Malaysian museums and festivals prepare for the return of major art events

Art In The City 2021, which is the Cultural Economy Development Agency's (Cendana) leading art platforms, is set give Kuala Lumpur a vibrant lift from the pandemic blues through an extensive arts and culture programme running from October to December. Photo: Filepic/The Star

There will be no shortage of major art exhibitions when museums, art institutions and festivals get back into the groove.

You might have to pre-register to gain entry into museums, there definitely won't be grand exhibition openings with big crowds and much of the art gallery programming nationwide will still be scaled down to control the flow of visitors.

But the good news is art in Malaysia is ready to make a comeback with restrictions.

The month of October will serve as a keen indicator of how future art programming can carry on, with all post-pandemic public health safety considerations in place.

At Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, the doors are still shut as it prepares for its next exhibition, a showcase of paintings from the late artist Kok Yew Puah.

Kok Yew Puah: Portrait Of A Malaysian Artist, curated by Ilham Gallery director Rahel Joseph and Beverly Yong of RogueArt, is scheduled to open in mid-October.

The exhibition focuses on the work of a Malaysian who chose to become an artist twice – first as an abstract printmaker in the early 1970s after completing his studies in Australia, and the second time after leaving the art scene to run a family business, before returning to his practice as a figurative painter.

In the past 20 months, Ilham Gallery has shown one major exhibition Bayangnya itu Timbul Tenggelam: Photographic Cultures In Malaysia, with several disruptions to the show’s programming and gallery closures.

Ilham Gallery will be adhering to the Government's public health guidelines, with gallery admission only for fully vaccinated visitors. The gallery will also be operating on a limited audience capacity until further news on the loosening of more pandemic restrictions.

“Throughout the pandemic, Ilham Gallery has never stopped engaging with the public despite having our doors shut. We have given the gallery a virtual presence. But the on-site gallery experience is still something we all miss,” says Joseph.

Kok Yew Puah: Portrait Of A Malaysian Artist offers a bright restart to Ilham Gallery’s activities, which will also include the much-anticipated Ilham Art Show next April, featuring 31 local contemporary artists.

Ilham Gallery will reopen next month with an exhibition focusing on the late Malaysian painter's Kok Yew Puah's works. Photo: Ilham Gallery

Next month also offers good news for art lovers in Kuala Lumpur with the Art In The City 2021 (AITC 2021) programme, which will gauge the public’s appetite for arts events as pandemic restrictions are gradually eased in the capital.

AITC 2021 is an expanded public arts programme involving public and private partnerships.

These arts and culture programmes include the Kuala Lumpur Creative Economy Forum, Panggung Rakyat, Cendana Open Arts Classes, The Light Project, Studio C, KLWKND, SENSORii and a symposium on the “National Cultural Congress 1971 – 50 Years On”. These programmes, with a list of art exhibits and gallery tours, will be rolled from this October to December.

For the visual art enthusiast, the checklist of highlights for AITC 2021 is a long one.

In November, maverick festival director Joe Sidek will be at the helm of the KLWKND programme, which focuses on the capital’s rich history, arts, design, culture and heritage.

KLWKND's programmes, from Nov 25-28, will look to revive pandemic-hit KL arts venues such as The Godown KL; Panggung Bandaraya DBKL, Pasar Seni, and REXKL. Each venue is expected to host its own “festival village”.

For digital art fans, the media art exhibition titled SENSORii, focusing on light, colour and sound, is a highlight in KL in December. It features multimedia artist Lim Kok Yoong in collaboration with KC Tan, Flux 28, Wee Jia Foong, Ashly Nandong and Azarikh Amran.

The site-exclusive SENSORii, which takes place at REXKL from Dec 1-28, will be curated by artistic director Yap Sau Bin, producer Melissa Teoh and music by Ahmad Muriz Che Rose.

The Light Project public art tour will be a programme - from November to next March - that will go beyond the borders of Kuala Lumpur. It is a Think City collaboration with local municipalities. You will find six participating cities here: Kuala Lumpur (in collaboration with Interstellar Studio-Jun Ong), Batu Pahat, Kuching, Ipoh, Melaka and Butterworth.

Seven museums in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Melaka will also reopen on Oct 2 with strict standard operating procedures (SOP) adherence.

The museums are the National Museum (Muzium Negara), Malay World Ethnology Museum, Orang Asli Crafts Museum, Music Museum, National Textile Museum in Kuala Lumpur; National Automobile Museum in Selangor; and Malaysia Architectural Museum in Melaka.

"Visitors are only allowed to enter by registering in advance via e-janjitemu. Walk-ins are not encouraged.

"Visitors aged 17 and below are allowed to visit the museums accompanied by parents or guardians who are fully vaccinated," outlined a statement by the Department of Museums Malaysia.

A security guard manning the entrance at National Museum (Muzium Negara) is readying up for museum reopening day on Oct 2. All the public health guidelines will be in place to ensure the safety of visitors, who must pre-register online for museum entry. Photo: Filepic/The Star

However, there will be a longer wait for the National Art Gallery (NAG) in Kuala Lumpur to reopen.

NAG has been closed for renovations since last August, and will only reopen in the first half of 2022, tentatively in February.

At the moment, the physical action has shifted to its Langkawi branch since the island is now open to tourists.

There’s also positive updates for the various artists involved in this year’s George Town Festival (GTF) in Penang in July.

The festival had to postpone all 10 art exhibitions in its programming, such as Sama-Sama: George Town, A Multicultural Art Journey by Penang-born artist Lefty Julian and Thank God It’s Monday by multidisciplinary artist Red Hong Yi and her team, when it pivoted fully online in July.

All the artists now have a timeline to finally see their on-site exhibitions materialise.

Jack Wong, GTF’s festival director, shares that plans are underway to bring back most of these art exhibitions under a new banner called “Nine Days Eight Exhibitions”, scheduled for a November showing at seven locations in George Town.

Cartoonist Lefty Julian’s postponed exhibition 'Sama-Sama: George Town' is set to be moved to a new date in November in Penang. Photo: George Town Festival

Also making a physical comeback is the annual CIMB Artober programme with the theme “Enjoying Art From Every Angle”.

The participating galleries are Artas Gallery, Art WeMe, A+ Works Of Art, Core Design, Cult Gallery, G13 Gallery, Richard Koh Fine Art, Segaris Art Centre, Suma Orientalis and Taksu.

“We hope this will spur the recovery of our art scene. At the same time, art exhibitions are a highly social experience, and we want art lovers to experience being in galleries again with the applicable health and safety SOPs in place,” says Gurdip Singh Sidhu, CIMB Group’s group chief sustainability officer.

This year’s programme includes a line-up of curated digital content, virtual talks and gallery hopping.

One of the highlights is the CIMB Artober 2021 Hotel Art Fair, happening from Nov 4-7 at Element Kuala Lumpur, supported by the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana).

“We believe this will provide a new experience for the public to enjoy art. Also, we want to encourage staycations to restart the hospitality business as well,” says Gurdip.

Gurdip says his team will be closely monitoring any pandemic related developments to make sure proper SOPs are enforced, including limiting the number of visitors.