Phare Ponleu Selpak

Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS, Khmer: ហ្វារពន្លឺសិល្បៈ, literally: "the Brightness of the Arts"), is a non-profit Cambodian association located in Battambang, improving the lives of children, young adults, and their families with art schools, educational programs, and social support since 1994.

Phare Ponleu Selpak offers multidisciplinary schooling to young people, which gives them an opportunity to make a living through art.

PPS works was founded by Cambodians that had learned in refugee camps that art can be a means to forget trauma.

Students of PPS have also acted abroad, like in Bangladesh and Thailand, and in September 2012 with their circus in Germany and Denmark.

[1][2] In 2012 Phare Ponleu Selpak was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands for its role in the society by means of using culture.

This is what can be seen as one enters the Phare Ponleu Selpak, having vibrant colors and a mask-like sculpture with a green face, golden crown, and bold features, set in a garden with flowers and greenery.
images drawn by children in refugee camps in Thailand displayed in the school's art gallery