Tok Puteri Che Mohd Zailani Che Moh, better known as Pak Mat Jedok, is one of the most iconic masters of the Main Puteri tradition in Kelantan. He is set to appear at Panggung Pusaka: Senandung Kota festival in KL this weekend. Photo: Pusaka/Ahmad Fikry Mohd Anwar
TRADITIONAL ARTS: PANGGUNG PUSAKA: SENANDUNG KOTA
Venue: The Godown KL
Date: Oct 6-8
The Panggung Pusaka: Senandung Kota festival presents an exciting array of performances, workshops, and conversations featuring masters of traditional arts from diverse communities across Malaysia, such as Main Puteri of Kelantan, Kuda Kepang of Johor, Dondang Sayang of Melaka, Mah Meri indigenous performers, Sumazau dancers of Sabah, Urumee Melum drummers, and Silat Jawi practitioners.
The free admission festival, curated and produced by cultural organisation Pusaka, is being held in conjunction with Pusaka’s 21st anniversary celebration, which will continue into 2024.
To make it a bumper cultural weekend at The Godown, Panggung Pusaka: Senandung Kota will also feature a talk by Pusaka’s founder Eddin Khoo, a special exhibition featuring photographs from Pusaka’s archives, a short film screening room, dance workshops, plus a bazaar featuring local artisans, books and F&B pop-ups.
More info here.
A general view of the CIMB Artober Art & Soul exhibition at MITEC in KL, which features 18 art galleries. Photo: The Star/Raja Faisal Hishan
ART FAIR: CIMB ARTOBER ART & SOUL
Venue: Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), KL
Date: Oct 6-8
CIMB Artober, which is returning for its fourth edition, is opening today with two showcases – CIMB Artober Art & Soul, a regional art fair, and CIMB Artober Fashion Week – at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) in Kuala Lumpur.
There is no shortage of art galleries to check out at this free admission event.
A total of 18 contemporary art galleries and three craft outfits are featured at CIMB Artober Art & Soul, including Artas, G13 Gallery, Galeri Puteh, Drawing Room (PHI), La Galerie Du Monde, Rissim Contemporary, Sareng, Segaris Art Centre, Suma Orientalis, Taksu, Wei-Ling Gallery, Centexs Commercial Sarawak, Yayasan Hasanah and Zhan Art Space.
The Pahang Pavilion is also a highlight where visitors can take a look at the private collection of Kain Tenun DiRaja Pahang belonging to Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
If you want to learn about what was traditionally worn by Malay nobility 300 years ago, then you can also check out the telepuk and woodcraft exhibit.
Meanwhile, 10 Malaysian designers, together with two guest designers from Indonesia will be previewing their latest collections at the CIMB Artober Fashion Week at the same venue.
More info here.
Nazura (right) and Sharmin, the daughters of the late art collectors Rahime Harun (1954-2008) and Datuk N. Parameswaran (1948-2022), will be revisiting and exhibiting their respective fathers' art collections in the 'Bapaku Pulang' exhibition at Temu House in Petaling Jaya. Photo: The Star/Kamarul Ariffin
EXHIBITION: 'BAPAKU PULANG'
Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya
Date: Oct 7-29, 10am-5pm (weekends)
Bapaku Pulang is a visual art exhibition featuring selected Malaysian artworks from the collections of Nazura Rahime and Sharmin Parameswaran, the daughters of the late art collectors Rahime Harun (1954 –2008) and Datuk N. Parameswaran (1948–2022) respectively.
The exhibition features modern and contemporary art works by 39 artists, offering a glimpse into the artists and topics/themes favoured by both Rahime and Parameswaran, who actively collected art and participated in the local art scene from the early 1980s.
Curated by Sarah Abu Bakar, this selling exhibition features 53 artworks spanning from the Wednesday Art Group contemporaries Peter Harris, Grace Selvanayagam and Dzulkifli Buyong, to the Anak Alam artists of the 1970s with Mustapa Haji Ibrahim, Maryam Abdullah, and Ali ‘Mabuha’ Rahamad, as well as early works (drawings, prints, photographs) from Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Eric Peris, Juhari Said, Nik Zainal Abidin and Yau Bee Ling.
Together with the exhibition, there will also be additional programming, including a panel discussion with Nazura and Sharmin; a session with storytelling, short films and songs; and a panel discussion with art collectors.
More info here.
A general view of the 'Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage?' exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) in KL. Photo: The Star/Azlina Abdullah
EXHIBITION: ORIENTALIST PAINTINGS: MIRROR OR MIRAGE?
Venue: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, KL
Date: ends Oct 15
It's the final month to catch one of the most talk-about art exhibitions in Malaysia this year. The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) is exhibiting over 100 paintings of Orientalist art from its vast collection, making it the biggest exhibition in Asia to feature paintings and artefacts that capture the essence of the Orient in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Highlights of IAMM's Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage? exhibition, which runs until Oct 15, include renowned works by some of the most celebrated painters of the era, including Jean-Leon Gerome, Eugene Delacroix, John Frederick Lewis and the remarkable but rarely seen Ottoman polymath Osman Hamdi Bey.
The paintings are mainly from the 19th century, a time when it became possible for artists to travel to the "Orient", as the Middle East and North Africa were then called. The exhibition takes a thematic look at that vast region in a time of transition. The display is divided into eight sections that follow the artists’ different creative callings.
Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage? is one of the largest exhibitions ever undertaken at the IAMM, and the show is spread out over two galleries.
More info here.
Rumah Tangsi is one of the venues for the Kuala Lumpur Design Festival 2023. Photo: The Star/Ong Soon Hin
KUALA LUMPUR DESIGN FESTIVAL 2023
Venue: various locations in KL
Date: Oct 6-15
The second Kuala Lumpur Design Festival 2023 (KLDF2023) opens today (Oct 6) and it will feature a 10-day public programme that will bring together local and international players in the design industry.
They include stakeholders in the visual communication, interior design and architecture design industries, among others.
This year's programmes include forum and dialogue events, workshops, design market, a film showcase, exhibition and also a series of public installations during the festival week, in promotion of design and the arts for public.
The events – ticketed and free admission – will be staggered to take place at locations throughout the capital city such as the Kuala Lumpur Library and Muzium Telekom. Other locations include the River of Life waterfront in Masjid Jamek, Dataran Merdeka, Rumah Tangsi, REXKL and The Godown Arts Centre.
More info here.
Ong Hieng Fuong's 'Kuala Lumpur (etching on paper, 2023). Photo: Handout
KL PRINTMAKING OPEN 2023
Venue: HOM Art Trans Ampang, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Oct 11
With over 75 artists - homegrown and international - participating in the KL Printmaking Open 2023, it is clear that this event has evolved and grown into a successful and anticipated annual date in the printmaking scene’s calendar.
The exhibition, presented by art galleries HOM Art Trans and Chetak 17, features a diverse list of Malaysian veterans and newcomers (even art students) in the printmaking scene, while the international line-up includes artists from the United States, India, Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Argentina, