Opening today at Damansara City (DC) Mall, the Kuala Lumpur Design Festival (KLDF) asks a vivid question: 'What colours define Kuala Lumpur?' Photo: Handout
KUALA LUMPUR DESIGN FESTIVAL
Venue: Damansara City (DC) Mall, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Oct 18-26
THE Kuala Lumpur Design Festival (KLDF) is hosting its fourth edition this weekend, framing Kuala Lumpur as a city of infinite hues and pigments with its theme CMYK*L – a nod to the CMYK colour model for printing that combines cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Opening today at Damansara City (DC) Mall, the Kuala Lumpur Design Festival (KLDF) asks a vivid question: "What colours define Kuala Lumpur?"
Design students from across Malaysia were invited to answer through the CMYK*L Design Exhibition, featuring selected works on Level 2 of DC Mall – from illustrations and motifs to fashion, projection mapping and furniture.
"As a thriving metropolis, Kuala Lumpur is a blend of not just people and culture, but also colour. Like sound, taste and smell, colour transmutes from one location to the next, like food and fruits to signages and buildings. But it becomes part of the background. That’s why we’re using design this year to highlight the role of colour and explore what is Kuala Lumpur through this lens,” says Nizar Musa, creative director of KLDF.
The festival also offers forums, talks and workshops led by design and tech experts, plus a lively Design Fair where local and international brands share their latest products and innovations.
Capping it all off, KLDF will host its first-ever fashion show, spotlighting student talents through the bold, expressive language of design.
More info here.
PERFORMING ARTS/DANCE: 'SEARCHING BLUE'
Venue: KLPac
Date: ends Oct 19
Singapore’s T.H.E Dance Company brings Searching Blue to KLPac this weekend, transforming Studio 5, the outdoor stage and surrounding spaces into an 80-minute site-specific performance inspired by American neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor’s reflections on human connection.
Led by Malaysian-born choreographer Kuik Swee Boon (who resides in Singapore), the site-adaptive work begins in the studio before moving outdoors, inviting audiences to walk alongside the dancers as part of the performance. Guests are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and shoes suitable for movement and sitting.
“Searching Blue is an attempt at rediscovering and understanding the body’s oft-neglected capabilities of sensing and perceiving as we ponder, and reconstruct, the relationships individuals share with each other and the world,” Kuik notes.
With live music by Kent Lee, the piece unfolds as an evocative meditation on how we sense, connect and relate - not just as spectators, but as participants in a shared journey.
Post-show talks will follow each performance, offering audiences a deeper look into the creative process and the stories behind this bold production.
More info here.
A view of Jayasuria's 'The Automaton Project 2025', an atmospheric exhibition featuring recycled handmade figurines. Photo: The Star/Azlina Abdullah
EXHIBITION: 'THE AUTOMATON PROJECT 2025'
Venue: Awegallery, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends Oct 20
The Awegallery space has transformed into the set of a forgotten sci-fi epic for Jonathan Jayasuria's The Automaton Project 2025.
Visitors enter a dimly lit space where rows of robot figurines stand frozen mid-scene, surrounded by eerie props - a vial of blood, skeletal remains, faded ID cards, a crumpled jumpsuit - all hinting at a story that never quite reveals itself.
The debut solo by Jayasuria, a newcomer filmmaker-artist, unfolds like a film in fragments. Each figurine - more 60 on display - feels like a character, each object a clue from a larger narrative waiting to be pieced together.
Lighting, sound, and the gallery’s tight layout heighten the cinematic illusion, making the show feel far removed from a typical white-walled exhibition.
Fans of 1980s sci-fi - with its practical effects and lived-in futures - will find much to enjoy here. The care in Jayasuria's diorama details and the freedom to imagine your own storyline make this a refreshing break from convention. Free admission.
More info here.
Poet Dhabitah Zainal is one of the names in the knockout round tomorrow at Odeon KL. Aliff Awan, Ba.re, Emmanuel Yogan, Millen Teo, Abigail Lim, Shireen Alyssa Azmir and others are also part of the SEA Slam 2025 event. Photo: Handout
POETRY: SEA SLAM 2025 KNOCKOUT ROUND
Venue: Odeon KL, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Oct 19, 2pm
As part of RIUH x Asean 2025, the SEA Slam Poetry Knockout Round is set to take place this Sunday. This free admission spoken word competition brings together 12 poets from across South-East Asia, each competing for a spot in the grand finals later this month.
It’s one of the many events under the 10-day Asean creative festival, which celebrates art, culture, and collaboration throughout the region.
Poetry takes on a competitive twist here, where performers deliver their most powerful verses live on stage, blending storytelling, rhythm, and emotion. The knockout round promises an aftenoon of expressive performances, where every word becomes a reflection of regional identity and shared experience.
As part of the larger RIUH x Asean celebration, SEA Slam also highlights how spoken word continues to grow as an art form in Malaysia and the wider region. It’s not just about competition, but about connection, showing how creativity and culture can bridge diverse voices across borders.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: CHENG YEN PHENG'S 'SALT OF THE LAND'
Venue: Wei-Ling Gallery, Brickfields, KL
Date: ends Nov 8
In Salt Of The Land, her fourth solo exhibition, artist Cheng Yen Pheng gives new life to the classical Chinese phrase “salt of the earth”, reimagining it through a lens that feels both ecological and deeply personal. With a series of immersive installations, she transforms the main gallery into a quiet space for reflection - and for sensing the delicate balance between people and the land they inhabit.
Working from Batu Arang, Selangor, a former mining town shaped by its industrial past and ongoing struggles over land, Cheng gathers materials from her surroundings to create works that speak of continuity, transformation, and care. Through the four elements - water, fire, earth, and air - she explores the natural cycles that sustain life: pulp becomes paper, ash purifies, clay hardens into brick, and air gives breath to the whole.
Her process mirrors a kind of resistance - a gentle but firm insistence on renewal and resilience in the face of change. By merging traditional craft with contemporary concerns, Cheng roots her art in the politics of place, honouring the fragile ecosystems and communities that continue to nurture life. Salt Of The Land reminds us that, like salt itself, renewal is essential - a small but powerful element that sustains both land and spirit.
More info here.
A closer look at Zulkefli’s 'A Different Type Of Scheme', where faceless figures evoke vulnerability, control and ambiguity. Photo: Galeri Sasha
EXHIBITION: ZULKEFLI JAIS’ ‘$OMEONE, $OMETHING, $OMEWHERE’
Venue: Galeri Sasha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Oct 24
Zulkefli Jais has buried a national car in a Perak gallery, taken over Teluk Intan’s Leaning Tower, filled the National Art Gallery’s main lobby, shown his work in South Korea, and even joined Galeri Petronas’ comeback show - yet he’s never had a proper gallery solo.
KL’s Galeri Sasha now fills that gap with $omeone, $omething, $omewhere, the first solo exhibition by the award-winning Perak-born artist. The show gathers new collages and an installation that explore movement, belonging, and how people adapt to change.
Built from cut-outs collected over the past decade from Newsweek magazines, Zulkefli’s collages form layered scenes of faceless figures - people caught between places, identities, and decisions.
Rather than telling a single story, the works invite viewers to consider how meaning shifts when images are re-used and re-imagined. The faceless figures embody both vulnerability and resilience, prompting reflection on how people find their footing amid uncertainty.
With free admission, the exhibition offers audiences an intimate look at a new chapter in Zulkefli’s evolving practice.
More info here.
