Cardamom Tented Camp in Cambodia announces artist-in-residence programme

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp in Cam­bod­ia has announced an artist-in-res­id­ence pro­gramme. Three Khmer artists inspired by nature will cre­ate art and lead guest work­shops at the remote eco­lodge renowned for its forest conservation.

‘Melody of the Forest’

Khmer artist Im Pesey will take up res­id­ence from June 21 to July 5 at the nature-first ten­ted Car­damom Ten­ted Camp which is access­ible only by river and is sur­roun­ded by 18,000 hec­tares of indi­gen­ous forest in Botum Sakor Nation­al Park in the south­w­est of the country.

The camp is in advanced dis­cus­sions with two oth­er Khmer artists for res­id­en­cies later in the year. All artists in the pro­gramme are invited to reflect the sur­round­ing nature in their work. They will hold a min­im­um of two work­shops with guests dur­ing their stays. A ded­ic­ated open-air artist’s work­space, the Art Pavil­ion, has been cre­ated at the camp.

The inaug­ur­al res­id­ency with Im Pesey is entitled ‘Melody of the Forest’.

“Through dir­ect obser­va­tion and immer­sion in the camp’s envir­on­ment, I aim to devel­op a series of paint­ings and draw­ings that trans­late sens­ory exper­i­ences into express­ive visu­al forms,” said Im Pesey.

Rather than cre­at­ing lit­er­al doc­u­ment­a­tion of the forest, Im Pesey noted that his work will focus on atmo­sphere, mood, emo­tion­al memory, and the coex­ist­ence between humans and nature. Dur­ing his res­id­ency, he plans to cre­ate water­col­our paint­ings, ink wash stud­ies, mixed-media sketches, and small-to-medi­um-scale paintings.

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Workshop participation

All artists will host a min­im­um of two work­shops where guests can join them in nature obser­va­tion and draw­ing. These are designed for par­ti­cipants of all skill levels.

“We are ini­tially cre­at­ing the artist-in-res­id­ence pro­gramme for Cam­bod­ia-based paint­ers, illus­trat­ors, sculptors, film­makers, research­ers, writers, and more — artists whose work is inspired by themes of nature, con­ser­va­tion, and tran­quil­lity,” said Mar­sha Niemeijer, the camp’s artist res­id­ency director.

“We want to encour­age dia­logue between the artist, the envir­on­ment, and our guests, and build a dynam­ic com­munity with cre­at­ive out­comes inspired by nature,” she added.

The inspir­a­tion for the pro­gramme came, in part, from The Long Run’s 4Cs oper­a­tion­al frame­work for respons­ible travel & tour­ism entit­ies. The 4Cs guidelines place emphas­is on cul­tur­al goals along­side those of con­ser­va­tion, com­munity, and commerce.

Im Pesey cur­rently exhib­its his work at Phnom Penh’s Gal­ler­ist art gal­lery, which is help­ing Mar­sha Niemeijer source artists for the programme.

Each artist receives a sti­pend, accom­mod­a­tion, and full board from Car­damom Ten­ted Camp. Artists will donate at least one art­work cre­ated dur­ing their stay for per­man­ent dis­play at the camp.

Book­ings to stay at Car­damom Ten­ted Camp dur­ing the res­id­en­cies, and fur­ther inform­a­tion about the pro­gramme, are avail­able.

Two addi­tion­al res­id­en­cies for 2026 fea­tur­ing Cam­bod­i­an artists will be announced in the com­ing weeks.

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About Cardamom Tented Camp

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp is an eco­lodge loc­ated in the foot­hills of the Car­damom Moun­tains in Cam­bod­ia. The 12-unit ten­ted camp — with a res­taur­ant pavil­ion, staff dorm­it­ory, eco­tour­ism equip­ment, and boat pier — uses sol­ar power to run lodge amenities.

The camp has its own wastewa­ter fil­tra­tion pro­cess. There is no road access; the camp is access­ible only by riverboat or forest hike.

The lodge aims to min­im­ise the human foot­print on the nat­ur­al world and serve as a role mod­el in pro­mot­ing sus­tain­able eco­tour­ism prac­tices with­in both the nation­al park and Cam­bod­ia as a whole.

Loc­ated on an 18,000-hectare (180-square-kilo­metre) con­ces­sion, the lodge and its sur­round­ings are home to pristine low­land and coastal hab­it­ats link­ing wild­life cor­ridors to the Car­damom Moun­tains. Eco-friendly trekking and kayak­ing pack­ages are avail­able for adven­ture enthu­si­asts who are keen to be a part of real con­ser­va­tion work.

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp is a three-way ini­ti­at­ive between Minor Group, YAANA Ven­tures, and Wild­life Alli­ance to ensure the land and its biod­iversity do not fall into the hands of log­gers, poach­ers, and sand-dredging oper­a­tions. Income from the camp’s oper­a­tions helps fund Wild­life Alli­ance forest patrols. 

The camp’s slo­gan is: ‘Your stay keeps the forest standing’.

Awards and accolades

• Nov 2025 – Inter­na­tion­al Centre for Respons­ible Tour­ism (ICRT) Glob­al Respons­ible Tour­ism Awards (Final­ist)
• Nov 2025 – World Lux­ury Travel Awards (Win­ner – Ten­ted Camps)
• June 2025 – Travel + Leis­ure Awards for Asia Pacific (List­ing)
• June 2025 – ICRT SE Asia Nature Pos­it­ive Gold Award (Win­ner)
• June 2023 – Travel + Leis­ure Awards for Asia Pacific (List­ing)
• Oct 2022 – Hotel Invest­ment Con­fer­ence Asia Pacific (HICAP) Sus­tain­able Award for Cli­mate Action (Win­ner)
• Oct 2021 – Green Des­tin­a­tions Top 100 Des­tin­a­tion Stor­ies in the World (List­ing)
• Aug 2019 – UK Nation­al Geo­graph­ic Trav­el­ler ‘Earth Col­lec­tion’ (List­ing)
• July 2019 – Pacific Asia Travel Asso­ci­ation (PATA) Gold Award for Eco­tour­ism (Win­ner)
• April 2019 – World Travel & Tour­ism Coun­cil (WTTC) Tour­ism for Tomor­row Change­maker (Final­ist)

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