Artist Residency
One coast, one to three months, and something left behind.
For artists, filmmakers, photographers, writers, musicians, architects and researchers. Fully funded places for Cambodian artists.
The programme
Inspired by Kep. Created by Artists.
Most residencies offer time and quiet. This one offers a subject. Kep is a working coast of crab traps, salt pans, mangrove channels and pepper farms, with a fishing fleet ageing out and a town of modernist villas falling down.
Artists come for one to three months, up to three at a time, with a studio, accommodation and an introduction to the people whose labour this place runs on. If you want your practice to meet a place that will argue back, apply.
Artists
The Artists of Kep
Cambodian and international artists, filmmakers, photographers, writers, dancers and researchers who have worked in Kep, and the work they made here.
Art for Kep has hosted artists in Kep since January 2026. Some came for two weeks, some for two months. Between them they have photographed the villas of independence, worked with the crab-trap fishermen, danced with the tide, gathered a century of stories from the Gulf, and built textile figures that stood against the sea at Kep West.
Every artist keeps ownership of their work. Where work was made with named people from Kep, those people are credited too.
No artists match these filters.
Money
What is funded, and what is not.
We publish this because most residencies do not.
Cambodian and regional artists are funded: accommodation, studio, meals, logistical support, and some materials at no cost. We aim for at least 50% of each year’s places to go to Cambodian artists.
A donor may fund a named residency. Donors have no say in selection, no claim on the work and no right to approve what an artist makes. Selection happens before any donor is approached.
There is no application or participation fee at any stage. Artists keep ownership of everything they make. More info — apply here.
What we ask
Three conditions, not negotiable.
One free public activity
One free public activity during your stay, open to the Kep community: a workshop, an open studio, a talk, a screening or a class.
Consent and credit
If you photograph a fishing family or record a salt worker, they are told what the work is for, they are credited, and they see it before anyone else. We provide translation.
Something left with Kep
A work, an archive, a set of images, a recording or a piece of research, held in the Art for Kep collection and shown again.
Who can apply
Practice over paperwork.
Visual artists, photographers, writers, performers, dancers, musicians, composers, filmmakers, architects, designers, researchers, and artists working in ecology and materials.
Two years of active practice, 21 or over, and a proposal that connects to Kep. You do not need a degree, gallery representation, a record of exhibitions, or English as a first language. Proposals in Khmer are welcome and are read in Khmer.
What is provided
From Art for Kep and its founding partners.
Private accommodation on the grounds at Knai Bang Chatt. Indoor and outdoor studio space. 2 meals. Potentially a materials budget, and help sourcing what Kep does not stock. Introductions, arranged with their agreement, to fishing families, boat-builders, salt producers, pepper farms and the team at Marine Conservation Cambodia. An exhibition or public presentation, with documentation you keep and may use. Local travel, wellness classes and coastal excursions. Help with visas and with applying to your own country’s cultural funds.
Selection
Chosen by practitioners, not by funders.
Applications are read on the first Monday of every month by our selection committee: Dr LinDa Saphan, Pierre-André Romano and Reaksmey Yean, with Cédric Eloy advising on film and Marc Cholleton on music. They are external curators, scholars and practitioners, convened by the Vice President. None is a funder or sponsor of Art for Kep, and no donor or sponsor has any say in who is selected.
They judge the strength of the practice, the seriousness of the proposal, how the work meets Kep and its communities, and whether we can actually support what you want to make.
Steps
From application to arrival.
Prepare
Artist statement, CV, portfolio, project proposal.
Apply
One form, year-round. Reviewed on the first Monday of the month.
Review
Decision within three weeks.
Interview and arrive
In person or online, then dates and your public activity are agreed.
Why this exists
Jef Moons, founder and President.
Kep gave me twenty years. This is the part of the work that has nothing to do with hotels.