Big, doe eyes with long hair and dressed in traditional clothes – this is the appearance of a doll made by a young Cambodian artist in Siem Reap. It is very honorable that Cambodian youth had the idea to make dolls themselves. The beautiful Khmer Apsara dolls and ancient paintings posted on Facebook have become popular recently and received many ‘likes’ and ‘shares’.

One picture in particular was posted by “Amazing Cambodia”, and the creator of the doll is referred to “Banjureth Art”.

Banjureth Art also posted, “Hope all you guys like it. All dolls have a meaning and show the activities of traditional Khmer dancing."

Moreover, there are many comments by faithful Facebook fans. Sophada Fayadh commented: “Very beautiful!” Nuj Dobbs posted: “Not a fan of the doll but love the dress . . . very beautiful.”

Even though the doll is a solid creative outlet for young Cambodians, some comments request a few tweaks to the design of the dolls.

Reacxmey Angkor suggested the doll doesn’t look very Khmer but are still pretty. In agreement, Catona Karin said, “should have blacker hair and darker skin . . .by the way – good work...!”

Sokunthea Keo Kong posted, “I love it . . . if I was asked to give advice to the designer, I would ask them to design the doll with a more Khmer-looking face. I feel like it’s a Western doll in a Khmer Apsara dress. But it is a good start.”

Concerning the doll decoration, Amazing Cambodia answers responds: “The artist doesn’t produce the doll, he/she just decorates the doll with Khmer traditional fashion. Let’s say Apsara doll!”

It’s very innovative for a young Cambodian to design Aspara dolls but we hope the designer could produce its own dolls and toys to reflect our culture and traditions.