Zen Teh
Story of Angkor Project
—Carrying a Place, Reworlding Life
Text by Curator Sandy Hsiu-Chih Lo
Angkor Project grew from an encounter initiated by artists Zen Teh and Choulay Mech with communities displaced from the Angkor Archaeological Park to Run Ta Ek, more than 25 kilometres from their ancestral homes. Displacement unsettles not only where people live, but ways of knowing and living shaped through land, memory, spirituality, craft, and everyday practice.
At the project’s heart, invited contemporary artists collaborate with traditional craftspeople from the displaced communities, bringing inherited knowledge into dialogue with contemporary artistic practices. Together, they lead workshops with local children and residents, sharing knowledge of rattan, palm, pandanus, bamboo, fibre, and other practices through hands, stories, and making. Rather than preserving tradition as something fixed, these encounters reactivate living knowledge through new forms of making, learning, and exchange.
Angkor Project asks whether resilience lies not simply in enduring displacement, but in how a world continues to be made through what is carried, practiced, and reimagined.
A place may be left behind, yet ways of knowing and living can take root again and continue to evolve.
Angkor Project
An Artist-led Initiative:
Transforming Craft, Connecting Lives
The Angkor Project is a socially driven initiative dedicated to supporting a recently displaced community from the Angkor Archaeological Park, now resettled more than 25 km away from their ancestral home. Despite facing challenging and uncertain living conditions, this community carries deep cultural heritage and stories that remain largely unheard.
Our project aims to sow a seed of hope through the transformative power of art. In partnership with local and international collaborators, we are co-developing a series of arts-based workshops that enable community members to design and create functional artworks and sustainable architectural forms. These creations will honour their heritage while opening pathways toward stable and meaningful alternative livelihoods.
Grounded in the lived experiences and rich cultural history of the Angkor people, this initiative becomes a process of storytelling, healing, and collective resilience—expressed by the community through the art we create together.
គម្រោងអង្គរ
គម្រោងអង្គរ គឺជាគម្រោងសង្គមមួយ មានបំណងជួយគាំទ្រសហគមន៍ ដែលថ្មីៗនេះគេបានឱ្យពួកគាត់ផ្លាស់ទីចេញពីតំបន់ អប្សរា ទៅរស់នៅទីតាំងថ្មីមួយ ចម្ងាយជាង ២៥ គីឡូម៉ែត្រពីភូមិកំណើតរបស់ពួកគាត់ ។ ទោះជាសហគមន៍នេះកំពុងប្រឈម នឹងភាពលំបាក និងមានស្ថានភាពរស់នៅមិនច្បាស់លាស់យ៉ាងណាក៏ដោយ ពួកគាត់នៅមានវប្បធម៌ដ៏សម្បូរបែបនិងរឿងរ៉ាវ ល្អៗជាច្រើនទៀតដែលមិនទាន់បានចែករំលែក ។
គម្រោងរបស់យើងមានបំណងបណ្តុះក្តីសង្ឃឹម តាមរយៈអានុភាពសិល្បៈ ។ ដោយសហការជាមួយដៃគូក្នុងស្រុក និងអន្តរជាតិ យើងកំពុងរួមបង្កើតសិក្ខាសាលាសិល្បៈជាច្រើន ដើម្បីជំរុញឱ្យសហគមន៍អាចរចនា និងបង្កើតស្នាដៃសិល្បៈណាដែលអាចប្រើ ប្រាស់បាន និងរចនាទម្រង់ស្ថាបត្យកម្មប្រកបដោយចីរភាព ។ ការបង្កើតស្នាដៃទាំងនេះ នឹងជួយលើកតម្កើងមត៌កវប្បធម៌របស់ ពួកគេផង និងជួយបង្កើតរបរចិញ្ចឹមជីវិតបែបថ្មីមួយប្រកបដោយនិរន្តភាពសម្រាប់ពួកគេផង ។
ជាមួយនឹងបទពិសោធជីវិតពិតនិងប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រវប្បធម៌ដ៏ច្រើនរបស់ខ្មែរអង្គរសព្វថ្ងៃ គម្រោងនេះនឹងក្លាយជាមធ្យោបាយមួយ សម្រាប់សហគមន៍ចែករំលែករឿងរ៉ាវរបស់ពួកគេ ព្យាបាលផ្លូវចិត្ត និងឱ្យចេះមានភាពអត់ធន់ជម្នះឧបសគ្គនានា តាមរយៈ ការបង្ហាញស្នាដៃសិល្បៈដែលពួកគេបង្កើតរួមគ្នាជាមួយពួកយើង ។
ការចូលរួមរបស់អ្នកនៅក្នុងគម្រោងអង្គរនេះ មិនត្រឹមតែជាការរួមចំណែកក្នុងការជួយលើកកម្ពស់ជីវភាពសហគមន៍ដែលកំពុង រងការលំបាកប៉ុណ្ណោះទេ ប៉ុន្តែថែមទាំងចូលរួមសិក្សារៀនសូត្រជាមួយគ្នា ដែលទាំងអស់នេះ នឹងធ្វើឱ្យយើងកាន់តែមានការ យល់ដឹង ក្តីមេត្តា និងភាតរភាពជាមនុស្សជាតិតែមួយ ។
Our Team Members
Director
Zen Teh (Environmental Artist & Educator, Singapore)
Deputy Director
Choulay Mech (Artist and Documentary Filmmaker, Cambodia)
Design and Architecture Lead
Nicole Teh (Founder of Pine Atelier, Singapore)
Curator
Sandy Hsiu-chih Lo (Independent Curator and Artist, Taiwan)
Curator
Yeni Ma (Republic of Korea/South Korea)
Ground Coordinator
Sary Soth (Accountant, Cambodia)
Media Coordinator
Phanith Ny (Photographer and Videographer, Cambodia)
Transportation coordinator
Keat Bunnat (Tuk Tuk Driver, Cambodia)
Lead Ethnographer
Celia Tuchman-Rosta (Ethnographic Researcher and Professor, USA)
Advisor
Moritz Henning (Architect, Germany)
Advisor
Meridel Rubenstein (Photographer and Installation Artist, USA;
Founder of Eden in Iraq)
Genesis
The Angkor Project is a socially driven initiative that grew from artist Zen Teh’s Rattan Eco Sprawl: Manifesting the Forest, first commissioned by the Singapore Art Museum’s Everyday Museum programme in November 2022.
