Three Japanese core organisers and six international designers – from India, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan – have teamed up with four local creatives from Phnom Penh in looking for answers at the Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site in Kampong Thom province.

The Door to Asia (DTA) project is a ‘designers in residence programme’ where designers from Asian countries gather in a community for a period of time to create “communication design” for local companies, using the power of creativity to contribute to society.

The team first went to the area around Sambor Prei Kuk in early of July, meeting with the Kuoy indigenous community and local craftsmen, with many topics covered.

With the DTA team “aim to keep opening the door to Kampong Thom”, the local creators with the project are returning in the first two weeks of September to run a series of workshops.

And whereas last time they finished with a presentation, this time they say they are looking to take a step forward.

Mai Yoshikawa, one of Japanese core organisers leading the project, said the team is returning with the creations made after the initial visit for a bigger impact.

“Aiming to re-connect the city and the local, the food and the land, and people and people, we are planning to go back to Kampong Thom to continue our work. Each team has created something after the first visit to Kampong Thom as a solution to the appointed topic.

“This time, we are going to see how we can use our created materials to make more of an impact.

“We set the key question as: ‘What are the essential things for us to live in this world?’ During the Covid pandemic many human beings were asking the same question, and I strongly believe that the answers are in Kampong Thom.

“So we invited local and Asian creators to go to Kampong Thom for a week to look for them together in early July,” said Mai.

There were four key topics – “Agriculture and food: Continuing to live with the soil”; “Spirit and soul: Living with the story of the land”; “Housing and scenery: The soul that dwells in our daily lives”; and Town and relationship: Connecting the stories of the town.

Uddam Pen, an illustrator and designer previously at the Vapatoa traditional Khmer dance school in Kampot; Monorom Tchew, the Compost City entrepreneur, and Phnom Penh-based Portuguese photographer Miguel Jeronimo are among the four Cambodia-based designers and artists taking part.

Aok Sochenda, the zero waste lifestyle evangelist from Zerow, is tackling the fourth topic – Town and relationship – in partnership with a Thai designer.

Connecting with nature

Visiting a Kuoy community and producing a video to show how indigenous people are essential are among the activities planned for the second visit. This is aimed at encouraging people to again connect with nature and learn how to love and live with it as do the Kuoy.

A presentation on what was explored around the Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site was shown at Factory Phnom Penh on July 16.

For the second visit there will be the presentation at a school of a children’s book the team has created – an educational fiction story for kids to enjoy learning about the villages.

Sochenda said she was selected to work on the programme with DTA as a local designer/creator.

“I am a content creator and the founder of Zerow. At Zerow, we are working on raising awareness on climate change and climate action.

“DTA is an amazing programme connecting people around Asia to work on certain topics and problems, and to provoke the creation of something meaningful for our society.

“Before I decided to get on board with DTA, I didn’t know much about what we were going to do on the programme.

“I asked, and while it seemed like no one had a clear answer, we all knew it was going to be amazing. We knew we were going to be part of something great,” Sochenda said.

Sochenda said the experience had opened doors to more than just their assigned topic, with her currently working on a social campaign called #showmeyourtree.

So she is working on both the DTA and #showmeyourtree projects on how the Kuoy community live harmoniously with nature.

Going back to Kampong Thom and working with Kuoy community is a special mission for DTA, she added.

“[The Kuoy] have the keys to nature, and the forest is their home, so they are the first group of people affected by deforestation – a major cause of climate change – land concessions and development with a lack of conservation.

“As civilisation enveloped all of us humans, we forgot that forest is not just home to wild animals, but to us too,” Sochenda said.

The founder of Zerow – a community aiming to make it easy for the new generation to be informed, be inspired, and become zero-wasters – she wants people to understand that indigenous people understand the best ways to live in harmony with nature.

This is why DTA set the goal of returning to Kampong Thom province, home to Sambor Prei Kuk, a group of historical sites that was the royal capital more than 1,000 years ago, and is the third UNESCO World Heritage site in Cambodia.

“It is a place full of unique landscapes, and abundant livelihoods and food. However, in the midst of the accelerated growth of modem society, such stories, souls, and philosophies that dwell in the land and in people’s lives are difficult to see.

“And being difficult to see, they are therefore difficult to convey, and are in danger of being forgotten”, Mai said.

With the designers set to explore the archaeological site, Mai explained the power of design can make the world an easier place to live for all – and by the world, she means its people, families, neighbours, communities, cities and societies.

Design is not only for products, she said, but is also important in communication and re-connecting people.

Mai first visited the Sambor Prei Kuk temple complex 17 years ago, and fascinated by the Kuoy way of life, she has since explored what is actually important in people’s lives.

“I feel I was born to come here to learn something essential for all of us. It is getting clear to see another way for people to live more healthily, through revaluating the things that naturally existed in life but are no longer familiar,” she said.

In 2015, Mai founded the Napura Works travel company, and in 2020 took over a hotel that was closing due to Covid pandemic, developing it as a base for her operations.

So far, DTA has held 14 programmes with 96 designers from 22 countries and 46 businesses and local government entities, with Mai seeking to allow people to keep in touch, even with travel restrictions.

“I decided to hold a total of 10 online programmes. The theme was ‘The Role of Design in Social Problems Caused by Pandemics’. The programme is supported by The Toyota Foundation,” said Mai.

She said she was impressed with the Kuoy community’s way of living with the forest, considering their philosophy of living important for today’s society, which was why, together with the creatives, she had visited them to learn more.

This was the reason why she moved to Cambodia, she said, because she wanted to share with others what it means to be alive, something she discovered in and around Sambor Prei Kuk.

“They in Kampong Thom are among our ‘life masters’. I found Sambor Prei Kuk to be not only an ancient site, but also a truly fascinating place, somewhere unique in the world, where the local community lives together with nature.

“I feel that it is a place where people can learn about the way to live by connecting the ancient with the modern,” she said.