VIRTUAL DOCUMENTARY: CHENDERING + JIMMY BOYLE
Date and Time: Unlimited
If it takes a new version of a lost Malaya-era song to get the masses talking about James W. Boyle, then the effort must be applauded. Chendering, an evocative love song about a beach in Terengganu, was written in 1960 by Boyle, who was popularly known as Jimmy Boyle. The Penang-born composer wrote more than 300 tunes during his lifetime.
Chendering was Boyle's own tribute to old Malaya, and the haunting tune gradually found a new audience when it was covered live regularly by Penang-born singer-songwriter Bihzhu, who first heard it in 2016.
"When he was alive, Jimmy’s insistence on incorporating Malaysian elements like zapin and asli (among others) into his music didn’t make him the most popular musician around, but he was firm in his belief that 'in any healthy country, music must be based in the traditions of the past'," Bihzhu posted on social media last year, when she recorded her version of Chendering.
With the help of a grant from the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana), Bihzhu expanded her research on Boyle's music career, with a documentary featuring new interviews with his family members and former bandmate (Ee Fook Sin).
Yesterday, Bihzhu finally launched the long-awaited music video for Chendering and also the mini documentary about Boyle's life, which are both available to watch on YouTube now.
VIRTUAL EVENT: Empowering Deaf Women In Malaysia Through Sign Poetry
Date and Time: Feb 26, 8.30pm
The British Council’s "Connections Through Culture" programme presents an online showcase of new poetry works by Malaysian Deaf women in English and Malaysian Sign Language (which is known as BIM). BIM is not just an acronym but an identity of the Deaf community.
This virtual poetry event that celebrates Malaysian Deaf women’s poetry in BIM will premiere tonight. Titled Empowering Deaf Women In Malaysia Through Sign Poetry, the event will be held on Zoom and interested parties may register here to attend.
The event will also be streamed live on Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association’s Facebook page here.
Tonight’s show is the culmination of a five-months-long online collaboration, started in 2021 between Malaysians and British and Irish artists/educators. A total of 13 Malaysian Deaf women took part in the training. The women participants have successfully produced a total of six poems related to women’s experience, role and struggles. The training was facilitated by three poet educators: Paula Clarke, a deaf educator from Belfast, and Elaine Foster and Dr Sheena Baharudin.
VIRTUAL THEATRE: ASRAMARA
Date and Time: Feb 26 and 27, 9pm
Written by Khairunazwan Rodzy and directed by Shahrul Skye, Asramara follows a group of students who are attending a leadership camp at their own school with the assistance of Cikgu Sabariah and Cikgu Adam. Suhaila and Nabila, two female students, experience sudden hysteria on their final night, and the situation becomes more complicated as incident after incident occurs, involving Cikgu Adam and Cikgu Sabariah as well.
Asramara, ticketed, will be streamed live via Revolution Stage’s website. You can also catch the play on-site.
VIRTUAL THEATRE: SAREES AND SECRETS
Date and Time: Feb 26, 8pm
This virtual theatre experience uses sarees as a storytelling device to unfold the layers of secrets we keep hidden. A collaborative performance by writer/producer Sumitra Selvaraj, multidisciplinary storyteller/theatre director Dhinesha Karthigesu and British theatre maker Abhi Arumbakkam, Sarees And Secrets is at times lighthearted, at others incisive and introspective and asks why do we keep secrets. The show also features several interactive moments and a live post-show discussion via Sumitra’s Instagram page.
Sarees And Secrets will be streamed via Zoom.
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE: SPACES, LANDSCAPES AND PEOPLES IN UPPER PERAK
Date and Time: Feb 28, 7pm
As part of the Jacques De Morgan, Exploring Perak In 1884 exhibition at the Alliance Francaise de Penang, which runs until March 4, the exhibition's curator Dr Antonio Guerreiro will present a conference on his research on de Morgan's journey through Malaysia.
De Morgan was a French archaeologist, who came to Malaysia in 1884 to invest in tin mining. He gradually discovered the Peninsular's incredible diversity of ecosystems. He also recorded how landscapes changed by modernity and was one of the first to document Orang Asli communities in Perak, providing a highly detailed depiction of their way of life in 19th-century Peninsular Malaysia.
This hybrid event will be streamed via Zoom. If you’re in Penang, check this out on-site at Alliance Française’s centre in George Town.
More info here.
VIRTUAL DOCUMENTARY: JALAN HARAPAN
Date and Time: Unlimited
Dancer, choreographer and Five Arts Centre member Lee Ren Xin opens up on her process of working with dance, public space, and ritual in her own neighbourhood.
Part of this project was exhibited at KonsiKL’s Di Situ: An Exhibition, curated by Low Pey Sien last year.
In this video, Lee recounts the observations, encounters, questions and thoughts she had as she walked around in her neighbourhood in the Klang Valley. Through a collage of images and footage and text, taken sporadically between 2017-2020, Lee shares her journey of art and ritual, including how she connected with local communities.
This project was supported by the Krishen Jit Fund and the INXO Arts Fund.
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