Beyond the Mekong

Breathing Fresh Life into Cambodia’s Art Scene

Recent Features

Beyond the Mekong | Society | Southeast Asia

Breathing Fresh Life into Cambodia’s Art Scene

A conversation with artist Tyta Buth.

Breathing Fresh Life into Cambodia’s Art Scene
Credit: Rebecca Gaetana

At just 24 years of age, Tyta Buth has already established herself at the center of Cambodia’s arts scene. A portrait photographer who attracts hundreds of people to her exhibitions, she encapsulates the rise of a new generation of artists in a country which is rapidly moving away from a past overshadowed by war and genocide.

Buth, who trades under the brand name TytaArt, studied Global Business & Design Management at Regent’s University London and Strategic Design Management at Parsons School of Design, The New School, in New York.

With a keen eye, she captures the nature of humans in their rawest state or, as she describes it, an exposure of the soul.

Based in Phnom Penh, Buth also takes her artistic approach to fields ranging from fashion to entertainment and she is much in demand for private collectors.

Her work is as unique as other younger artists who have emerged amid a post war renaissance including the painter Oeur Sokuntevy and the songstress Channty Kak, who died in a tragic road accident three years ago.

Buth spoke with Luke Hunt about her work, growing up in Cambodia, and the art scene which has taken roots in the aftermath of decades of war and revolution, which ended in 1998.

Luke Hunt can be followed on Twitter @lukeanthonyhunt