MÍMÜ
phnom penh
MiMü PHNOM PENH by metas is an attempt to establish the first Mini Museum of Contemporary Art in Phnom Penh. It started as a provocative research project by Metaestetica Lab, focusing on participatory and collaborative aesthetics. It was housed in a just 10-square meter backroom at the Cambodian-German Cultural Center “Meta House”, supported by the Cambodian Cultural and Creative Association CICADA and the Italian-Cambodian Arts Project.
As part of the “Metas family,” this private mini-museum has now doubled its space and settled permanently in Meta House, inviting the public to engage in a plurivocal conversation on the meaning and significance of art and culture in relation to lived life and digital experiences in our diverse contemporary societies. It features research, knowledge sharing, workshops, and visual presentations through various media, showcasing videos, prints, installations, and fine arts through interactive events and live performances.
Believing that a small space offers opportunities for experimentation rather than limitations, the mini-museum is planning a high rotation of exhibited works, welcoming contributions from courageous artists, collectors, gallery owners, critics, professors, teachers and art lovers.
METAESTETICA LAB was founded by Carlo Santoro in Beijing in 2012, in the well-known Beijing Art Zone 798, at the Sarus Art Center. The activities proposed in the laboratory are aimed at deepening the theoretical assumptions of the “eventualist movement”, which originates in 1979 from the research group on the psychology of art in Rome. The intent is to support an open vision capable of promoting a conscious restructuring of socially shared assumptions through the interaction between the public and the works proposed by the laboratory. Between 2019 and 2022, Metaestetica Lab held several exhibitions and workshops in Cambodia, including those at Factory Phnom Penh and Royal Railway Station. The research project ‘Vision On The Future’ started in 2023, transformed a backroom at Meta House into a mini-museum and resulted in MiMü PHNOM PENH.
ON-GOING EXHIBITION
Svay KEN (1933-2008): A PAINTER’S PAINTER
Cambodia’s first contemporary Mini-Museum “MiMü” is proud to present a selection of Svay Ken paintings, collected by Nico Mesterharm and Marco Kalinna. It comprises works by the late artist (1933-2008), which have shaped our views of Cambodian life between the years of independence and the early 2000s. The show is curated by German artist Ernst Altmann, who lives and works in Cambodia.
Free Entrance
