CULTURAL EVENT: SENJAKALA: SENI KITA BY PUSAKA
Venue: Event Lawn, TRX City Park
Date: July 24 and 25, 9pm to 10.30pm
For cultural arts enthusiasts and those seeking a deeper understanding of Malaysia’s shadow puppetry traditions, an authentic wayang kulit Kelantan performance by Kumpulan Wayang Kulit Sri Warisan Pusaka offers a rare opportunity to experience this traditional art form in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
The performance forms the finale of the Senjakala: Seni Kita and ART@TRX series at TRX.The two-night presentation (starting tomorrow) of Wong Gerbawati is a tale of longing, love and the search for one’s origins. It also marks 21 years since the passing of the late Tok Dalang Dollah Baju Merah, master teacher of Kumpulan Wayang Kulit Sri Warisan Pusaka.
The epic narrative follows a white-winged, nine-legged ketitir bird that crosses Seri Rama’s path and leads him deep into the mountains.
There, he meets and marries Tuan Puteri Lankija before resuming his quest, leaving behind the princess, who is carrying his unborn child. Their son, Wong Gerbawati, grows up and sets out in search of the father he has never known.
Admission is free, and audiences are encouraged to dress comfortably for the 90-minute outdoor performance.
More info here.
RIMBUN DAHAN OPEN DAY
Venue: Rimbun Dahan, Kuang, Selangor
Date: July 26
Art, nature and a change of pace await at Rimbun Dahan’s Open Day this Sunday (July 26), where visitors can explore the arts centre’s 5.7ha native garden, artist studios, heritage houses and current residencies.
Running from 11am to 6pm, the Open Day features "Waste to Weft", a project by No Time to Waste supported by Yayasan Hasanah, which presents a documentary on textile waste in Indonesia alongside weaving works in progress.
The Underground Gallery will showcase selected works from Rimbun Dahan’s permanent collection, while visitors can also explore the heritage houses.
Three artists-in-residence will share work developed during their residencies. Malaysian visual artist Anas Afandi has explored the collection and documentation of fallen kemboja flowers through botanical and archaeological methods. Philippine artist Brisa Amir has worked with garden flora and handmade ink to examine the displacement of nature in urban environments, while Yangon-based artist Khin May Moe has expanded her urban sketching practice into an exploration of insomnia through watercolour and ink.
Visitors are encouraged to bring mosquito repellent, umbrellas and refreshments, and are welcome to picnic in the garden. Admission is free. Rimbun Dahan is located at KM 27, Jalan Kuang, Mukim Kuang, Selangor.
More info here.
THEATRE: 'BEING CARRIED’
Venue: Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre
Date: July 24-26
Being Carried, an international Malaysia–Britain theatre collaboration, aims to deepen public engagement with inclusive arts by bringing together disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent performers on stage.
The 70-minute show at KLPac combines monologues, movement, soundscapes and visual storytelling, weaving fictional narratives inspired by the lived experiences of Malaysians into an exploration of care, connection and survival.
Written, directed and dramaturged by British playwright Kaite O’Reilly, a leading figure in disability arts whose work has helped reshape inclusive performance globally, the production is created in collaboration with KL-based neurodivergent theatremaker Ho Lee Ching and Singapore-based Wheelsmith, a musician and international wheelchair rugby player whose work across sport and the arts challenges conventional perceptions of disability.
Guest performers include Gejaletchumi Murugaya, a deaf BIM (Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia, or Malaysian Sign Language) singer and poet, and Ammar Karim, a deaf dancer and choreographer whose practice bridges movement and music. Creative access is further supported by Malaysian Sign Language interpreter Calysta Tay.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'THE BOUQUET AND THE WREATH (REBIRTH)'
Venue: Ilham Gallery, KL
Date: July 25 to Oct 11
This Saturday, Ilham Gallery will present The Bouquet And The Wreath (Rebirth), the first solo exhibition in Malaysia by internationally acclaimed Thai artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook.
