As most of the intelligentsia, including artists of every kind, was assassinated during the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge period, there are only a handful of old masters left to teach this generation.

It is vital to set up a Fine Arts School where the almost disappearing Khmer arts of sculpture, silver-smithing, pottery, lacquarware, weaving and painting can be brought back to life. There is a government Fine Arts School, but it is poorly funded and the teachers are underpaid and attendance is mainly by those who can afford it.

We plan to open the school to orphaned and disadvantaged children free of charge, as history has shown that many a talent has come from the realms of the poor and uneducated. We know there are talented children just waiting to be discovered. With this in mind we plan to film a documentary to show the world close up what would be lost if more children are not taught their art and culture. Using Sunrise children it is planned to take them to Angkor Wat for them to see first-hand how gifted their ancestors were and we are very lucky to have the services of Australia’s very own famous actor, Jack Thompson, who has donated 3 days of his time to film this documentary, together with the cinema-photographer, sound man and others in the film team who will all donate their time and talent to get this documentary completed.

What we need now is $50,000 to cover expenses – air fares, food, accommodation, car hire and so on.

A full proposal can be downloaded – please read it has it has much to say about Cambodia’s past and hopefully its future in the field of art.

This project is very close to Geraldine’s heart and for this reason she plans to name it after her adopted Cambodian daughter – hence – The Lisa Devi Fine Arts School.

We have a good start as the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has already agreed to give Sunrise suitable land on a free lease in the city so that the most needy children can get to us.

Please consider assisting us in this project.