PHNOM PENH: The Lakhon Bassac Festival 2022 took place at the Department of Performing Arts in Phnom Penh from 3-4 October. This festival was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to enhance and preserve this traditional art form, under the theme "The Culture of Peace."
The top five Lakhon Bassac troupes from all across Cambodia gathered in Phnom Penh for the two-day festival to perform and compete for honorary classifications. Troupes rehearsed from between two to six weeks before coming to the finals. On the first day of the festival, there were between 200-300 people in attendance.
The Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, Phoeurng Sackona, opened the festival and spoke of her appreciation of Lakhon Bassac, recalling fond childhood memories of when she used to watch shows with her sibling. She praised the courage of the artists who joined this festival and said she hopes the next generation will help to preserve this artform. It is important to show support to the artists and lift their spirits up for working hard to preserve this precious cultural heritage.
“The artists, just seeing an audience watch and applaud them, makes them so happy. [Supporting them] doesn’t even need to include monetary donations. Simply showing support would make the artists so happy," she said.
The Minister went on to compare the Lakhon Bassac artform to the Beijing Opera. She said it does not matter that smartphones are everywhere, because people still go to concerts, so why should they not also attend theater? She gave the example of how people buy tickets a year in advance to go and see the Beijing Opera, and how China was able to maintain this cultural heritage and have it listed on UNESCO’s “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” in 2010.
The Minister urged the Cambodian public to think about this and hope that an event like the Lakhon Bassac festival would remind them of the importance of maintaining this important artform and cultural heritage.
“We need to remind everyone and help everyone to [understand that] no one can do this for us," she said. "No one can preserve Cambodian culture, Cambodian arts, more than Cambodians ourselves. Do not hope for someone else to help spread [our culture] more than us.”
The Minister continued to say that there should be no more excuses when it comes to cultural heritage preservation. She hoped that this festival would create a long-lasting step for a better future in preservation.
At the conclusion of the festival on 4 October, the troupe from Kep came in first place and won the gold trophy, along with a cash prize of 10 million riel from the event organizer, and an additional 3 million riel from philanthropists. The silver trophy went to the team from Kampong Cham province, who won a cash prize of 7 million riel from the event organizer, and an additional 2 million riel from philanthropists. Finally, the bronze trophy was given to the troupe from Phnom Penh, winning a cash prize of 4 million riel and an additional 1 million riel from the philanthropists.
