THEATRE: 'THE SECRET DRAWER'
Venue: The Studio, Jeffrey Cheah Performing Arts Centre (JCPAC), Sunway Square, Bandar Sunway, Selangor
Date: ends Sept 6
In the Instant Cafe Theatre Company's latest play The Secret Drawer, theatremakers Lim Tiong Wooi and Ling Tang unearth their families' secrets and lay them bare in a powerful expression of vulnerability and truth.
First developed as a commission for the What The Elders Left Us research festival in 2025, the newly extended play looks deeper at the lives of Lim and Tang's parents, particularly their fathers, who were both detained and imprisoned in the 1960s at the dawn of a new Malaysia.
Through narrative storytelling, archival material and re-enactments of plays, poems and songs, The Secret Drawer tells the poignant stories of the ideals, beliefs and hidden identities of their parents, and how their choices unknowingly shaped their families' journeys until today.
Directed by Jo Kukathas, the 105-minute play is performed in Cantonese, English, Malay and Mandarin and accompanied by surtitles.
The Secret Drawer is also the first theatre production at JCPAC, a new performing arts centre. It will play through the weekend at the venue's experimental space called The Studio.
More info here.
THEATRE: 'SUSAN'
Venue: Hush The Theatre, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends Sept 13
Theatre outfit FSKi Works' one-woman dark comedy Susan puts a spotlight on women's rights – and wrongs – and how society views them.
Starring Ranessa Theyakaraja, the 75-minute performance is an expansion of a 10-minute short play first performed at Short + Sweet Malaysia 2025, where it nabbed Best Script and Best Actress.
Written by award-winning playwright Ian Skatu and directed by Tharwa Wajihah, the story unfolds over three acts with Ranessa portraying three very distinct roles: a woman who allegedly murdered her two husbands, a lawyer defending said accused in court, and an enterprising showrunner pitching a docuseries based on the case to a room full of TV executives.
By the end of the play, audiences will be plagued by the question: Who is Susan?
More info here.
EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC: BORIS - 'PINK' 20th ANNIVERSARY
Venue: Studio AB, Petaling Jaya
Date: Sept 4, 8pm
Friday night in Petaling Jaya gets a rare dose of Japanese heavy music as Tokyo-based trio Boris make its first-ever visit to Malaysia for a special Soundscapes showcase at Studio AB.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of its landmark 2005 album Pink, Boris will perform the record in full, unleashing its volatile mix of crushing riffs, psychedelic passages, drone and noise.
At Studio AB, drummer Atsuo, guitarist and bassist Takeshi, and guitarist and keyboardist Wata look set to remind music fans why Pink remains such a defining entry in the band’s catalogue.
Formed in 1992, Boris have spent more than three decades building a cult following with its uncompromising, ever-evolving sound.
Yet catching the band in Malaysia is an exceptionally rare opportunity – making this first South-East Asian tour stop all the more significant.
With a 34-date Britain and European tour coming in October, tonight in Petaling Jaya may be one of the few chances Malaysian fans get to experience these Japanese icons this close to home.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: ONG CHIA KOON'S 'ASHEN WORDS ON WATER'
Venue: Tali Gallery, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Sept 26
At Tali Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, calligraphy artist Ong Chia Koon turns to music and pop culture as a wellspring for his new solo exhibition, Ashen Words On Water.
Drawing from song lyrics (Mandarin pop to Indonesian indie), poems, television series and other fragments of popular culture, Ong transforms familiar words into expressive gestures, allowing language to move beyond meaning and become image.
Driven as much by what he listens to and watches as by the traditions of calligraphy, the artist approaches ink as something fluid and unpredictable. Brushstrokes stretch, pool and dissolve across paper, carrying traces of the words that inspire them while taking on a life of their own.
Curated by Tali Gallery founder Thomas Martin, the exhibition brings together new works alongside pieces dating back to 2021, offering a glimpse into how Ong’s practice has evolved over the years. Rather than treating calligraphy as a fixed tradition, he continually tests its possibilities, letting popular references, personal responses and the physical movement of ink shape the work.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: UMAR SHARIF‘S 'SALON HANG'
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: ends Sept 20
Some 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.
In this work, 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.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'TATREEZ: RECLAIMING PALESTINE THROUGH EMBROIDERY'
Venue: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends April 25, 2027
This exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia is the culmination of nearly 15 years of research, with the museum's collection at the heart of this celebration of Palestinian cultural heritage.
Tatreez – the Arabic word for embroidery – has long served as a powerful visual language among Palestinian women. Through embroidered textiles, garments, and accessories, the exhibition offers insight into Palestinian history, with many of the works representing some of the few possessions preserved through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homeland.
The exhibition spans two galleries. Special Gallery 1 explores how traditional motifs and regional embroidery traditions are reinterpreted through contemporary practice while remaining rooted in identity, memory, and belonging. From everyday attire to ceremonial dress, embroidered garments once conveyed a woman's region, social status, and life stage without words.
Special Gallery 2 showcases the diversity of Palestinian regional embroidery through garments, textiles, colour palettes, and headdresses. Organised into 10 regions – Galilee, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jaffa, Ramlah–Lydda, Gaza, and the Naqab – the gallery highlights the distinctive styles, materials and motifs that define each locality.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public programmes, including talks and workshops, held throughout its run.
More info here.