Occupying Level 3 of the gallery, the exhibition surveys the breadth of Araya's 45-year practice, bringing together newly commissioned works alongside significant early pieces that have not been exhibited for decades. It features video works, sculptural installations and a selection of texts.
Recurring motifs of flowers, beds and words reflect the artist's enduring engagement with desire and mortality, as well as difference and curiosity. Through works that are at once playful and contemplative, Araya poses profound philosophical questions about the purpose of art and what it means to be human, while remarking: "I don't need to spell out everything that I feel, do I?"
The Bouquet And The Wreath (Rebirth) follows The Bouquet and the Wreath, presented jointly at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai and Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai in 2025–26.
The exhibition in KL is presented by Ilham Gallery in collaboration with its partner institutions.
More info here.
BOOK EVENT: JOYCE EE’S 'BATU ARANG: THE COAL TOWN’
Venue: Sunda Shelves, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya
Date: July 25, 3pm
The Sunda Talks series at this nature-based bookshop returns to take the curious masses on a short "road trip" ... through the pages of a local book.
Just an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur, Batu Arang in Selangor was once a thriving coal mining town with its own railway network.
This Saturday, Batu Arang: The Coal Town author Joyce Ee will share the stories of this remarkable town, exploring its diverse communities, wartime experiences, labour struggles and rich heritage.
Ideal for history enthusiasts, heritage advocates, educators, students and anyone curious about Malaysia's past, the talk offers a rare opportunity to uncover a little-known chapter of the nation's history.
Before the talk, Melbourne-based musician Jason Khaw will perform original songs on acoustic guitar at 2.15pm.
Copies of Ee's book will be available for purchase and signing after the session. Pre-registration is required.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: FAUZAN FUAD’S ‘RUNUT’
Venue: Galeri Sasha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur
Date: July 25 to Aug 16
KL-born artist Fauzan Fuad’s fourth solo exhibition Runut, brings together the accumulated experience of his creative practice and his lived experience in a decades-old apartment block just outside Kuala Lumpur’s city centre, a setting that appears increasingly isolated from the capital’s dense urban landscape.
The Malay word "runut", commonly translated as “track” or “trail”, carries a deeper resonance. It refers to the mark left by a person or object – a trace that suggests a path and, ultimately, a trail.
In his abstract paintings, Fauzan uses industrial paint, acrylic and polyvinyl acetate to evoke the effects of time. The works recall the traces left by screeching tyres, rusting fences, narrow streets, faded advertising boards and graffiti.
Runut becomes Fauzan’s way of translating this structural vocabulary into something visible and tangible.
Visitors can meet the artist at the exhibition’s opening reception this Saturday from 3pm to 6pm. The exhibition is open from Friday to Sunday, noon to 7pm, throughout its run. Admission is free.
More info here.
PHOTOGRAPHY: 'PROJECT SEAVIEW: THE GREAT SEAWALL OF JAPAN'
Venue: The Godown Arts Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends July 26
For documentary photography enthusiasts, the Project Seaview: The Great Seawall Of Japan exhibition - extended to this weekend - offers a reflection on one of Japan's most significant post-disaster transformations.
Fifteen years after the Great East Japan Earthquake reshaped the country's northeastern coastline, the exhibition invites audiences to consider themes of resilience and the evolving relationship between humanity and nature through photographs of the landscape in the disaster's aftermath.
Presented by The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) in collaboration with The Godown Arts Centre, the exhibition features the work of Malaysian photographer Chai Ming Yang, who documents the monumental concrete seawalls and breakwaters constructed along Japan's Pacific coast following the 2011 disaster.
Stretching nearly 400km along Japan's Tohoku coastline, the seawalls form one of the world's largest coastal defence systems. Built after the 2011 disaster, they have transformed both the landscape and the relationship between communities and the sea.
Through large-format photographs, Project Seaview explores themes of memory, resilience, and protection.
Opening hours, 11am to 6pm. Free admission event.
More info here.
