I want to pass on links to two videos that are worth seeing. The topic struck a very personal cord. It brought back a flood of memories from my childhood and from stories that my family have told me about their struggles during the Pol Pot era.

Cambodian Living Arts is primarily about the vision of one Pol Pot survivor, Arn Chorn-Pond who is trying to save one of the most beautiful aspect of the Cambodian culture, it’s traditional dance and music.

“The old masters of Cambodia are like the king and the queen of their skills, because we don’t write music. We don’t write music notes. The masters teach young people one to one, so if these master die, the whole culture, the whole music would go with these masters. They are a national treasure of Cambodia, they are an international treasure of the world…”

The few masters that have survived Pol Pot are scattered all over the world. Most are old, feeble, and impoverished. Arn Chorn-Pond founded Cambodian Living Arts to find these masters and give them the means to pass the skills on to another generation.

Recently, The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation have partnered with Cambodian Living Arts to document their efforts. You should definitely watch the video at the The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation website. (via John Gruber’s Daring Fireball)

Below is another touching video about the story of an impoverished Cambodian orphan girl whose life is changed because of Cambodian Living Arts. Read more about it here.

Charming Wall is an art gallery based out of NYC. Their website is fun to browse around and is great eye candy. (Found via decor8.)