Make and take a brick home from the Tukang Festival in PJ

Cheng will be introducing her new experimental public sculpture project at the Tukang Festival this weekend at The Spine in Petaling Jaya. Photo: The Star/Daryl Goh

Award-winning artist Cheng Yen Pheng invites you to get your hands dirty and join her in handcrafting bricks, which you can also take home. Syiborisyd and Aruznadi are ready to introduce the art of making natural dyes from food scraps in their workshop. Meanwhile, the Parti Design Awangan duo will demonstrate how traditional wooden Malay architecture can be updated for contemporary times.

These artists and craftspeople are part of the Tukang Festival, which returns for its second edition at The Spine in Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya this weekend.

Organised by Tourism Selangor, this (free admission) event utilises both the outdoor space and indoor gallery to celebrate the fusion of craft, design, environmental issues, recycling, and art.

“In the Reka Lestari exhibition, we feature six artists from diverse backgrounds who create innovative artworks from recycled materials and installations that highlight the importance of environmental conservation,” says Intan Rafiza, the curator of the exhibition.

Khabir will showcase his eco-installation made from Ramadan bazaar plastic bags. Photo: The Star/Daryl Goh

The Tukang Festival, featuring the Reka Lestari exhibition and workshops by Cheng, Parti Design Awangan, Syiborisyd and Aruznadi, Khabir Roslan, Ahnaf Hakimi, and Jamil Zakaria, also includes live music and poetry performances throughout the day. An arts and craft market is also part of the fest programme, which runs from 10am to 8pm.

The Reka Lestari exhibition was supported by a RM60,000 grant, distributed to the six participating artists.

“This weekend, visitors can join the workshops on eco-friendly practices and engage with the artists. We are showcasing interactive artworks that resonate with public spaces, inviting everyone to participate, ask questions, and be an active part of the festival,” adds Intan.

At 10.30 am on Saturday (June 8), Syiborisyd and Aruznadi will host an audience at their pop-up exhibition featuring fabric art, discussing natural dyeing processes and the importance of upcycling food scraps.

At 11am, Khabir will present a plastic compressing workshop, showcasing his installation "The Light Of All Things: Reflecting On The Interconnected Universe," created from used plastic bags collected at a Ramadan bazaar.

Curator Intan will lead a guided tour of the exhibition at 2.30 pm, showcasing all the installation artworks.

Syiborisyd, or better known as Syd, is presenting an installation that explores the possibilities of natural dye and how upcycling food scraps is integral to this art project. Photo: Daryl Goh/The Star

Lastly on Saturday, Cheng's "Dung Beetle - Dirt Exploration" workshop at 4.30pm will be looking for volunteers to join a communal project by adding bricks to her large-scale mud wall.

Participants can also take home a handmade brick crafted from red clay, straw, banana stem fiber, sand, and other natural elements.

Cheng, who won the UOB Painting of the Year (Malaysia) competition 2019, has been turning tree bark into paper in her workshop-home in Batu Arang, Selangor in the last few years. Her "Dung Beetle: 'Dirt' Exploration" installation introduces a fresh creative approach, incorporating elements of earth architecture.

"For the longest time, I have been working with paper. This mud brick project, still in its experimental phase, has been really heavy for me, literally. We had to hire a lorry to bring the installation and accompanying raw materials to this festival. Thankfully, I have been working with many volunteers and neighbours. Some came from far with family and friends, some came alone. Together, we have been making bricks (in an earth oven), everyone lending a hand and helping to realise this project," said Cheng.

"The central theme of this new work looks into the primal and fundamental essence of the earth. The workshop's communal approach will also turn the participants into co-creators, working together to shape the raw materials of the earth into a tangible structure. Through this collaborative effort, the work highlights the interconnectedness of human effort and the natural world, celebrating the shared creativity of the community involved," she added.

On Sunday (June 9) at 4.30 pm, Parti Design Awangan, led by husband-and-wife architect team Nabil Mustafa and Hana Daut, will meet the masses and share stories behind the process, materials, and concepts behind their "Pagar Tupai" installation – a homage to the "Pagar Musang" fence commonly found in traditional Malay houses.