Kuala Lumpur set for TripArt experience, spanning three months of arts events

An aerial view of the River of Life area at night in downtown Kuala Lumpur. TripArt will see a city-wide three month-long series of arts events under CIMB Artober, Art In The City and Arts For All Seasons. Photo: The Star/Izzrafiq Alias

A Minangkabau folk theatre show exploring identity and tradition, a symphonic cross-cultural marriage between Chinese/Malay percussion, East and West stringed musical shows, multimedia light performances, art exhibitions and culture-centred forums.

That’s just a sampling of TripArt's programme, a public-private collaboration between the CIMB Group, Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana) and Yayasan Hasanah, the foundation of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

This three-pronged effort aims to spur the recovery of Malaysia’s pandemic-stricken arts industry with a diverse offering of arts and culture programmes.

TripArt, which starts this month in Kuala Lumpur, will see a city-wide three month-long series of hybrid activities under three different initiatives, namely CIMB Artober, Art In The City (AITC) and Arts For All Seasons (ArtsFAS).

For certain, there will be no shortage of on-site events and virtual content to get the KL arts scene back into the groove.

CIMB Artober makes a physical comeback with the theme “Enjoying Art From Every Angle”.

This year’s programme includes virtual talks and art gallery hopping over 13 weekends, featuring over 100 local artists.

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.

AITC 2021, supported by Cendana, runs from Oct 14 to Dec 28 and is set to give Kuala Lumpur a vibrant lift from the pandemic blues through an extensive arts and culture programme.

Celebrate the capital’s rich history, arts, design, culture and heritage in the “KLWKND” programme (running from Nov 25-28). Get acquainted with Malaysia’s traditional culture in Panggung Rakyat, a series of cultural evenings featuring traditional performances led by masters of living traditions. There’s also something for digital art fans in the media art exhibition titled SENSORii (Dec 1-28), focusing on light, colour and sound.

Offering more than 100 activities, AITC will also create an additional 2,000 employment opportunities, a much-needed boost for the arts industry.

Yayasan Hasanah’s ArtsFAS 2021, which was launched last year in response to the pandemic, will feature 21 artists and 31 performances, theatrical productions, workshops, academic forums, exhibitions, webinars, ensemble performances, critical discussions and more.

ArtFAS 2021 will also go beyond the borders of the Klang Valley to Sabah, Penang, Melaka, and Langkawi.

The highlight of TripART is the CIMB Artober 2021 Hotel Art Fair, happening from Nov 4-7 at Element Kuala Lumpur. Fifty artists represented by nine galleries as well as selected beneficiaries of Yayasan Hasanah, Cendana and CIMB Foundation will be displaying their artworks in the hotel rooms which will be converted into a series of mini-galleries.