During its development, Zen Teh and Cambodian collaborator Choulay Mech encountered the displacement of communities living within the Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Families who had lived for generations within Angkor’s cultural landscape were relocated to Run Ta Ek, more than 25 kilometres from their ancestral homes, disrupting relationships between people, place, livelihoods, ecological knowledge and cultural practices.
This encounter transformed the project from an artistic exploration of material and landscape into a longer-term commitment to exploring how art, craft, education and material research can support cultural continuity, alternative livelihoods and community resilience.
Today, The Angkor Project seeks to bridge Angkor’s living heritage with contemporary creative practice, creating opportunities for communities to share their stories, develop skills and carry traditional knowledge into the future.
Rattan Eco Sprawl:
Manifesting the Forest
Rattan Eco Sprawl: Manifesting the Forest
by Zen Teh in collaboration with Ecologist Dr Chua Siew Chin
Rattan, wood, tropical plants for forest restoration
Empowering Angkor
Displaced Community
at Run Ta Ek Eco Village, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Key Programmes
1. Community Arts & Alternative Livelihoods
The project co-develops arts-based workshops with communities in and around Run Ta Ek, enabling participants to create functional artworks, craft objects and sustainable artistic forms. The Heritage Workshop and Artist–Craftsmen Incubation & Community Workshop Programme draw upon local skills, stories and material knowledge while introducing contemporary applications. By connecting traditional craftsmanship with art, design and architecture, the programme explores alternative livelihood pathways while keeping communities active authors of their cultural narratives.
2. Education & Knowledge Exchange
Education is a central pillar of The Angkor Project. Through hands-on workshops with schools, craftspeople, cultural practitioners and community organisations, the project facilitates intergenerational knowledge exchange, connecting elders and younger generations through learning and making. Reciprocal exchanges with international schools, universities, museums and artists create opportunities for mutual learning around heritage, sustainability, cultural continuity and community-led conservation.
3. Material Innovation Lab
The Material Innovation Lab explores how Cambodia’s traditional natural-material practices can be reimagined through contemporary art, architecture and design. Beginning with rattan, central to Rattan Eco Sprawl, the Lab works with craftspeople, communities, engineers, artists and architects to investigate renewable materials including pandanus, palm and other forest-derived fibres. Through experimentation and new fabrication methods, traditional craft is approached as living knowledge capable of innovation.
A Living Knowledge Ecosystem
Together, these programmes form an interconnected ecosystem: community practice generates knowledge; education transmits and expands it; and material research creates new applications and livelihood possibilities. Rooted in the lived experiences of Angkor communities, Angkor Project explores how knowledge of materials, craft, ecology and place can contribute to more resilient futures. From a contemporary art project, Angkor Project has grown into a long-term platform for cultural continuity, community empowerment, knowledge exchange and ecological innovation.
Overseas Engagement & Cultural Exchange
The Angkor Project extends this work through international and regional exchange, creating platforms to share local knowledge, build shared knowledge and support the sustainable development of Cambodian craft.
Through workshops, exhibitions, research and educational collaborations, local craftspeople engage with artists, students, educators and institutions across Southeast Asia and beyond. These exchanges are reciprocal: traditional knowledge is shared internationally while new perspectives, techniques and opportunities are introduced to support its continued evolution.
The project has developed partnerships with School of the Arts (SOTA), Singapore, and institutional platforms including the Singapore Art Museum, with further regional engagement through the Jakarta Biennale 2026, one of the longest-running biennales in Southeast Asia.
Together, these programmes connect local knowledge with regional and international networks, positioning Angkor's living heritage as a source of contemporary creativity, cultural resilience and sustainable development.
For more info:
Organised and initiated by Zen Teh Studios
Funders and Supporters:
National Arts Council Singapore, Temasek Foundation, ST Engineering, Zen Teh Studios (Singapore), Singapore Embassy in Berlin (Germany)
Institutional Partners:
Jakarta Biennale 2026, National University of Singapore (NUS, Singapore), School of the Arts Singapore (SOTA, Singapore), Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), Cultural Experiences Cambodia (CEC, Siem Reap), Creative Generation (Phnom Penh)
Partners:
Jesuit Ecological Programme (Cambodia), Angkor Rattan Handicrafts (Cambodia), JAVA Cafe (Cambodia), Pine Atelier (Singapore), Lam Ann Association (Singapore), Mingzhu Nerval (Shanghai, Paris, Taipei)