Master musician Kung Nai listens to his students practicing during a class at Cambodian Living Arts, Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.
Master musician Kung Nai listens to his students practicing during a class at Cambodian Living Arts, Phnom Pehn, Nai, often called "The Ray Charles of Cambodia," is one of the best-known and celebrated artists in the chapei tradition. Accompanied by his own spirited strumming on the chapei dang weng (a Cambodian long-necked lute), Kung Nai, with his lively voice and tenacious word play, regularly brings audiences to their feet with his gift for improvising poetry and song. Now one of the few surviving masters in the chapei tradition who studied before the Khmer Rouge genocide in the late 1970's, in which an estimated ninety percent of Cambodian artists perished, Kung Nai continues to strive to promote and teach this beloved art Living Arts works to support the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts and to inspire contemporary artistic expression. CLA supports arts education, mentorship, networking opportunities, education, career development, and income generating projects for master performing artists who survived the Khmer Rouge as well as the next generation of student artists.
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Photo credit: © Matthew Wakem / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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