Phnom Penh & Arts: Station 350, a new creative hub in the heart of the capital

French artist Theo Vallier, whose works are on display at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, has just opened Station 350, a three-storey creative centre combining a bar and restaurant, gallery, screen printing studio and graffiti shop, in partnership with several partners.

The three-storey building, located in the BKK3 district of the capital, opened its doors last March on the initiative of five partners. The ground floor is dedicated to the New York subway, while the first floor is a loft-style restaurant with a large terrace. The walls serve as a gallery and display works by T. Vallier alongside other street art pieces.

Temporary exhibitions by local and international artists are also planned for the near future.

Théo Vallier's ambition is to ‘create a community and bring people together by targeting the local scene, whether for customers or artists. He also plans to organise regular artist meet-ups, concerts, DJ nights and events to bring together people from different backgrounds and see if collaborations can be formed.’

Théo provided Cambodge Mag with further details about this original initiative:

‘We are here in the heart of Station 350, a place that combines restaurants, bars, exhibition spaces, spray paint shops downstairs, dots, and set design workshops. It's a concept that was born out of a collaboration between five partners, which we have been working on for two years now, and which finally took shape a month and a half ago, after nine months of work.’

Why did you choose this location in Phnom Penh?

After some research, we found a place that fit our project: a large enough space at a reasonable price. We didn't deliberately choose the neighbourhood. However, it's an interesting place, in an area that attracts a lot of tourists.

Tell us about the different spaces in this artistic venue.

At the entrance, there is a small bar and a terrace. These are still transitional spaces that also house the kitchen, but we are going to convert them so that visitors can sit there. This space also provides access to the Dots shop.

What is the concept behind your restaurant?

Our restaurant, located on the first floor, is one of the stops on our ‘subway line.’ The overall space is inspired by the New York subway system, a place rich in street art, with its different stations. The restaurant follows the same theme, with New York-style street food and an evolving menu, as well as reasonable prices.

We want to keep prices affordable so that we can continue to encourage the local artistic community to develop by coming here. That is one of our goals.

The restaurant will evolve with the development of the terrace opposite. Inside, we will host exhibitions, but also provide space for local artists to sell their creations: T-shirts, posters, paintings, sculptures, stickers, etc.

The main space is really here, in the restaurant. We have already organised several events here, including themed evenings with DJs. We also receive requests to hire the space for private functions such as birthday parties and corporate events. We can accommodate up to 100 people, and guests really appreciate this space where they can move from one area to another, have dinner or enjoy a drink on the terrace.

How has attendance been during these first few weeks?

It's very encouraging. We've had a lot of people from the local art community, people we know, of course, but also a few tourists and Anglo-Saxon customers.

Tell us about the screen printing activity.

We have a screen printing workshop that is a partner entity but is part of the concept of a living art space that we want to promote. The basic idea is to offer our own creations while also remaining open to outside commissions.

This workshop helps create synergy with the restaurant. For example, for the first big evening event we organised, we printed customised tote bags for the occasion. We can also offer live performances.

The workshop is therefore a very creative space and we also host an artist in residence. We are fully committed to the concept. We love it and it also allows us to offer our customers different, original and personalised services.

In addition to tailor-made catering and entertainment services, we organise regular small events, such as quiz nights and board game evenings. Our goal is now to raise awareness of the venue and keep it active outside of events.

Implementing such a project is not easy, but I think we are on the right track. It is true that there is a certain amount of stress inherent in any new venture, but it is creative stress. The five of us complement each other well and have solid skills in our respective fields, so I have good reason to be fairly optimistic about the future.