This Malaysia Day season, GMBB is spotlighting Sarawak's Bhuket community in a new-opened show 'Rattan Exhibition' at its Level 3A arts space. Photo: GMBB
COMMUNITY ARTS: RASA SAYANG
Venue: GMBB, Jalan Robertson, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Sept 16, 11am-8pm
If you're planning to spend your Malaysia Day in KL, the GMBB creative mall is rolling out a day-long Rasa Sayang arts and culture celebration, which involves a building-wide programme.
At its Level 3A exhibition space, you can catch the newly-opened Rattan Exhibition, spotlighting the Bhuket community from Sarawak. This weekend, 12 representatives from the community have made their first visit to KL to share the Bhuket tribe's culture and their beautifully intricate rattan works (including rattan walls and woven mats). There will also be special performances and workshops. This exhibition will be on display until Sept 24.
A family-friendly programme, Rasa Sayang is also filled with many other performances, workshops, and pop-ups, all taking place in a few locations at GMBB. Other highlights include the Star Wars-inspired "Peperangan Bintang": A Shadow Puppet Performance by Fusion Wayang Kulit, a theatre-based series "Documenting The Political Through The Personal" by Five Arts Centre and an indigenous Mah Meri Mayin Jo-oh dance performance by Maznah Unyan and Tompoq Topoh Team.
More info here.
PERFORMING ARTS: 'JEBAT' THEATRE SHOW
Venue: Pentas 1, KLPAC
Date: Sept 17-24
How about an epic theatre show for the weekend? Jebat offers a post-apocalyptic retelling of the classic Malaysian story surrounding the duel between Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat.
Set during a time of constant war and strife, the story focuses on Jebat and his desire for freedom, love and respect, which puts him in opposition to Hang Tuah’s loyalty to his king. Are the bonds of loyalty unbreakable, or is justice the higher calling?
Written by U-En Ng and directed by Joe Hasham, Jebat (presented in English) is The Actors Studio’s biggest production of the year, boasting almost 40 performers on stage performing to specially composed live music with a mix of silat and mixed martial arts battle scenes, amazing sets and costumes, multimedia design and more.
Taking on the lead role is Zul Zamir, who plays Hang Jebat, with Yusuf Amin as Hang Tuah, Swarna Naidu as Dayang (Jebat’s beloved wife), Davina Goh as Tun Teja (The Queen), Sidhart Joe Dev as Sultan Mahmud Shah (The King), Ian Skatu as Bendahara, Anwar Rusdini as Patih Kerma Wijaya, Nabil Zakaria as Hang Kasturi, Faez Malek as Hang Lekir and Nick Augustin as Hang Lekiu.
Jebat is presented by The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat with the support of Yayasan Hasanah’s ArtsFAS (Arts For All Season) programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, as well as KLPac and TAS Foundation.
More info here.
Indie folk outfit Bayangan, featuring Fikri Fadzil, is set to play at the I WANT Festival outdoor concert series in KL's Chinatown vicinity on Sept 16 at 10pm. Photo: Handout
COMMUNITY ARTS: I WANT FESTIVAL
Venue: various locations in Lorong Panggung and MRT Pasar Seni Outdoor (Gate B), Kuala Lumpur
Date: Sept 15-17
A Bayangan live show, a Nasir Jani documentary, a sharing session about 'Datuk Kong' culture (Chinese shrines) right to a typography walking tour, a Mandarin storytelling session and a lettering workshop. The I WANT Festival is definitely not your average Malaysia Day arts festival, especially when you look at its adventurous programming.
This independent festival, in the heart of KL’s Chinatown district, is packed with an array of non-mainstream bands, films, art and workshops. For an open-minded audience, there is much to explore here.
Over the course of three days, the I WANT Festival is providing a unique networking platform - art galleries, outdoor spaces and tourist alleys - for independent artists, musicians and creatives to showcase their work and gain a new audience.
Attendees can expect a diverse and engaging line-up of activities that will celebrate the spirit of independent expression.
More info here.
One of Klang River Festival's family-friendly programmes at Millerz Square, Jalan Klang Lama in KL. Photo: Klang River Festival
COMMUNITY ARTS: KLANG RIVER FESTIVAL
Venue: various locations along the Klang River, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Sept 24
The second weekend of the Klang River Festival promises a Malaysia Day experience with a difference. This independent grassroots event, put together last year by a team of arts activists, aims to create a platform to map out the artistry, heritage, community and the rich biodiversity of the Klang River.
This unique festival offers a programme packed with community engagement, including events surrounding contemporary art, social and cultural issues in KL.
This weekend's highlight is the "Sama-Sama Performances" which brings together local performing arts groups to the KongsiKL arts venue (Sept 17, 8pm). The show - featuring Sun Qing Yuet Cantonese Opera and Cultural Arts Group, Asbari Dance Theatre Group, Laasya Arts Academy, Han Fong Dance Ensemble and Souls Impact - embodies the mission of preserving cultural heritage, and collectively introducing the local performing arts to the masses.
