Vintage book sellers from across the country will be participating at the Book Street year-end event at Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya. Photo: Handout
BOOK STREET: 'SEMBANG BUKU SAMBIL NGOPI, LAYAN MUZIK'
Venue: Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya
Date: Dec 3 and 4
Book Street, a vintage book community, is ending the year with a bumper event, adding music vendors to its handsome list of rare book sellers and curators from across the nation. From as far as Kota Baru, Kelantan to the bountiful book destination of Ipoh, the outstation sellers will be the highlights.
This weekend will see Amcorp mall's concourse area in a festive mood as this independent (and literary) community land at this community mall with a vast selection of collectible and out-of-print books, rare antique maps, prints, photographs, manuscripts and antiquities, some over 100 years old. The fun part is to pick out a unique Christmas gift or a year-end treat (or more) for yourself.
A list of new vinyl sellers and music collectors will also be joining the fray, alongside the coffee vendors all set to keep visitors pumped up and digging through the treasure trove of books and music.
Free admission event. Open 10am to 8pm this weekend.
Artist Liew Chee Heai's installation work 'My Island' for the Klang River Festival is seen at the KongsiKL arts space. Photo: KongsiKL
KLANG RIVER FESTIVAL
Venue: Various venues in Kuala Lumpur/Selangor
Date: ends Dec 4
The inaugural Klang River Festival (KRF) 2022, which ends this weekend, is a community-based event for people who like the indoors or outdoors. It features visual art exhibitions, dialogue sessions (with scholars, and researchers), arts performances, workshops, light installations, music, curated outdoor arts markets, heritage walks and film screenings.
"The festival highlights the (Klang) river's importance as a source of transportation, fresh water, food, and religious rituals while acknowledging its transient and ever-changing nature, as well as the way the communities that have sprung up along the waterway and its tributaries have been shaped and changed by them and vice versa," reads the festival notes.
Locations for the festival include KongsiKL, Oriental Art And Cultural Center (OACC), Kampung Hokkien (Old Klang Road), The Godown, REXKL, Muzium Telekom and more.
Free admission festival. Tip: head to the KRF website and map out the programmes, events and exhibitions you want to catch. It is an activity-packed festival and you are bound to return more than once.
More info here.
A close-up detail of contemporary artist Ya Hui Yee's artwork 'My Daily News Is Better ... Lah', which is featured at the 'BOOMZOOMROOM' exhibition at APW in KL. Photo: Handout
EXHIBITION: BOOMZOOMROOM
Venue: APW, Bangsar, KL
Date: Dec 2-18
The general idea of an art exhibition is rapidly changing as we speak, especially with creative boundaries being blurred.
BOOMZOOMROOM (BZR) takes its lead from these developments as it presents a visual art showcase featuring a diverse collection of artists and creatives across artistic practises, including visual arts, photography, theatre, and musicians, unpacking generational conversations in response to a research study titled Life Of Z by R+ of GDP Architects.
The exhibition space is also in a newly renovated APW, where GDP Architects constructed the room structure in line with the exhibition. Apart from the exhibition, there will be talk sessions as part of the programme, which feature the artists.
From textile art and comics right to lecture performances and punk music (with a Kelantanese accent), this exhibition offers a glimpse of how diverse communities and creative mediums in Malaysia can forge new relationships and come together.
The exhibition line-up includes Alvin Lau, Ang Xia Yi, Cloud Projects, Okui Lala, Mark Teh, No Good, Ellen Ang and others.
Free admission to the exhibition.
More info here.
A scene from the theatre play 'IQ.ROCK', which is playing at DPAC. Photo: Anomalist Production
THEATRE: IQ.ROCK
Venue: DPAC, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya
Dates: Dec 1-4
After a two-year hiatus, Anomalist Production returns to the local theatre scene with a restaging of IQ.ROCK, a bilingual play which serves as a timely reminder for a moderate and inclusive Malaysia.
IQ.ROCK presents the tale of a group of SPM students from rural Serting, Negri Sembilan, who - like many school-leavers in real life - lack direction, are aimless and doomed by the system that raised them. The story critically highlights the inequities of the education system; particularly how they affect rural communities, through the quiet sense of chaos and social issues that play out within a sleepy rubber tapping community, which is further stirred by the arrival of a veteran English teacher, Mary, from the city.
The play offers a glimpse of the contrasts and inequalities that exist in Malaysia, which go far beyond just a lack of English proficiency, as Mary finds out.
More info here.
Badan Warisan Malaysia (Malaysian Heritage Trust) building in the heart of Kuala Lumpur is set to welcome visitors for its Christmas Fair this Sunday. Photo: The Star/Filepic
BADAN WARISAN MALAYSIA: CHRISTMAS FAIR
Venue: Heritage Centre, No. 2, Jalan Stonor, KL
Date: Dec 4
As the year draws to a close, the festive season is only beginning!
This year’s Badan Warisan Malaysia's Christmas Fair falls this Sunday, with an event centred around gifting loved ones presents while also supporting heritage preservation in Kuala Lumpur.
The vendors include Little Syam, Emi Kaz Jewelry, Cult Curates, Down4Sundays, Seni Sara, Flavours and Memories from Mussoorie to Malaysia, Dia Guild, Fariza Basri Art, Heritage Basket, Four Summers, Letters by Eve, Ganga Café, Benang Sari and Bear Minima.
There will be handmade crafts, artisanal items, vintage jewellery, baked goods, home decor, books and more.
The entry fee is RM10, which will go to towards heritage preservation.
The Christmas Fair will be on from 10am to 5pm.
More info here.
A view of Liew Kwai Fei's latest art exhibition 'Pencil Exercises', which is showing at the Backroom Gallery in KL. Photo: Backroom Gallery
PENCIL EXERCISES BY LIEW KWAI FEI
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: ends Dec 29
If you miss the power of pencil drawings, this show is for you. In visual artist Liew Kwai Fei's latest art exhibition Pencil Exercises (and book launch), he is showcasing 117 drawings crafted exclusively by graphite and coloured pencils.
The exhibition focuses on two deceptively simple elements of a pencil and a grid. Liew explores the limits of the grid form, composing scenes of rebellion, community, and pleasure that are irreverent and profound in equal measure.
Liew’s new drawings are also collected in a new book (Pencil Exercises), which is published by Cloud Projects, and will be made available at this month-long exhibition.
Free admission to the exhibit.
More info here.
GAME ART EXHIBITION: ALT-SHIFT-PLAY
Venue: Museum Telekom, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Dec 2-4
If you're a gamer, then you're in luck this weekend. Alt-Shift-Play, an exhibition of contemporary Australian games, features a line-up fan-favourites alongside obscure gems.
From award-winning titles like Cult Of The Lamb and commissioned micro-games like Apartment to the psychedelic maze of The Catacombs Of Solaris Revisited and the personal stories of Wayward Strand, this exhibit highlights an array of alternative, ever-shifting, and playful landscapes from the Australian independent game and game-maker scene.
Alt-Shift-Play, curated by Chad Toprak, also features on-site playable games, a series of short talks (by some of the creators) and workshop sessions.
Free admission. Tomorrow's launch event is at 8pm, weekend opening hours: 11am-9pm.
