupe where Channy (b. 1988, Battambang) benefited from free education in the years 2006-2013. The artist generously attributed half of the auction's proceeds to Phare, these days in need of material support no matter how impressive its international recognition can be.

Anicca Foundation is proud and honored to announce that its president, Marina Pok, was the highest bidder, in line with the committment to support the Cambodian art community and, in Channy's case, a visual artist who's both highly creative and profoundly unselfish.

The artist...and the auctioned artwork carried to fame by Anicca's Marina.

The painting itself expresses Channy's love for birds - he grew up in a remote, jungly area, a countryside kid starting to draw on the walls with dirt at the tip of a stick -, the way they symbolize the strength of freedom and the frailty of wildlife in our modern world.

Wild Spirits, Sacred Symbols: the title of Channy's exhibition and live creation at Raffles condensed his most personal experience, as his studio in Siem Reap is nestled near one of the oldest pagodas in the Kingdom of Wonder, the serene and inspiring Wat Athvea.