7june26
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: CAMBODIA URBAN ART
7june26
Tag: Phnom Penh
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: 🪶
17june26
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: GIRLS
7june26
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: CAMBODIAN ARTISTS
7june26
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: J ROYAL
Julien Croyal (professionally known online IG @j.croyal) is a French motion designer, digital artist, and animator based in Paris.
While he is from France, he has a notable footprint in the Cambodian contemporary art scene through a series of prominent cross-cultural, tech-driven art collaborations in Phnom Penh.
7june26
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: BUDDHA by YI KAKADA
Yi Kakada (often known as Kakada Yi) is a prominent, self-taught contemporary Cambodian street artist and muralist. Born in 1996 in Battambang province—historically the artistic hub of Cambodia—he has become a recognizable figure in the Kingdom’s flourishing urban art scene.
One of Kakada’s most famous physical talents is his ability to paint ambidextrously. He can draw different images with both hands simultaneously, a skill that often captivates audiences during live painting showcases. He is also recognized for creating “two-canvas” paintings that seamlessly merge to tell a singular story.
Kakada’s journey to becoming a full-time artist is marked by resilience. He lost both of his parents at an early age and faced severe financial hardship, which forced him to drop out of high school. He moved to Phnom Penh with his siblings to look for opportunities, relying entirely on his raw talent.
Without formal art school training, he mastered his craft through hands-on practice, initially using standard house paint because expensive spray cans were out of reach. His breakthrough came when he won first place in the “Asian Drawing Category” in a competition organized by UNESCO.
7june26
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA STREET ART: AN ODE TO MOTORBIKES
June 2026
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 GRAFFITI: MEKONG
June 2026
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: IT IS WHAT IT IS
It is what it is. I love that phrase. And I know a lot of people who hate it. I think they misunderstand it. I view it as acceptance. I think others view it as surrender.
Acceptance and surrender are not the same thing. The Buddhists have known this forever, and I’ve been living among people who practice this understanding my whole nomadic adult life, from Bhutan to Southeast Asia.
You do not light incense in front of something you’re giving up on. You acknowledge reality as a starting point, not an ending. You see the thing as it is before you decide what to do next, or whether to do anything at all. That’s not passivity. That’s clarity.
I’ve noticed that the people who hate the phrase, tend to be people who are very invested in things being other than they are.
But there’s a particular kind of suffering that comes from refusing to see what’s actually there.
IT IS WHAT IT IS. And what it is, is extraordinary.
I think that’s the part of the phrase that haters don’t get. Accepting reality is not the same as settling for it. It means you’re actually seeing it, which is the prerequisite for loving it, changing it, or writing about it.
There’s a a whole philosophy of peace inside these five words, and if you don’t understand that, then, you don’t understand me.
June 2026
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: NEW KHMER ARCHITECTURE
Quintessential example of New Khmer Architecture (often intertwined with mid-century modernist shophouse design), a transformative architectural movement that defined Cambodia—and particularly Phnom Penh—during the 1950s and 1960s.
Following Cambodia’s independence from France in 1953, King Norodom Sihanouk spearheaded a grand modernization program. This movement blended international modernist principles (like Bauhaus and the works of Le Corbusier) with traditional Khmer elements, motifs, and climate-conscious design.
True to the shophouse tradition, the ground floor serves as commercial space (shops, mechanics, cafes) with open storefronts and awnings, while the upper floors are dedicated to dense residential living.
Today, blocks like the ones here tell a vivid story of Phnom Penh’s layered history. They survived the evacuation of the city during the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s. When residents returned in the 1980s, these structures were re-inhabited and organically modified.
June2026