An artist rendering of the immersive 'Reflections Of New Villages' exhibition, showcasing 11 New Villages in Selangor through a variety of media. Photo: Grassspace Design
The Selangor state government’s two-day Selangor New Village Festival 2026, "Jom Thit Tho Lah!", will showcase a diverse programme of arts, culture, heritage and entertainment activities this weekend at the SJK(C) Pandamaran school premises in Klang.
The free admission festival – Jan 24 and 25 – aims to celebrate and promote the New Village legacy in the state, while highlighting its tourism potential.
The Reflections Of New Villages exhibition, curated by Grassspace Design, Colllab, and The Human Workshop, anchors the festival with its human focus, bringing community histories vividly to life for visitors with little prior knowledge of New Village communities.
The "New Villages" – or Kampung Baru – were established by British colonial authorities during the Emergency period, when what was then Malaya was gripped by a communist insurgency, reshaping rural Chinese community life through policies of containment control and resettlement whose social consequences continue to be felt today.
Hall B at SJK(C) Pandamaran is set to offer an immersive journey into the stories and rhythms of everyday life across Selangor’s New Villages.Supported by digital art collective Filamen, it features large-scale immersive screenings and an experiential layout that explores contemporary New Village life, memory and future possibilities over time.
Lead curator Doris Quek said the documentation process began in September last year.
“The exhibition is a community-based project, shaped through field visits, filming, interviews and the collection of stories from village heads and local cultural workers - many untold, now ready to be shared with the public," she added.
Drawing from fieldwork in 11 New Villages, including Pandamaran, Sungai Way, Kuala Kubu Baru, Jenjarom, Sungai Chua, Bukit Angkat, Kepong Ulu and Sekinchan, the exhibition combines documentary films, sound, objects and spatial installations to present these communities as living, evolving spaces rather than static heritage sites.
This weekend’s festival offers a chance to experience the debut of the Reflections Of New Villages exhibition, notable for its unique features developed by a curatorial team of researchers, architects, designers and heritage enthusiasts.
"Developed over about four months, the exhibition is designed to be fully modular, with the potential to tour in the future. The team is exploring a completely demountable system, incorporating flat-pack cardboard structures and modular components," says Quek.
The Reflections Of New Villages exhibition is open on Saturday from 10am-9pm and Sunday from 10am-5pm.
During the Selangor New Village Festival 2026, "Jom Thit Tho Lah!" festival, visitors can also enjoy a pop-up market, hands-on workshops, and an evening street parade with giant puppets.
