The recent opening weekend of the KL Festival may have been dominated by the high-profile “Jogeton” dance marathon at Dataran Merdeka, but in the nearby streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur, the Warung Terang wooden pushcart – resembling the coolest burger stall in town – quietly rolled through the city on its projection-mapping mission.
Organised by new media outfit Filamen and collaborators, this corner of the festival carried a distinct guerrilla spirit, spreading more through word of mouth than TikTok hype.
There was no VIP seating here, audiences sat on sidewalks or stood along the street as Warung Terang performers took turns behind the pushcart, fitted with a mobile set-up of projectors, laptops, speakers, controllers and power units powering the projection-mapping showcase.
The rain did not deter either the artists or the audience, who continued to engage with the performance despite the weather.
As its name suggests, this stall-like set-up by Filamen brings projection mapping beyond large-scale building facades into a mobile, artist-led experience.
Warung Terang also features REAVANG, an open session, where participants are invited to bring their laptops and connect directly to the projector.
There are still six showcases left as the Warung Terang pushcart rolls out again from May 15–17. It will traverse locations including Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, Jalan Sang Guna, Muzium Telekom and the River of Life, inviting the public to experience light, sound and cultural storytelling up close as the work appears, shifts and re-emerges across the city.
“The intention is to create something more impromptu, where audiences can observe the process rather than only the finished product — including how some of the artworks are made,” says Abdul Shakir, Filamen co-founder.
“Most of the audience last weekend were curious about projection mapping, and we even had passersby staying on to ask questions of the new media artists,” he adds.
Departing from conventional projection mapping presentations, the "warung" rig allows audiences to witness the installation and creative process in real time, akin to observing food being prepared at a roadside stall. Each showcase runs from 8pm to 11.30pm, subject to weather conditions.
“Beyond showcasing projection mapping as an art form, this was also an opportunity to gather data on logistics and audience experience. We conducted a survey with more than 200 participants, asking about KL nightlife, urban accessibility and their perceptions of projection mapping. This provides us with a solid dataset to better understand the city, particularly in planning for a larger-scale projection mapping festival in the future,” says Shakir.
Alongside the projections, Warung Terang, themed around “Pasar” (market), will host a regional competition, artist workshops and public sharing sessions, bringing together artists, students and the wider community to engage with contemporary digital art.
Light art on wheels
Warung Terang may centre on light and spectacle, but the storytellers behind the series have developed substantial material reflecting the communities they come from or work with.
This festival showcase is spotlighting homegrown and South-East Asian new media artists, including artist Fairuz Sulaiman, art collective Fonetikar, multimedia artist Tan Ji Kean, as well as Indonesian collectives and artists The Fox The Folks, Story of Karana, Diva & Dian and Hue.
Fairuz, a veteran street theatre practitioner and member of Sekolah Main Wayang – a youth theatre workshop facilitated by arts practitioners from theatre, media art and experimental music – presented work last weekend in collaboration with teenagers from Buku Jalanan Chow Kit (BJCK). The BJCK participants created shadow puppets from repurposed materials to narrate a collection of their personal stories.
“For Warung Terang, these handmade puppets were showcased, casting oversized shadows on shop lots around Jalan Sang Guna, where the public was invited to discover their stories or even create their own. These stories and puppets were developed over a two-day workshop held by Sekolah Main Wayang at its Chow Kit centre with about 25 teenagers aged 12 to 17,” says Fairuz in a recent interview.
“We make it our struggle at Sekolah Main Wayang to bring to light stories of the under-represented, which are often left in the shadows – whether by accident or by design. With Warung Terang as part of KL Fest, these stories by KL-based youth can now form a vital part of the city’s broader narrative, which is often over-glossed and curated for the tourist gaze,” he adds.
This Sunday, Tan returns to the streets with No Fixed Value, an abstract projection work on movement and change, where nothing holds permanent worth.
“It’s inspired by places like Pasar Seni and the Klang River. In the past, the river itself was a site of trade, where goods and business moved along boats. That sense of exchange and movement is something I wanted to carry into the work, but not in a literal way,” says Tan.
“Instead, I translate it into motion, energy and flow. In these spaces, value is always shifting – shaped by perception, negotiation and timing. Nothing remains fixed. Visually, everything behaves like liquid, with flowing textures, ripples and signals in constant transformation. Patterns don’t repeat, forms don’t settle, and things appear, distort and disappear – much like how attention and meaning shift in real life.”
Meanwhile, Fonetikar explores the relationship between sound, movement and urban memory through abstract visuals and projection mapping.
“We are interested in responding to the atmosphere of Kuala Lumpur’s streets, the textures, lights, rhythms and encounters that exist within everyday spaces. The piece reflects the idea of 'pasar' as a place of exchange, where different cultures, stories and energies constantly overlap and evolve,” the collective outlines in a statement.
“Showing the work as part of a festival also creates a more open and spontaneous interaction with audiences. People who may not normally engage with digital art can encounter the work naturally while moving through the city, which makes the experience feel more alive, accessible, and connected to the environment itself."
Fonetikar is set to close the Warung Terang series at the River of Life this Sunday.
Warung Terang is held in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2026, Warisan KL, and Kuala Lumpur’s designation as a Unesco Creative City of Design.
