Cambodian Crafts in Les Artisans D' Angkor

Wondering what other things to do during our stay in Siem Reap, I looked up Les Artisans D'Angkor - mentioned in websites for shopping of high-quality Cambodian crafts, but the guided tour of the workshops seemed interesting.

Here's a bit of background first...

A country's crafts are part of its culture and identity,  of what makes a culture unique. Cambodian has a rich heritage on craftsmanship in silkmaking, stone and wood carvings (the Angkor temples are proof enough!) and silvercraft.

The reign of the Khmer Rouge espoused a communist agrarian utopia. During those years (1975-1979), an estimated 20-25% of the population of Cambodia died (some said it was one of the worst genocide in this century).  As the Khmer Rouge pushed to have a fully agrarian-based society, many of the craftsmen died (killed, died of starvation or hard labor). And since all forms of trade and business were discouraged as well, the skills and artistic heritage were feared lost.

In the early 90s, the CEFP was founded to help train young Cambodians learn crafts and have a means of living. In the process, they also rediscover their artistic traditions and heritage. Artisans d'Angkor was an offshoot of the school. (This is their story http://www.artisansdangkor.com/html/artisans_angkor/story.php)

For Day 1 in Siem Reap, we planned to just explore the city, understand a bit of the country and its people (and take it easy after the looong bus ride the day before.)  First stop, the Old Market. But not many shops open as it was the day before Lunar New Year. So we proceeded to Les Artisans D'Angkor workshop.

A guide approached us as soon as we got off the tuktuk. His name was Kim (he told us the tour is free). What a darling he was! Enthusiastic, energetic, funny. He led us first to the silkpainting workshop, then to the wood carvings & lacquering, stone carvings and finally, silver plating. He explained well the processes involved, showed what the item looks like across the different stages, how long each process took, patiently answered all the questions we had. The kids liked his sense of humor. Plus Kim had a clear loud voice - a good thing cos  we can still hear him clearly even as groups came & went to each stop.

Only the tour itself would do justice to all the wonderful things they were doing at the workshop. 

deaf/mute lady painting silk

wood carving on rosewood and teakwood

 

Kim and D carvinga piece of wood





carving elephants from sandstone

A token was expected at the end of the tour; we gave Kim a generous tip. We invited him to have lunch with us but he declined, he said he had a lunch date with a friend to celebrate LNY.

After the tour, we went to the boutique, showcasing the various products from these workshops. Brilliant idea! By then, the tourists had seen all the effort & sweat that went into making each item, plus the knowledge that proceeds helped sustain the workers' families. The items didn't seem as pricey anymore :)  We also reserved slots in the 1:30pm shuttle for the afternoon visit to the Silk Farm; we were told to be back by 1:15pm.

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After lunch, we went to the Silk Farm, 16km away. The ride and the tour were again free, passengers/visitors are expected to give the driver and guide some token. Our guide seemed tired and uninterested, but went through the motion of showing us how silk is made. Hope the pix help :

the mulberry field where they get the
leaves to feed the worms



the yellow cocoons
which the silkworms weave



cocoons being boiled to get the silk fiber

 -  the cocoons are boiled 2x to get the fiber

1st boiling - the outer layer which is the raw silk

2nd boiling - the finer, softer layer inside which becomes fine silk

 

 

bleached silk thread (L),
coloured silk thread (R)



  -  the silk threads/fiber are dyed, some using natural ingredients  (coconut husk for brown colour, achuete/annatto for deep orange, etc.)



-  then spun and wound around spindles

 - patterns are made manually on the silk threads (those white patterns are tiny bundles of silk threads; marks are left on the threads after dyeing)

 - the threads are then handwoven to make scarves, etc.

I could only imagine how tired the hands of the workers were at the end of the day.  (I hope they don't immediately wet their hands when they get home, "baka mapasma: :) 

The tour was done in an hour. At the end is again an LAdA boutique. French tourists were having a shopping frenzy when we went in. Compared to Europe, they probably find the prices still quite reasonable given the quality. We bought a few items as well, our way of supporting artisanship and a good cause.

We recommend a tour of the Les Artisans D'Angkor workshop.  For my son D, it was the highlight of our Siem Reap holiday. 

Tip :  If tired and hot after the trip, ask to be dropped off at the corner opposite Terasse des Elephants, right before the shuttle makes the turn to the narrow lane going to LAdA. On that corner, get  a foot massage ($3 for 30 mins, $5 for 1 hr) and/or some snacks across the street in Blue Pumpkin cafe (this one's the smaller branch I think).