Royal University of Fine Arts

Royal University of Fine Arts
Khmer name	សាកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទវិចិត្រសិល្បៈ
Alternative names	RUFA; University of Fine Arts; School of Fine Arts; Université royale des beaux-arts
Type	Education
Focus areas	Choreographic arts (dance, theatre and circus); music; plastic arts; architecture and urbanism; archaeology
Subjects	Dance & Theatre
City	Phnom Penh
Country	Cambodia
Address	72 Preah Ang Yukanthor Street, Phnom Penh 12206, Cambodia
Website	Website
Operating status	active

The Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) is a public university in Phnom Penh, administered by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, that teaches architecture, archaeology, music, plastic arts and choreographic arts. It is the main school of Cambodian classical dance and, with the Ministry's Department of Arts, one of the primary repositories of Khmer culture. (Wikipedia, Royal University of Fine Arts; Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001); PBS NewsHour and KQED, the 1,000-year-old dance tradition (2015))

History

The university traces its origins to a Khmer Arts School set up inside the Royal Palace. King Sisowath later asked the French artist George Grolier and seven Cambodian artists to establish a new Fine Arts School on the university's present site. Sources give 1917 or 1918 for the first school. (Wikipedia, Royal University of Fine Arts; International Directory of Music and Music Education Institutions, Royal University of Fine Arts (2021))

In 1965 King Norodom Sihanouk established the Royal University of Fine Arts to preserve and nurture traditional arts. It had five faculties, including a Faculty of Choreographic Arts expanded from the national dance group and a Faculty of Music. The university closed in April 1975, when the country fell to the Khmer Rouge. (Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001); Britannica, Royal University of Fine Arts; Wikipedia, Royal University of Fine Arts)

The School of Fine Arts reopened in 1980. In 1988 it became the University of Fine Arts again, and it was later renamed the Royal University of Fine Arts; the 2001 tour notes give 1993 for the renaming, while Wikipedia cites a sub-decree of October 1996. (Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001); Wikipedia, Royal University of Fine Arts; International Directory of Music and Music Education Institutions, Royal University of Fine Arts (2021))

The Faculty (or college) of Choreographic Arts is the umbrella for dance, theatre and circus. The university and the Department of Arts often share personnel and take part in joint projects and tours, but the university is distinguished by its educational mission. The Cambodian fishing dance was composed at the university in the 1960s, and its Music Faculty runs a mahaori orchestra and a symphony orchestra. (Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001); Wikipedia, Royal University of Fine Arts; International Directory of Music and Music Education Institutions, Royal University of Fine Arts (2021))

Its students still perform at national events: in May 2025 they staged performances at Choeung Ek for the Day of Remembrance, and in September 2026 the university hosted rehearsals for a cultural performance welcoming an international conference. (Associated Press, Day of Remembrance at Choeung Ek (2025); Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, rehearsals at the Royal University of Fine Arts (2026))

1990: a tour of the United States by members of the University of Fine Arts, the first large-scale tour of Cambodian work there since 1971 (Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001))
2001: Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia, a United States tour produced by the New England Foundation for the Arts, Asia Society and Lisa Booth Management, with artistic director Proeung Chhieng and more than 30 artists in 11 cities; Hun Pen was among the classical dancers (Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001); Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020))

Wikipedia lists Heng Sophady as rector. (Wikipedia, Royal University of Fine Arts)