EXHIBITION: ONG HIENG FUONG'S 'INNOCENT BYSTANDER'
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: Feb 13 to March 22
This festive season, the Back Room presents Innocent Bystander, the second solo exhibition by Malaysia-born, China-based artist Ong Hieng Fuong (better known as Hieng).
The show gathers new paintings produced between 2024 and 2025, spanning the period after his graduation from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and the start of his Master’s at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing.
Rendered with dry, understated humour, the works draw from Hieng’s everyday observations while living between China and Malaysia.
Viewers may find themselves guessing where each scene unfolds – a man perched on a bollard with a cigarette suggests China; an immigration clerk scrolling beneath a “No Handphone” sign feels distinctly Malaysian.
Without making overt statements, the paintings register subtle cultural nuances – moments typical of daily life yet absent from official narratives.
Across these strange and quietly comic tableaux, Hieng positions himself as the “innocent bystander”: an accidental witness to the small absurdities of the everyday. In simply moving through his day, he finds material.
His compositions capture the textures that define place and culture while filtering them through a distinctly personal lens.
The resulting world is neither bleak nor celebratory, but attentively observed – its prosaic scenes rendered with meticulous detail and edged with irony, often expressed through grotesque or impassive faces that hint at something unresolved beneath the surface.
More info here.
BOOK LAUNCH: 'SYED HUSSEIN ALATAS AND THE SCHOOL OF AUTONOMOUS KNOWLEDGE'
Venue: Gerakbudaya, Petaling Jaya
Date: Feb 15, 2.30pm
This Sunday afternoon, Gerakbudaya bookshop will launch Syed Hussein Alatas And The School Of Autonomous Knowledge, a collection featuring 14 essays by South-East Asian scholars that extend the intellectual legacy of the late Prof Syed Hussein Alatas (1928-2007), Malaysia’s distinguished social theorist.
The book revisits Syed Hussein’s call for an autonomous tradition of knowledge – one that resists Eurocentric, nationalistic, sectarian and nativist distortions in the study of Nusantara’s history, society and culture.
A generation of young academics responded to that call. Their legacy endures in this collection, which reflects on and extends Syed Hussein's methodological and sociological concerns.
It is an essential work for readers committed to critical inquiry and the autonomy of thought.
The launch this Sunday will feature a discussion on the continuing relevance of his ideas and their resonance for a new generation of scholars and thinkers across South-East Asia.
More info here.
ART POP-UP: CULTKIDS' 'JIRAN TETANGGA'
Venue: Smth, Else Hotel KL, Jalan Tun HS Lee, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Feb 14 and 15, and Feb 21 and 22
There is always a buzz whenever pop culture illustrator Cultkids announces a special art and wares weekend. This month, he is raising the stakes by stretching it across three consecutive weekends.
He's rolling out his second weekend this Saturday and Sunday. It's a chance to relive the spirit of old Malaya through Cultkids' latest nostalgic designs, now on display at the "Jiran Tetangga" pop-up at Smth, a rotating retail space within boutique hotel Else.
The showcases three new designs to the "Jiran Tetangga" series by Cultkids, who is known for his colourful retro aesthetic that evokes the golden days of Malaya.
In collaboration with Singapore-based design studio FIN Crafted Goods, the series translates Cultkids’ illustrations onto T-shirts, A4 risograph prints, postcards and other collectables. The designs spotlight key personalities and landmarks that helped shape Malaysia’s artistic, historical and cultural landscape.
Free admission. The pop-up is open: 10am to 6pm.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'WORDS I NEVER GOT TO SAY'
Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya
Date: Feb 14 and 15
It’s the last weekend to see Words I Never Got To Say, a collaborative exhibition by Fay Ulrica and Hannah Bhatt at Temu House in Petaling Jaya – a bungalow art gallery well worth the Valentine’s Day visit.
The exhibition – open on Feb 14 and 15 – is built around a conversation between the two artists.
Ulrica starts with words, not to explain, but to spark ideas. Bhatt responds with ceramics, turning language into shape, weight and texture. Ulrica then comes back to Bhatt’s pieces, letting the forms inspire new paintings and drawings.
These works give space to thoughts that came late and emotions that needed time to surface. They don’t try to wrap everything up neatly but instead celebrate pauses, hesitation and the quiet unfolding of meaning, letting what was once unspoken finally appear.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: CHETAK 17: EDITION VII 2026
Venue: Chetak 17, Taman Wangsa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Feb 28
At the artist-run Chetak 17 studio and gallery, community shapes every exhibition. Each show highlights the close bonds between veteran, established and emerging printmakers who share the space and its spirit.
This months sees the roll out of its annual members’ exhibition - Edition VII 2026, featuring works by Azam Aris, Faizal Suhif, Haslin Ismail, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Fadhli Ariffin, Fadli Mokhtar, Iwadh Mahadi and Luqman Yusry.
At Chetak 17, the studio floor is as important as the gallery wall. It is a space where visitors can view art and learn about diverse printmaking techniques and stories from the participating artists. The result is a dynamic cross-pollination of styles on display - from the tactile grain of traditional woodcuts to the crisp immediacy of contemporary linocuts.
Presented in an informal, welcoming setting, Edition VII 2026 invites conversation with printmakers often on hand to speak about the processes behind each work - the carving, inking and careful pull of the press. Free admission.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: XEEM NOOR’S 'BALAI DI BALAI” (TATEMONOLOGUE 2.0)
Venue: National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends April 8
Artist Xeem Noor brings a piece of Japan back to Kuala Lumpur with her installation Balai Di Balai (Tatemonologue 2.0), which kickstarts the Hanya Satu (Singles) spotlight series in the foyer of the National Art Gallery this year.
The work is a life-sized, soft recreation of the apartment she lived in during an artist residency in Yokohama. Constructed from knitted poles and printed fabric, it offers a cozy, walk-in memory of her time abroad, accompanied by photos and personal letters.
But the installation isn’t just a display. Xeem will host live crochet sessions every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11am to 3pm throughout the exhibition, demonstrating her craft and gradually building a large collaborative crochet that grows layer by layer over time.
Visitors are invited to join in: the artist will provide needles and yarn, encouraging hands-on participation alongside the artist.
Ideal for lovers of textile art and "craftivism", this interactive exhibition blends memory, material, and community into a tactile experience.
More info here.
