COMMUNITY ARTS: 'GAPAI MERDEKA'
Venue: Stadium Merdeka and Merdeka Boulevard, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Aug 29-31
Few places offer the chance to stand where history was made – in the very vicinity where Tunku Abdul Rahman declared Merdeka at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 31, 1957.
PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd (PNBMV), which recently launched its first Merdeka film, Gapai, for the national month celebrations, will transform the Merdeka 118 precinct – the site of Malaysia’s independence ceremony – into a welcoming space for national day celebrations.
In collaboration with community platform Locco, PNBMV will host a three-day 'Gapai Merdeka' event at Merdeka Stadium and Merdeka Boulevard from Aug 29–31, featuring a Merdeka bazaar, cultural and heritage activities, a Merdeka flashmob and the Warisan KL Explorace.
Saturday's schedule is 11am to 7pm, while Sunday's activities start at 9am right up to the midnight spectacle (the Merdeka countdown and Menara Merdeka Maybank building light show). So get to the Stadium Merdeka early, and find a good viewing area.
The Merdeka Textile Museum (MTM) will also be open throughout the Merdeka weekend, with free admission until Sept 30.
More info here.
CULTURAL EVENT: MALAM MENJELANG MERDEKA BERSAMA PUSAKA
Venue: Event Lawn, TRX City Park, KL
Date: Aug 29, 8.30pm
If you are looking for a dreamy open-air evening of traditional arts, Malam Menjelang Merdeka Bersama Pusaka at the Event Lawn, TRX City Park in Kuala Lumpur, is the place to be this Saturday at 8.30pm.
The evening will feature a special dondang sayang performance by Melaka-based Legasi Nyonya Tan, celebrating the spirit of Merdeka through music, pantun and dance.
A traditional love ballad practised in Melaka among the Malay, Baba Nyonya, Chitty and Portuguese communities, dondang sayang is recognised by Unesco as part of the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Traditionally performed as a playful exchange of pantun between male and female singers, dondang sayang is kept alive by Legasi Nyonya Tan, founded by siblings Hairul Asraf Abu Hussain (Along Asraf) and Hidayu Murni Abu Hussain (Ayu) to preserve and perform the art form cherished by their late mother, Nyonya Tan Abdullah, a National Living Heritage icon.
Put on your favourite national costume and join Pusaka for a night of music, poetry and joget under the Merdeka moonlight. The free admission event is part of the ART@TRX and Pusaka series.
More info here.
COMMUNITY ARTS: 'CIRKLE MAKAN MAKAN'
Venue: The Campus, Ampang, Selangor
Date: Aug 28-31
This long holiday weekend, The Campus in Ampang, Selangor, is celebrating Merdeka with creative workshops, cultural performances and food from across the country. The “Cirkle Makan Makan” festivities will kick off tomorrow night (Aug 28) with Malam Rahmat Bahgia, featuring performing arts collective Jalan Dalam. The programme will include poetry, music, improv and comedy.
Throughout the weekend, artist Faizal Suhif’s pop-up exhibition, Serumpun, will be on display at the foyer of the venue’s Championship Court, featuring a series of wall hangings and prints.
Also taking place throughout the day is Ulam Art: Rediscovering Ulam Through Botanical Art, a project by Malaysia Institute of Art students.
Saturday’s highlights include a gamelan performance and workshop by Gamelan Astraloka, Air Tangan Bonda (Cooking with Moms), featuring Kak Sharon sharing Chinese cuisine, and a Kompang Jam Joget Lambak at night. On Sunday, a Sembang Santai session, Reviving Legacy, will feature Min Luna Azzaha of Batik Cop Naga, Amat and Suleyman of Persenangan, and Momoko Sum of Yayasan Hasanah.
Participants can also create their own batik artwork at the Lambo Sari workshop, learn sustainable weaving techniques through Tenun Carik with Bungkus.co, and design textile-inspired stickers with Lab Seni.
The celebrations this Sunday continue until midnight with a keroncong party by Okal and Persenangan, followed by the Merdeka countdown.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: UMAR SHARIF‘S 'SALON HANG'
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: Aug 29 to Sept 20
Some art lovers may have encountered Kuala Lumpur-based visual artist and art worker Umar Sharif’s oddly fashioned canvas school belts in Asuhan Dan Dandanan at the Ilham Art Show 2025 at Ilham Gallery.
Salon Hang, his solo exhibition at The Back Room, offers a timely reintroduction, bringing together new work made since.
