The gallery is an integrated part of the café spanning both floors and features regular exhibitions by emerging and mid-career Cambodian artists as well as international guests. The gallery events and shows are facilitated by JavaArts. All profits and sales go to JavaArts programming and to support artist initiatives.
JavaArts is the culmination of over ten years working in contemporary visual arts in Cambodia. A non-for-profit, it was founded from the establishment of Java Café & Gallery which offers an exhibition space in a popular café, presenting the artwork in an accessible format. Since 2000, the gallery has hosted over 100 exhibitions and performances, including international collaborations and forums. The gallery has also supported and promoted many of the well-known Cambodian artists of today (Leang Seckon, Pich Sopheap, Khvay Samnang, Oeur Sokuntevy and Meas Sokhorn). JavaArts emerged from the gallery activities, supported by the café, as a platform for contemporary visual arts development.
www.javaarts.org
Recent Projects
(more on the website)
The Hawker’s Song: The Hawker’s Song focuses on the lives of Cambodian street hawkers, their songs, their daily hardships and the effects of urban development and modernisation on their lives. It is one of the first major video art works to be made in and about Cambodia. It was created through an international collaboration between Cambodian artists Srey Bandol and Meas Sokhorn and Australian artists Keith Deverell and Sue McCauley, with sound tracks composed and performed by Corey Sands and Keith Deverell (SONE).
The Hawker’s Song was commissioned for the Visual Arts Program of the Melbourne International Arts Festival 2010. It is in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum, and was recently exhibited at Video: An Art, A History at the Singapore Art Musuem in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou.
Our City Festival: Initiated in 2008, Our City Festival is a platform for art and architecture events that celebrate Phnom Penh, its beauty, heritage and future. The festival is built on principals of community participation at all levels including programming, funding and development. Our City involves a cross-sector of society to foster opportunities for dialogue and public engagement. Aiming to be a leader in the field, Our City actively creates new models that bring together cultural and social development and inspire global exchange. www.ourcityfestival.org
Pop-up Artspaces: An exciting initiative by artXprojects, Pop-up Artspaces, supported by JavaArts and commissioned for Our City, is a collaborative between curators Natalie Pace and Kate O’Hara and artists invited to participate. It is based on participatory art practices and puts art in public spaces making it accessible by the Cambodian public, offering opportunities for engagement. www.artxprojects.org
Dana Langlois, Founder/Director
Dana Langlois, founder of JavaArts, is a cultural entrepreneur based in Phnom Penh Cambodia since 1998. Opening one of the first contemporary art galleries in the capitol city (Java Café & Gallery, 2000), Dana has helped re-launch a dynamic art scene in Cambodia that has been devastated by war and political instability for several decades.
Originally from the USA, Dana has a background in Photography and Fine Art and has focused on supporting visual arts in Cambodia and nurturing the talents of emerging artists. Influenced by the development sector and models of social enterprises, Dana researches and implements new models to promote sustainability.