Map out the festival before you head out since activities will be hosted at a number of venues spread along the 120km route of the titular Klang River: upstream (Kampung Warisan at Taman Melawati River Three Park), mid-stream (KongsiKL, Dasein Gallery, Millerz Square, Mid Valley, MIA City Campus, Kongsi Co-Op) and down-stream (Pengkalan Batu, Klang).
“Tanah Air” is the theme of this year’s festival, which encapsulates the essence of homeland and motherland, while emphasising the significance of both land and water in our lives.
More info here.
The Malaysia Games Festival at Dataran Merdeka in KL this weekend is the place for the masses to gather and learn about traditional games from across the country. Photo: The Star/Maria Ibrahim
COMMUNITY ARTS: MALAYSIA GAMES FESTIVAL
Venue: Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Sept 15-17
More than 40,000 visitors are expected to gather this weekend at Dataran Merdeka to celebrate the Malaysia Games Festival in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
The festival will feature a range of family-friendly activities such as traditional game competitions, interactive games, exhibitions, demonstrations and live performances.
For the urban masses, there will be a variety of rarely-encountered traditional games from across the country to discover, including bola sepak kain sarong, sepak raga ratus, kelereng, batu seremban, dam aji, galah panjang, kabaddi, terompah gergasi and tuju tinju.
As a special feature for this year, the festival will also present a “chingay” performance demonstration or acrobatic flag display, a well-known tradition in Penang, and traditional games from Sabah and Sarawak, including rampanau, magunatip, mintubow (Sarawak spinning tops), and menyumpit (blowpipe).
On Malaysia Day, the participants from the Sarong Train 2023 event will also be joining the fun at Dataran Merdeka.
Malaysia Games Festival is also collaborating with the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) to promote recycling and maintain a litter-free festival for its three-day duration. The festival is organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (through JKKN) in collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur City Council and the Malaysian Traditional Sports Association.
More info here.
Wong's 'Grandpa's Smile' (oil on canvas, 2003). Photo: Suma Orientalis
EXHIBITION: WONG WOAN LEE'S 'TILL WE MEET AGAIN'
Venue: Suma Orientalis, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Sept 16-Oct 1
Tomorrow, the Suma Orientalis Fine Art gallery is launching Wong Woan Lee’s solo exhibition Till We Meet Again, which includes a series of unpublished works.
Drawing inspiration from her own family, Wong’s works portray the themes of elderly solitude and alienation prevalent in Asian households. Within the claustrophobic cubicles on the canvas, she has created a complex spatial orientation by implementing the pictorial structure of a multi-layered plane. Through the mesmerising composition and realist approach, Wong conveys the predicaments and the prevailing sentiments of detachment in modern society.
Reflecting on the gradual erosion of familial cohesion, she constructs a maze that mirrors the ageing complexities, placing it within the inferior narrowness of low-cost terrace houses. "In her paintings, the notion of time is neglected, held in the atmospheric glimmers of sunlight traversed through the windows. Repetitive figures and fragments of living scenes are juxtaposed, overlapped, and eventually immortalised into filtered stills," outlines the exhibition notes.
More info here.
A view of the 'My Words Won't Change The World' exhibition at Muzium Telekom, Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli
DIGITAL ART: ‘MY WORDS WON’T CHANGE THE WORLD' EXHIBITION
Venue: Muzium Telekom, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Dec 8
For art lovers looking for an immersive and visually dazzling show to load up on your Instagram feed, then here’s an exhibition to check out this Malaysia Day season.
Muzium Telekom’s new Digital Art Gallery is opening with a bang with My Words Won’t Change The World, a video mapping exhibition curated by Amanda Ariawan and James Ly.
The exhibition, put together by new media outfits Filamen and Anthology of Metaverses, features five multi-disciplinary art practitioners from the region, who are involved in the areas of graphic and motion design, film, photography, graphic design, digital art and more.
The show’s line-up includes Grafis Nusantara, Jowhan Lim, TypeDistortDecay, Naufarel Pandu, and Nabilla Wardhana.
More info here.
Kuik's 'The Eternal Swimmers' (drawing on paper, 2023). Photo: The Back Room
EXHIBITION: MINSTREL QUIK'S 'STORY TIME'
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan Building, KL
Date: ends Sept 24
The Back Room gallery is hosting contemporary artist Minstrel Kuik's solo exhibition Story Time this month. The exhibition, which will include an artist tour at the gallery this Sunday (3pm), features a new body of work from Kuik.
Through a series of 22 colour pencil and graphite drawings engaging with the myth and figure of Medusa, Kuik investigates the deep forms of intuition - feeling and imagination - necessary for acts of artmaking, creation, and storytelling.
Story Time is a departure for Kuik who, in recent years, has exhibited mostly photography, mixed-media installations and fabric assemblages with socio-political themes and personal histories.
This exhibition explores literary, mythological, art-historical, and philosophical sources to meditate on how art might be released from the pressure to comment on contemporary issues in a direct or immediate way. In particular, the myth of Medusa, associated with sight, fear, destruction, beauty, and creation, becomes an apt symbol for the examination of art-making itself.
More info here.
