Mark your calendar: Tim Burton exhibition set to land in KL in March

A scene from Tim Burton’s 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', a stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film from 1993. Photo: Filepic

An international touring exhibition dedicated to the work of US film director Tim Burton is set to land in Kuala Lumpur next year.

The World Of Tim Burton exhibition, which visits South-East Asia for the first time, will open at Pavilion Bukit Jalil on March 21.

In Malaysia, the exhibition will run until July 30, 2023.

Set up by New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMa museum) in 2009, the show takes a journey through the director's inner world, via some 500 sketches dating back to his childhood, as well as photos, models, props and film clips.

With over 800,000 visitors, the premiere of Burton’s art exhibition in New York was the third highest-attended exhibition in MoMA’s history. This sparked the inception of The World Of Tim Burton, a re-conceptualised exhibition that mirrors MoMA’s success designed specifically for touring the world.

What can Malaysians expect?

Organised by Toybox Projects in conjunction with partners Eurasian Entertainment Consultants Ltd and KOL Nation, and supported by venue partner, Pavilion Bukit Jalil, The World of Tim Burton focuses on the distinctive characters and worlds that could only come from Burton’s singular imagination.

"Comprised of approximately 540 works – including signature pieces from the Tim Burton retrospective as well as over 150 new works not seen in the MoMA exhibition tour – The World Of Tim Burton gives new audiences an opportunity to experience Burton’s art in person for the first time and treats familiar visitors to an in-depth look further into his sensibility," reads a media description about the exhibition.

To enhance the exhibition experience, The World of Tim Burton has also categorised the filmmaker's extensive career of five decades into 10 thematic sections. Each section is composed of paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, multimedia art, sculptures and more.

While Burton had been previously known almost exclusively for his cinematic work, including Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Ed Wood (1994), Big Fish (2003), Corpse Bride (2005), and Sweeney Todd (2007), this upcoming exhibition in KL is set to present the full range of Burton's creative pursuits, revealing a versatile artist whose unique vision transcends mediums and formats.

Tickets for The World of Tim Burton exhibition at Pavilion Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur will be available at KOL Nation and TicketCharge from Jan 11, 2023, and at the exhibition venue from March 21, 2023.

At present, the immersive exhibition Van Gogh Alive is showing at Pavilion Bukit Jalil.