TWO STORIES BORN IN 2007.
ONE LEGACY FOR 2027.

“INSPIRE AND DRIVE POSITIVE IMPACT”

Soma Group's mission — “Inspire and drive positive impact in society through sustainable solutions” — is not a tagline. It's the architecture of H.O.P.E Cambodia.

Under LCT Krasna Cham's leadership — first female CEO of a major Cambodian group, WEF Young Global Leader 2020 — Soma has built a CSR engine, Soma Initiative, founded on 6 July 2020 around the Creating Shared Value model (Porter & Kramer, HBR 2011). Its three pillars (SDG 3, 4, 13) align precisely with H.O.P.E.

H.O.P.E puts the faces of those children — now adults — on the walls of the country Soma helped build.

THE FOUNDATION ALREADY BUILT

Soma Initiative is not a concept. Since 6 July 2020, it has been an operational CSR engine with documented impact across rural Cambodia. H.O.P.E does not propose a new program — H.O.P.E amplifies the program that already exists.

Krasna Cham is the Chair of Soma Initiative. Kaliane Tea is the CMO of Soma Group, who built Soma's brand identity. Together, they shape how Soma's impact is told.

10 DIMENSIONS

H.O.P.E is not a photo book. It's a transmedia ecosystem where each dimension reinforces the others — social impact multiplies artistic visibility, and vice versa.

THREE LOOPS. ZERO WASTE.

H.O.P.E proposes a circular model where nothing is lost and everything serves the community:

Loop 1 — Art: Monumental portraits installed on bamboo structures across 3 Siem Reap provincial roads (NR6 East, NR66, road to Tonlé Sap) + building facades in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Visible, transformative, inescapable. Anchored on Soma properties (Phase 1) + provincial sites (Phase 2).

Loop 2 — Infrastructure: Each billboard structure is engineered from day one as a demountable shelter. After 4-5 months of exhibition, the bamboo structures are designed to be reassembled as Peace Houses for the poorest families around Siem Reap. Established housing organizations such as Life & Hope Association (Wat Damnak), Habitat for Humanity Cambodia and the Fondation VINCI pour la Cité have been identified as potential partners for this vertical — at research / deal stage, not yet approached.

Loop 3 — Education: All mesh banners are sent to LHA's Sewing School at Wat Damnak, where they become school bags and pencil cases — distributed to children in CFC's 21 schools, orphanages, street schools, and Sunrise Cambodia centres across Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

Materials: PVC-free polyester mesh (OEKO-TEX certifiable) + certified sublimation inks. Safety-testable at Hohenstein Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

No other art project in the world has converted its exhibition infrastructure into permanent housing. Art becomes shelter. Images become school bags. Others recycle material. We recycle meaning.

SOMA'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY STORY

HOW SOMA PARTICIPATES

Everything listed below is something Soma already operates. The partnership activates what exists, on Soma's core capabilities only. All other dimensions are handled by specialized partners (see Ecosystem section).

STRATEGIC ANCHOR + SPECIFIC VERTICALS

H.O.P.E is structured as an ecosystem, not as a single-partner project. Soma Group is the Strategic Anchor in Cambodia, on its core operational strengths. All other verticals are handled by specialized partners. This architecture protects Soma from over-extension, diversifies financial risk, and creates a sustainable 20-year partnership inspired by the Hyundai Motor × Tate Modern model (2014-2036).

RISKS & MITIGATION

A 20-year project with monumental installations across 9 provinces requires serious risk management. Here are the three most critical risks — and how each is addressed before it becomes a problem.

IDENTIFIED PARTNERS

H.O.P.E has identified an ecosystem of organizations already active in Cambodia and internationally. All partners below are at research / deal stage — identified through research, not yet formally approached or signed. Soma Group is the only active partnership discussion. Each organization is mapped to a potential vertical:

THE VOICE OF CAMBODIA

Every installation carries a message. Not an imported quote. Not a Western slogan. The voice of Cambodia itself.

A curated collection of authentic Cambodian citations — traditional Khmer proverbs, 12th-century inscriptions from Jayavarman VII's hospital steles at Angkor, poetry from Krom Ngoy, lyrics from Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea, contemporary voices like Vaddey Ratner and Loung Ung.

On a school wall: “A child has two wings: good education and good manners.”
On a hospital wall: “He suffered the illnesses of his subjects more than his own.” — Jayavarman VII
On a rural billboard: “Don't lie down and wait for luck. You have to work hard.”

Mix of portraits: children of 2007 now adults + children of today. The proverbs work for both generations.

800 years of Cambodian wisdom on the walls of Cambodia's future.

SIX WALLS. THREE ROADS. ONE STORY.

PHNOM PENH — Phase 1 (Sommet, November 2026)

SIEM REAP — Phase 2 (April-May 2027, 20th Anniversary)

Phase 2 also includes 15-20 new facades in Phnom Penh + 10-15 facades in Siem Reap (hotels, institutions, public buildings).
Each billboard: bamboo structure, monumental portrait, Khmer proverb, solar LED lighting. After exhibition: structure designed to become a Peace House (via housing partners, research / deal stage), mesh becomes school bags & pencil cases.

THE ARC

LUDOVIC CAZEBA

French fine art documentary photographer. Photography since November 2004. 20+ years of professional photography.

The 2007 Cambodia photographs received an Honorable Mention at the International Photography Awards. In 2008, the work led to Photo Art Asia — a charity exhibition where 100% of profits went to HIV-positive children in Thailand.

“To photograph what matters. That's the only rule left.”