[OSList] a recent OS event in Phnom Penh

[Irene S Leung via OSList]

Greetings from Cambodia. I want to share a story about an OS event I
facilitated in Phnom Penh 2 weeks ago.
But before that, a note of appreciation to all the veteran OS facilitators
who shared tips, scripts, and advice about OST on the internet. Special
thanks to Gail West, who steered me to the right direction during moments
of confusion and doubts.

*Open Space Creatives* is a personal initiative. I wanted to explore a
stopgap measure, or find an alternative to prevailing social attitudes
resulting from decades of aid dependency, government corruption, top-down
management. Even the arts and culture sectors are not immune to attitudes
that keep people from going forward without asking "where is the money to
pay for this?" or "we are waiting for the board of directors to give us a
strategic plan." I invited 3 co-hosts who are regarded as leaders in their
own fields (a gallery owner and art festival director; a senior manager of
an arts organization that works with people with disabilities; and a
technologist who has been a community manager for Mozilla localization).
We then invited everyone we know from visual and performing arts,
architecture, film, writing, technology for a one day gathering around the
question *"How do we do more of what we love?"*

During the planning stage, an anthropologist friend who has lived and
worked in Cambodia for 10 years told me that OST could only work if it was
introduced gradually through a 2 or 3 -day workshop. He said Khmer people
don't like to take responsibilities for their actions. They have such a
strong sense of social hierarchy that they will always look towards someone
else for answers. Also, one of my co-hosts said OST is contradictory to the
way Khmer people interact with each other. After my stint as a consultant
at Cambodia's Ministry of Culture, I know exactly what they were saying as
those behaviors have been a major source of frustrations for me the last 12
months. Yet, the same behaviors are precisely the reasons why I wanted to
experiment with OST in Cambodia. I wanted to know what it takes for people
to dismantle the self-fulfilling prophecy of powerlessness and futility.

What followed during the planning stage were actually confusion and doubts.
All my co-hosts wanted to tweak the format, e.g. announce "half" of topics
ahead of time, or add to the rules. Then Gail set me straight, she pointed
out what OST is and how certain modifications aren't OST. All the noises
from naysayers around me (and inside my head) went quiet.

The event *"How do we do more of what we love?" *was a success. All the
Khmer arts people (e.g. art teacher, art managers, cultural organizers)
really took to the format. In the closing circle, a number of them said
they expected open space to be a physical place on the ground that has no
roof, but now they realized it is a process. The arts managers who work
with people with disabilities were pleasantly surprised with its freedom.
The art teacher from the province who wanted to start a film school asked
how many people OS could accommodate. And a bright young third year college
student wanted to know what other subjects would an OS event be on. And
theater practitioners from New York (Trojan Women project) wanted to know
where I got the facilitation script. After the event, it was clear my
skeptical co-hosts have been won over as well. They want to organize
another event in 6 months.

"Album" of proceedings can be found at https://goo.gl/E0Vfvi
where you'll find Khmer translations of the 4 principles and law of
mobility.
photos on facebook page  https://goo.gl/Zx5Eac
and local press coverage (from a VOA student intern)
http://www.voacambodia.com/a/a-gathering-to-let-creative-ideas-be-heard/3384065.html

Again, thank you everyone who have posted OS tips, scripts, advice, and
stories. It has been an amazing experience and I look forward to hosting
more with arts people inside and outside Cambodia.

Best,
Irene


*IRENE S LEUNG *PhD

*culture as development*+855-12-298-225
https://culturalcapitalists.wordpress.com/about/
https://openspacecreatives.wordpress.com/
*"If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it
will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater
than their fear." -- Joanna Macy*
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