A newly opened cultural center in the Cambodian countryside aims to celebrate, preserve, and revitalize the country’s music and arts for future generations.

Three years in the making, The Gong by Swiss architecture firm Atelier Oï is the latest facility to open at the Smiling Gecko campus in rural Cambodia. (All photos courtesy of Smiling Gecko Cambodia)

Draw quickly what you see with your ears,” said Austrian actress Isabel Karajan as a video of musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic performing Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” played on a large screen behind her. At the other end of the stage, a group of young students bent intently over their sketchpads. As the music swelled and faded over the next 45 minutes, they mirrored its frenzied trajectory, scribbling furiously with their markers, the movements of their hands growing wilder and wilder.

For the finale of the multimedia performance, Karajan returned onstage with the children’s drawings clothespinned to her hoop skirt. The sketches depicted vibrant landscapes of lush mountains and grassy plains in summer, stormy skies against churning waves, the plentiful harvests of autumn, a stark winter landscape. Finally, the actress led 11-year-old student Seak Channra in a joyful dance, the young girl quickly overcoming her shyness.

This was the first act at the grand opening of The Gong, a groundbreaking art center that strives to be a cornerstone of cultural exchange and an emblem of Cambodian resilience. The striking circular building is located within the 150-hectare campus of Smiling Gecko Cambodia, a non-profit school and community project based in the rural province of Kampong Chhnang, about 60 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh.

Though it has been decades since the terror of the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodia is still recovering its cultural memory. Traditional arts are fast disappearing, existing mainly for tourist purposes. According to Swiss photographer and Smiling Gecko co-founder Hannes Schmid, instilling a creative mindset in students is sorely needed in order to nurture a new generation of young Cambodians who can uplift the country for the future.

“Creativity in this school is just as important as mathematics, reading, and writing. In fact, one hour of singing, dancing, and role play can be just as beneficial,” Schmid, a still-sprightly septuagenarian, told me.

Inside a Khmer-style bungalow at the Farmhouse Resort & Spa.

Founded a decade ago, Smiling Gecko supports socially disadvantaged Cambodians through education, career training, and empowering self-reliance within rural communities. The site hosts a number of income-generating projects, which I toured on a whirlwind buggy ride with Schmid’s partner in the endeavor, Ngon Sokleap, a charismatic young Cambodian lawyer known to everyone as “Leap.” Besides a charming boutique hotel called the Farmhouse Resort & Spa, which doubles as a hospitality training center, there’s a fish farm, a chicken hatchery, vanilla gardens, and a vegetable farm abundant with long beans, bitter melons, mangoes, and other crops. It’s an impressive feat considering that the land had previously been barren.

We also took a quick peek at the on-site metal and carpentry workshops, the latter of which produced the resort’s furniture. In all, Smiling Gecko employs more than 400 people and supports or sponsors a growing community of about 30,000 farmers, artisans, and families living in the immediate vicinity.

Smiling Gecko’s farming operation grows all manner of vegetables and fruit.

Yet the heart and soul of the campus is its school, which began operations in 2017. Today it teaches some 500 children from kindergarten to high school, in line with international standards. Beyond its educational mission, the school looks out for students’ needs on a holistic level, with daily showers, regular deworming, dentist visits, a campus kitchen offering nutritious meals, and teachers and social workers who keep track of the students’ psychological well-being.

As Leap explained it, a shared desire to weave more music and cultural education into the curriculum eventually sparked the idea for The Gong. After three years of planning and construction, the ambitious US$2 million project was unveiled in late June.

Conceived by Swiss architecture firm Atelier Oï, the building’s circular shape is inspired by the ancient Khmer gong, a symbol of resonance and cultural outreach. The design also enhances the acoustics for recordings and performances, while symbolizing the dissemination of Cambodian culture both locally and globally. Natural cross-ventilation is another feature, thanks to the inwardly slanted roof’s central oculus and an outer shell of perforated brickwork, a construction technique developed with local builders. In the wet season, the building will collect rainwater at its center and channel it to an artificial lake, which will be used to irrigate the farmland during periods of drought. There are also plans to plant a bamboo forest around its perimeter to foster an environment that is conducive to both artistic endeavors and ecological awareness.

As to its main purpose, The Gong houses a 140-seat auditorium for concerts, dance workshops, and educational programs. Then there’s a state-of-the-art recording facility called Sonic Studios, where traditional Khmer music can be documented and archived for future generations, ensuring that the nation’s cultural treasures are not lost.

Over its two-day opening ceremony, the building came alive with a vibrant performance lineup featuring an eclectic mix of international talents and local artists. These ranged from classical Khmer dance and traditional mohaori music on Khmer harps, symphonic numbers from the Phnom Penh–based Angkor Youth Orchestra, an action-packed presentation by the Bayon Circus Troupe, a solo showcase by German pianist Luisa Imorde (who gifted the center with a Bösendorfer grand piano), and an emotional performance by contemporary Cambodian singer-songwriter Kesorrr.

Naturally, the group that captured the most hearts were the Smiling Gecko schoolchildren. The kids sang and danced to several numbers, including traditional Khmer music, a rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart will Go On,” and even rollicking Christmas tunes set against a wintry backdrop.

What left a deep impression on me was Heang Chhun Heng, a young Cambodian artist who plays the kse diev. Having glimpsed it on television as a young boy, Chhun Heng became fascinated by the ancient single-stringed Khmer instrument and its sweet, romantic sound. But his family discouraged him from pursuing music.

After dropping out of architecture school, he managed to find a master who could teach him how to play the kse diev. From 2017 to 2019, he quickly rose to massive popularity via social media. Today, Chhun Heng is a passionate advocate for his country’s rich music heritage, most recently performing at the Orchids of Angkor Wat showcase at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.

He feels that The Gong can be a place for local musicians to create music, release their inspiration, and express their feelings. “I am proud to present the kse diev to the world and I will keep trying every day. The day it becomes seen as a part of world heritage is the day that I can sleep well,” he said.

While exploring the school campus on my last day in Kampong Chhnang, I stumbled upon its library, a lovingly cared-for space filled with donated books. There, I mulled over an inspirational anecdote shared by Leap. He had told me that when they first started Smiling Gecko, the children they spoke to aspired to work at the local garment factory or as a farmer. “In a rural area like this, that was the only dream that they knew. But now, they have different dreams … of being a lawyer, doctor, maybe even a performer.”

Rehearsal time for the Smiling Gecko Campus Singers.

Visiting the Campus

The Smiling Gecko Campus is a good hour’s drive from Phnom Penh. Visitors looking for more than a day trip can book charming Khmer-style rooms at the Farmhouse Resort & Spa (from US$148 a night), profits from which help fund the school. The resort also offers farm-to-table meals and a fine-dining restaurant serving New Khmer Cuisine. See the programs at The Gong.

This article originally appeared in the August/September 2024 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Full Circle”).

Introducing The Gong by Smiling Gecko Cambodia

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