MUARA ARTS GALLERY
Venue: 18, Medan Pasar, City Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Nov 1
Muara Arts Gallery in Medan Pasar, Kuala Lumpur, opens to the public this Sunday, bringing a new space for visual art to the heart of the capital.
Housed in six restored early 20th-century shophouses, the gallery aims to broaden access to contemporary art and encourage cultural exchange. The gallery spans approximately 1,858sq m, with a viewing area overlooking the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers.
Its inaugural exhibition draws inspiration from Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen’s ongoing generative work The Critical Dictionary Of Southeast Asia (2017–ongoing). Featuring painting, sculpture, textiles, installation, video and works on paper by more than 40 artists, the regional showcase includes Malaysian artists Wong Hoy Cheong, Yee I-Lann, Pangrok Sulap, Izat Arif, Anne Samat, Marcos Kueh, Nadiah Bamadhaj, Sharon Chin, Tan Zi Hao and the late Nirmala Dutt (1941–2016).
Regional highlights include Agus Suwage (Indonesia), Navin Rawanchaikul (Thailand), Ho Tzu Nyen (Singapore), Pacita Abad (Philippines-US) and Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan (Philippines). Beyond these established names, the exhibition offers plenty to discover, with each work engaging with a term reflecting the region’s culture, ecology, geography, history or politics.
On opening day, the first 100 walk-in visitors will receive a free exhibition catalogue, with the queue opening at 9.30am. A live performance by Hands Percussion at 9.45am and two art talks for ticket holders will round out the launch programme.
Muara Arts Gallery is a ticketed venue.
More info here.
ART FAIR: CIMB ARTOBER 2026
Venue: Ombak KLCC
Date: ends Nov 1
This year, the annual CIMB Artober moves to the new Ombak KLCC, placing the five-day art fair – which started yesterday – within one of Kuala Lumpur’s latest retail destinations.
More than 20 galleries – including G13 Gallery, Wei-Ling Gallery, Core Contemporary Art and FriendenArt – will present a selection of contemporary art, textiles and craft.
Featured homegrown artists include Fawwaz Sukri, who blends anti-war messages and American and Asian comics with traditional motifs, and photographer Eiffel Chong, whose work explores industry, memory and time.
The return of the Pahang Pavilion, featuring tenun textiles, extends this dialogue between contemporary expression and traditional craftsmanship.
Art talks, sales of artworks and a charity auction - featuring 30 works - benefiting Mercy Malaysia’s humanitarian work complete the programme.
The sixth edition of CIMB Artober runs through Nov 1, 10am to 10pm daily, on Level 1 of Ombak KLCC. Admission is free.
More info here.
CONCERT: 'BEATS OF BORNEO: ALENA MURANG WITH THE MPO'
Venue: Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS, KLCC
Date: Oct 31
The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) will present a new composition pairing the traditional Sarawakian sape with an orchestra at Beats Of Borneo: Alena Murang With The MPO, at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) on Saturday.
Titled Concerto For Sape And Orchestra, the new 20-minute work by Sabah-born composer Vivian Chua comprises three movements and will be performed entirely as an instrumental piece, with sape player Alena Murang as soloist. The concert will be conducted by MPO music director Junichi Hirokami.
The performance marks Alena’s second collaboration with the MPO, following her debut at Sounds of Borneo in 2024. The 37-year-old described the concert as a significant milestone for herself, the sape community and Borneo’s musical heritage.
“We want the sape itself to ‘speak’ and welcome the audience during this performance,” said Alena.
Preparing for the concerto also required Alena to develop a more structured understanding of Western classical music, including reading notation from the score and translating it into the corresponding notes on the sape’s frets.
The concert will open with Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and conclude with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG AND ASIA'
Venue: Ilham Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Nov 1
Art lovers have until this weekend to catch Robert Rauschenberg And Asia at Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, a touring exhibition exploring the legendary American artist’s engagement with Asia through more than 40 works.
Organised by Hong Kong’s M+ and Ilham Gallery, the exhibition marks the centenary of Rauschenberg’s birth and traces how his encounters with China, Tibet, Japan, India and the wider region shaped his practice. From papermaking to found objects, the works reflect his interest in local materials, artistic traditions and cross-cultural exchange.
Known for combining painting, sculpture, and photography, Rauschenberg (1925–2008) challenged conventional boundaries between art forms. His experimental approach helped shape post-war contemporary art.
Works on display include Kyoto, Tokyo, Japan, Bamhue, Happy Birthday Baby Leech and Axis South, reflecting his travels and engagement with different cultural and visual landscapes.
The exhibition also recalls Rauschenberg’s 1990 visit to Malaysia and his exhibition at the old National Art Gallery in KL as part of his Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) project, which sought to encourage cross-cultural dialogue through art.
With the exhibition closing this Sunday, visitors have a final opportunity to explore Rauschenberg’s artistic exchanges with Asia. Admission to Ilham Gallery is free.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: RAFIEE GHANI'S 'DUSUN LAUT'
Venue: Galeri Puteh, KL Eco City, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Nov 7
Any gallery feels more alive when Rafiee Ghani’s work is on show. He has a way of transporting viewers to faraway places through his art.
The veteran artist returns to the gallery scene with Dusun Laut, an exhibition at KL’s Galeri Puteh featuring more than 50 mixed media works, including charcoal drawings on paper.
In Dusun Laut, Rafiee’s works go beyond geographical locations to become repositories of memories of seas, islands, coastlines, forests, villages and cities, and the people he encounters.
He is equally interested in the customs, traditions, arts and cultural practices that shape communities and define their identities.
“Dusun Laut is an exhibition of abstract paintings born from experiences of travelling, sailing and moving through the landscapes and spaces of the Nusantara," says Rafiee in the exhibition notes.
Like a wanderer charting the contours of memory, Rafiee draws on the environments, cultures and traditions of the wider Malay Archipelago and South-East Asia, tracing a path from Indonesia and Borneo to Myanmar, Thailand and Papua New Guinea.
As part of the exhibition's weekend programme, Rafiee reflects on how travel informs his art in a conversation with artist and educator Dr Jalaini Abu Hasan at Galeri Puteh this Saturday (Oct 31) at 2pm.
Free admission exhibition.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'THE LINE: BEYOND THE FOREST'S EDGE'
Venue: Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery (BNM MAG), KL
Date: ends April 4, 2027
Photography has rarely been given much space in major exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur, so The Line: Beyond The Forest’s Edge is a welcome change.
This exhibition at Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery features award-winning photographer Ian Teh’s acclaimed The Line series, which won the Sagamihara Photography Asia Award in Japan this year.
His photographs look at Greater Kuala Lumpur through the shifting boundary between the city and the forests around it – documenting not just how the landscape looks, but how the two are increasingly connected.
The exhibition brings together 51 photographs, an audio piece and a video documentary shown in an immersive dark room.
A 360° virtual reality experience takes visitors further into the landscape, offering another way to explore what lies beyond the forest’s edge.
Nature enthusiasts, curious gallery hoppers and content creators can all take a leisurely stroll through the exhibition, exploring Teh’s striking views of Greater KL and the changing landscape where the city meets the forest.
Free admission exhibition.
More info here.
