The National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (Aswara) will host the 2026 Festival Teater Antarnusa (FTA 2026), a four-day regional contemporary theatre festival, at its Kuala Lumpur campus from July 16-19.
Aswara Faculty of Theatre dean Rime Nazren Abdul Razak said the festival is expected to serve as a dynamic platform bringing together theatre practitioners and artistes from five South-East Asian countries to celebrate the region's diverse performing arts landscape.
Held under the theme Tanda. Temu. Tamu. (Signs. Encounters. Guests.), the festival is designed as a holistic cultural exchange platform while promoting appreciation for contemporary theatre.
The festival line-up includes Garasi Performance Institute (Indonesia), Teater Ekamatra (Singapore), Fakulti Teater x Kejar Tayang (Kuala Lumpur), Songkhla Rajabhat University (Thailand), 247 Studios (Brunei), Semarak Kreatif (Sarawak) and others.
"Through this festival, visitors will have the opportunity to experience the uniqueness of cultures, modern aesthetic applications and the creativity of the regional performing arts community through various comprehensive programmes," he said in a statement today.
Rime Nazren said FTA 2026 also reflects Aswara's commitment to strengthening arts and cultural education, not only at the academic level but also as a catalyst for the growth of Malaysia's creative arts industry.
He added that the festival supports the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign by promoting cultural tourism while providing a platform to showcase Malaysia's performing arts on the international stage.
Running daily from 9am to 10pm, the festival will feature a variety of activities, including theatre workshops, work-in-progress sessions and contemporary theatre showcases.
The theatre workshops will be led by regional artistes, offering participants hands-on exposure to performance techniques, while the work-in-progress sessions will highlight the creative process behind the development of new productions.
The contemporary theatre showcases will feature large-scale productions by invited artistes and theatre groups from Malaysia and abroad.
Admission to all FTA 2026 programmes is free, except for the contemporary theatre showcases, which carry an admission fee of RM10. Members of the public are encouraged to reserve their slots as seating is limited. - Bernama