Umar’s fixation on the Malaysian school belt centres on its regulation strip of polypropylene - a tough material that is notoriously difficult to tame. Yet he treats it almost like a full head of hair. In his hands, the belt is unpicked, washed, conditioned, teased, silk-pressed and curled until the webbing gives way to what it was all along: strands, hair in maximum custody.
In a new installation, a single belt, white like the standard-issue school shirt, drops from the ceiling. It holds its regulated weave straight before detonating near the floor, its strands bursting outward and sweeping across the room.
Here, Umar approaches grooming as this country taught it to him: as care and correction in a single gesture.
In what is turning out to be an eventful year, Umar has also been selected for the 2026 Khazanah Associate Artist Residency (KAAR), organised by Khazanah Nasional Berhad. As part of the 12-week programme, he will head to London this September to work at ACME Studios.
Visitors can catch Umar during the exhibition's opening reception on Saturday, starting 3pm.
More info here.
BOOK EVENT: 'BIRD & NATURE BOOK SALE'
Venue: Sunda Shelves, Petaling Jaya
Date: Aug 28 to Sept 6
Sunda Shelves is holding a special sale of books on birds and nature - a rare opportunity to browse one of the most wide-ranging collections of bird-related books to be offered for sale at a single bookshop in Malaysia.
The collection spans bird guides, monographs, checklists, natural history, biographies of ornithologists, fiction, journals and magazines, covering Malaysia and beyond.
Nature enthusiasts will find books on natural history, travel, wildlife, plants and wild places, while collectors can discover rare out-of-print titles and other hidden gems at accessible prices.
A silent auction will also feature a selection of rare and special items.
Whether you are a birder, nature enthusiast, book collector or simply enjoy browsing beautiful books, mark your calendar and visit Sunda Shelves.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'MIMPI JERNANG'
Venue: Rissim Contemporary, Bangsar, KL
Date: ends Aug 31
The Orang Asli community-inspired Mimpi Jernang project is set to travel to South Korea next month, where it will be presented as part of the Stateless Mind Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale 2026.
Before its international presentation, art lovers in Kuala Lumpur will have the last weekend to checkout the project closer to home through this exhibition at Rissim Contemporary.
Based on an original story and field research by Semai activist Yahya Torek, Mimpi Jernang explores dream interpretation as a form of guidance and knowledge - one that informs decisions, ethics and relationships between people, the natural world and the unseen. Rather than treating dreams simply as personal experiences, the project considers them as part of a broader system of understanding and navigating the world.
Curated by Azzad Diah and produced by Saiful Razman, Mimpi Jernang draws from the lived experiences and cultural perspectives of the Semai community of Pos Jernang, Sungkai in Perak.
In Perak, Pos Jernang, established in the 1940s, has a long history of struggle over customary land.
The exhibition - time for the Merdeka season - offers audiences an opportunity to look beyond the surface of the work - to learn from the stories it carries, discover a different way of understanding the world, and consider how indigenous knowledge continues to shape contemporary artistic practice.
Mimpi Jernang brings together video, cyanotype and installations - a hunting hut, Orang Asli carry baskets, a wall weaving - alongside field recordings, interview transcripts, sketches and documentation.
A free admission exhibition. Open on weekends (noon to 7pm) and weekdays by appointment.
A limited edition zine and cassette tape release accompanying the exhibition are on sale at the gallery.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: CALVIN CHUA'S 'FORESTBORN'
Venue: AweGallery, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends Sept 3
In Forestborn, veteran painter Calvin Chua explores the enduring relationship between indigenous people and the rainforests of the land.
Through depictions of children immersed in rivers, communal gatherings, ceremonial dancers and colourful portraits, the Kedah-born artist looks beyond everyday scenes to consider belonging, heritage and the ties that bind communities to place.
The exhibition features 30 works of varying sizes, showcasing Chua’s distinctive brushwork, tonal range, washes and layered use of colour. The works, mostly produced this year, alongside a few paintings dating back 10 years ago, provide a survey of his evolving practice.
Throughout the gallery, the paintings in Forestborn honour communities whose lives are deeply rooted in the forest - not simply as those who inhabit it, but as inheritors of its knowledge, custodians of its stories and keepers of its living memory.
Regarded as one of the nation’s leading watercolour artists, Chua is also known for works that explore identity, memory and histories passed down through generations.
Set against Merdeka, this exhibition offers visitors a journey through evocative paintings and narratives that extend beyond the canvas.
More info here.
