Alina Mehood at Art for Kep: Movement, Memory and the Coast
- Art for Kep
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
From the banks of Pakistan’s dying River Ravi to the fishing communities of Kep, Alina Mehood spent her Art for Kep residency tracing what disappears when water disappears — and found, in Cambodia’s coastal dances, an unexpected echo of home.
Alina Mehood came to Kep with a question: what happens to the dances and stories of a community when the water they depend on disappears? A Pakistani artist and development communication professional, her work uses movement and community engagement to address exactly that — the cultural loss that follows environmental change.
She came to Kep with a clear focus. “Water levels all around the world are changing, and it’s a big crisis because water decides the livelihood and culture of communities,” she says. Back in Pakistan, her reference point is the River Ravi, a waterway historically central to the culture of the Punjab region. “Now it’s dying, and all the folklore, storytelling, dances around it are also in danger.”
In Kep, she found a parallel. Working with the local fishing community, she discovered that traditional coastal dances had largely stopped being practised. “But I was lucky to find some teachers who are still teaching this form of dance and trying to work on it,” she says. Her residency has been focused on that connection — between what is disappearing along the Ravi and what is at risk along the Cambodian coast.
About the Artist
Alina Mehood is an interdisciplinary artist and development professional from Pakistan whose work explores the intersection of community, culture and memory. Her practice includes curating participatory art projects and performance-based storytelling rooted in social and environmental themes. Over the years she has worked on projects highlighting health narratives, cultural heritage and local resilience, often bridging art with lived realities and giving voice to marginalised communities.
For her residency in Kep, her artistic research turns to eco-cultural storytelling — how climate change reshapes identity, labour and tradition. Her work blends visual storytelling, performance and sound, built in close collaboration with the communities she works alongside.
She sees art as a way to build empathy across geographies. “Salt and Rhythm” continues this trajectory, connecting the fishing songs of Kep with the vanishing water songs of the River Ravi in Pakistan — itself endangered by climate change — transforming them into a shared performance of memory, loss and endurance. “I bring to Kep a cultural sensitivity formed through years of working in South Asia’s diverse landscapes,” she says.
The Workshop
On Saturday 27 June, Alina and Lana Yang led a free movement workshop at Kep West Wellness for the children of the Centre Éducatif de Kep. The session was open to beginners and drew a large group of students, most of them arriving in their school blue jerseys.
The workshop began in the open pavilion, where Alina and Lana introduced the basics of Kathak and Bollywood movement. The children worked in a loose circle, watching and copying, before the session expanded into longer sequences.
Tree pose was held in rows, then came longer movement sequences. The children threw themselves into it — enthusiastic, loud, laughing when they lost their balance and straight back up again. Alina taught from within the group throughout, and the energy in the room kept building. The session ran well over its planned duration, and nobody seemed to want it to stop.
The workshop closed as it had built — with everyone moving together, this time back outside on the wooden deck for a final dance. The group gathered in a circle to bow, closing out an afternoon that had run well past its planned length.
The Wider Project
For Alina, the workshop sits within the broader arc of her residency research. “My artwork is mostly about community engagement for development and behaviour change,” she says. “I’m trying to collaborate, and I hope this project will be a good reflection of collaboration between Pakistan and Cambodia for climate change.”
Watch her interview
The “Move With Us” workshop took place on Saturday 27 June 2026 at Kep West Wellness, guided by Alina Mehood and Lana Yang. Art for Kep hosts international artists in residence at Knai Bang Chatt by Kep West. More information at kepwest.com.
Comments