The BookStreet event returns after two years with over 35 rare book vendors set to welcome book lovers and collectors to Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya this weekend. Photo: Zari Mahmood
RARE BOOK MARKET: BOOKSTREET
Venue: Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya
Date: Sept 3 and 4
It’s taken more than two years to get the BookStreet event back on track. It is set for a reboot at Amcorp Mall this weekend.
With over 35 used and rare book vendors on board, this book community-based event is set to reconnect with seasoned collectors and also to welcome curious visitors who want to start their vintage book journey.
This niche event, with a vast network of sellers, specialises in mainly vintage/rare, out-of-print and first edition books.
Books on Malaysian history, politics and academic titles right to comics, fashion and food titles will be on sale.
Muzium Negara via its Department of Museums Malaysia’s library will also exhibit its popular publications.
Also, don’t miss the mini exhibition at BookStreet that will showcase rare book covers and photographs.
The Bookstreet event is free admission. It will run from 10am to 8pm.
A line-up of pop-up coffee kiosks will add quality caffeine to zest up the book hunting fun.
A close-up detail of Rizalman Misran's watercolour work 'Wet Market' (2022), which is part of the exhibition at the Pulau Ketam International Art Festival this weekend. Photo: Handout
ART: PULAU KETAM INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL
Venue: Multiple community, arts spaces on Pulau Ketam, Selangor
Date: Sept 2-5
The Pulau Ketam International Art Festival makes a return this weekend with a line-up of local and foreign artists that will set up workshops and exhibitions at a few community spaces on this fishing village island, off Port Klang in Selangor.
The free admission festival, themed "Actour" is a collaboration between the Pulau Ketam Art Association, Angkatan Pelukis SeMalaysia and The Malaysia Watercolour Society, with support from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia and National Art Gallery.
The programme will include a flag banner painting session on Sept 3, while the Hwa Lien Chinese school hall is set to welcome visitors with a series of art workshops and live painting sessions.
Make a day trip to this festival. Enjoy the art on parade and don't miss out on Pulau Ketam's charming attractions and seafood.
Tip: do sort out comfortable walking shoes that will help you wander through wooden stilts, bridges and temples in this rustic fishing village that hugs the coastline.
More info here.
TALK: CONSTRUCTIONS OF RACE AND IDENTITY: FASHION IN PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE MALAY PENINSULA, 1890-1940
Venue: Rumah Attap Library and Collective, Zhongshan Building, KL
Date: Sept 3, 3pm
This sharing session by Li-Xuan Teo, a historian and cultural researcher, provides an overview of how ideas about race and cultural identities were presented through the use of fashion and design in photographs from Singapore and the Malay Peninsula from 1890 to 1940.
It will examine a range of sources, including postcards, ethnographic photographs, and studio portraiture, to explore how questions of agency, personhood, and modernity affected the lives of everyday people in the colonial era – looking past the idyllic landscapes and smiling faces, into the circumstances surrounding the creation of the image itself.
This event, organised by Malaysia Design Archive, starts at 3pm.
More info here.
A total of 29 wayang kulit puppets were made for Cheng Yen Pheng's 'Panggilan Lang' project. Photo: Cheng Yen Pheng
FILM SCREENING: PANGILLAN LANG
Venue: Ilham Gallery, KL
Date: Sept 3, 3pm
Ilham Gallery will host a special screening of artist Cheng Yen Pheng’s Panggilan Lang tomorrow at 3pm.
During her research of communities in Terengganu in 2020, Cheng discovered the “Wau Lang”, which is a distinctive type of wau (kite) that is only made and played by a specific community from the kampung areas in Chendering, Terengganu during the monsoon season.
Panggilan Lang offers a story based on this unique kite and the communities keeping this tradition alive. Cheng also collaborated with traditional performing arts troupe BaiZam Generation to create a brand new wayang kulit piece that tells the story of Wau Lang.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session. Email ilhamgallerykl@gmail.com to book a film screening spot.
More info here.
ART: RIMBUN DAHAN OPEN DAY
Venue: Rimbun Dahan, Kuang, Selangor
Date: Sept 4
If you are keen on a scenic trip via kampung roads to an independent art gallery/space outside the KL art circuit, then a visit to the Rimbun Dahan Open Day this Sunday is just what the doctor ordered.
Rimbun Dahan is the home of renowned architect Hijjas Kasturi and Angela Hijjas, in the village of Kuang in Selangor.
Current resident artists Emma O’Hara and Paul Nickson Atia will display the works they have made during their residency and art lovers can also check out the studio installation series “Please Do Not Sit” by resident artist Dhavinder Singh.
This Sunday, Rimbun Dahan’s heritage houses and its “Underground Gallery” will also be open for visits.
Free entry, no registration required. The day-long event runs from 10am to 6pm.
For early birds, Angela Hijjas will give a tour of her 5.6ha indigenous South-East Asian garden from 9am. Bookings for garden tour required. Whatsapp 017-310-3769 or email arts@rimbundahan.org.
More info here.
Orang Asli artist Jefree Salim’s photography exhibition and photobook titled 'Seletar', which will be launched at the Gerimis Gallery at GMBB in KL this Sunday. Photo: Handout
PHOTOGRAPHY: SELETAR EXHIBITION AND PHOTOBOOK LAUNCH
Venue: Gallery Gerimis, Level 3, GMBB, KL
Date: Sept 4, 2pm
Gerimis Art Project has another memorable community event ahead with the launch of Orang Asli artist Jefree Salim’s photography exhibition and photobook titled Seletar.
During the launch event (2pm-5pm), Gerimis will host a sharing session, as well as a guided tour by Jefree.
Jefree is a self-taught photographer and a fisherman from the Orang Seletar village of Kampung Sungai Temon, Johor Baru. His photographic work revolves around the lives of the Orang Seletar, capturing the moments of his people as they work, swim, and play in the sea and what remains of the mangroves at the coast of Johor.
His 76-paged bilingual photobook features selected photographs from over the past years, a brief history of the sea people and his family genealogy, and a look into the lives of the Orang Seletar through his lens.
The exhibition features 11 of Jefree’s best work, and a video installation as well as an art installation by Gerimis.
The exhibition will run from Sept 4 to Nov 30.
More info here.
