EXHIBITION: 'I LOVE SUSHI'
Venue: The Project Room, UR-MU @ The Toffee, Jalan Raja Chulan, KL
Date: ends Dec 31
Malaysians can now explore sushi beyond the plate. The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) has opened the touring exhibition I Love Sushi, offering a journey through Japan’s iconic dish as a celebration of history, art, and tradition.
Organised with the Embassy of Japan in Malaysia, Urban Museum Kuala Lumpur (UR-MU), and Sushi Hibiki, this free exhibition reimagines sushi as a cultural masterpiece, reflecting Japan’s creativity, craftsmanship, and deep respect for nature.
At the gallery, I Love Sushi allows visitors can explore captivating visuals, interactive displays, and digital experiences that trace sushi’s evolution - from a centuries-old preservation method to the refined nigiri-zushi of the Edo period, and finally to the modern global phenomenon it is today.
The exhibition also offers a multisensory experience at The Project Room, featuring a virtual reality “sushi shop,” educational screenings, and exhibits highlighting the precision and artistry behind every roll and slice.
Part of a decade-long world tour that began in 2022, the exhibition celebrates food as a bridge of cultural exchange, showing how, like art, it connects people across borders.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'NEW FIGURES'
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: Nov 22 to Dec 21
This Saturday, The Back Room unveils New Figures, a painterly group show spotlighting diverse voices in figurative painting: Adam Badruddin Syah, Dipali Gupta, Ong Hieng Fuong, Sack Tin Lim, and Tong Fung Chuar.
Figurative painting, in many ways, remains the most intimate and revealing of genres. How an artist renders another human being often speaks as much about their own inner landscape as it does about their subject.
New Figures brings together six compelling works by five painters, each exploring the figure with a distinctive lens. Some capture fleeting impressions of the world in motion, others distill the quiet essence of individual lives, while still others interrogate the body itself - its fluidity, its presence, and its vulnerability - transforming the figure into both subject and commentary.
The exhibition is, ultimately, a meditation on humanity as seen through the eyes of those who are just beginning to define their artistic vision.
More info here.
INTERNATIONAL ABSTRACT ART EXHIBITION - 2025 MALAYSIA
Venue: Harmoni Soka Gallery, Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia, KL
Date: ends Dec 21
Abstract art enthusiasts can also look forward to an eventful year-end as Harmoni Soka Gallery at Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur presents the International Abstract Art Exhibition – 2025 Malaysia, running until late December.
Jointly organised by Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) and the Malaysian Modern and Contemporary Art Academy (MCAA), in collaboration with the Asia International Artists Alliance (AIAA), the exhibition brings together abstract artists from China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
“Through this international collaboration, the exhibition seeks to highlight the unifying power of art as a universal language that transcends culture, geography and background,” outlines the exhibition notes.
The group show also presents a diverse range of mediums, from paintings and Chinese ink works to collage, mixed-media experimentation, and various approaches to contemporary abstraction.
Expanding the scope of artistic dialogue, the exhibition also features works from SGM’s own collection, including artists from Uruguay, the Philippines, Singapore, Hungary, Cuba and Vietnam, offering a showcase of cross-cultural creativity and exchange.
The International Abstract Art Exhibition – 2025 Malaysia’s opening hours are 11am to 5pm daily (closed on Mondays), and admission is free.
More info here.
DANCE: 'BALLET ILLUMINATIONS 2025'
Venue: Pentas 1, KLPac
Date: Nov 21-23
Dance lovers have a treat in store as Singapore Ballet returns to Malaysia with a special selection from Ballet Illuminations 2025. This weekend at Pentas 1, KLPac, audiences of all ages can experience the magic of ballet, from fairy-tale wonder to the elegance of neo-classical works.
Step into the world of Cinderella, where comic mischief meets royal grandeur in Act II, as the heroine dances her way to the Prince. Singapore audiences loved this production - staged by Janek Schergen (Singapore Ballet artistic director).
The programme also features the lyrical brilliance of Edmund Stripe’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102, set to Shostakovich’s stirring score, alongside the late Singaporean dance legend Goh Choo San’s celebrated works Fives and Momentum, recently performed at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center.
Presented by Singapore Ballet and KLPac, with support from YTL Corporation Berhad and the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Ballet Illuminations 2025 is a rare chance to witness world-class ballet right here in the city.
More info here.
NEW MEDIA/PERFORMANCE: 'VOICING NEURODIVERGENCE THROUGH ART & SCIENCE'
Venue: Level 2, National Science Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Nov 23, 10.30 am
Blending science, art, and the complexities of the human mind, this Sunday morning new media performance at the National Science Centre uses an EEG device to turn real time brainwave activity into shifting visuals and sound that respond to every movement.
Created by Dr Yvonne Chong, a chiropractic neurodevelopment clinician and neurotechnology artist, the piece blends neuroscience, technology, and movement to explore the sensory world of neurodivergent individuals. Stimming is reframed as an expressive and meaningful physiological response, revealed through live brainwave projections.
Advanced EEG systems track the dancer’s attention and stimuli levels, transforming them into colours, shapes, rhythms, and sonic textures. The live performance creates a closed loop where the body and brain influence the digital landscape, and the digital landscape responds back.
Part of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia ArtScience Prize 2025 exhibition, Chong's work represents one of the finalist projects featured this year.
Visitors can also explore the National Science Centre’s permanent exhibition during their visit, making it a fuller experience that blends art, technology, and discovery.
National Science Centre entry fee applicable.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'DI ANTARA BENANG DAN KAYU'
Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends Nov 30
If you love seeing how different materials can come together in creative ways, Di Antara Benang Dan Kayu is worth a visit. The duo exhibition brings together Afiza AbuBakar of Magicthinking, known for her expressive textile art, and Hani Ali, a carpenter and woodworker who crafts bespoke furniture.
Afiza works with soft woven materials, creating delicate pieces inspired by the freeform Saori weaving philosophy. Her works feel intuitive and emotional, often transformed into hanging lamps that glow from within. Hani, meanwhile, approaches wood with a balance of structure and spontaneity, shaping rigid material into something surprisingly fluid.
Together, they create hybrid art-furniture pieces that feel alive, combining texture, strength, and light in unique ways. It’s the kind of show where you can touch the artworks (with care) inviting you to look closer, and appreciate how two opposite materials can find harmony.
Visitors can join the artist sharing session on Sunday at 3.30pm, where the two artists will discuss their collaborative process behind the exhibition.
The exhibition - free admission - is open on weekends only.
More info here.
