Children from NGOs CEK and Kep Gardens each built a kite. A large kite was given to Art for Kep, ahead of the kite festival planned for Kep International Art Week in December.
On 28 September 2026, Art for Kep held a two-day Khmer kite-making workshop at the Kep West Wellness Center on Saturday, 26 September, and Sunday, 27 September. Both sessions were full. Children from the NGOs CEK and Kep Gardens took part and took to the work with enthusiasm. Art for Kep had expected forty to fifty children a day. The workshop was organised with the Association for the Conservation and Development of Khmer Kites, and, according to Art for Kep, the National Kite Federation and kite makers also took part.
Each day followed the same programme. It opened with a talk on the khleng ek, the Khmer musical kite, with diagrams showing how the bow, the line, and the tail are fitted. The children then worked in teams to build their own kites and finished with test flights on the lawn. By the end of the sessions, every team had built a kite, and one large kite was given to Art for Kep.
“We are holding this workshop in Kep, at the Wellness Center, in cooperation with Art for Kep,” said Roeung Daro, president of the Association for the Conservation and Development of Khmer Kites. “The aim is to pass on the skill of making the khleng ek and the musical instruments of the kite.”
Jef Moons, CEO of Kep West and founder of Art for Kep, called the workshop an outstanding creative and cultural task for the children involved. “They will build the real old Cambodian kites, the ones that always flew after the harvest,” he said. “Forty the first day, forty the second day: I think this is an exceptional happening for Kep.”
The workshop is part of the lead-up to the first Kep International Art Week, which runs from 11 to 14 December 2026. The programme includes several exhibitions and a kite festival. “We will have kites from all the provinces of Cambodia, and also a few international kites,” said Moons.
Photo by: Sopplied
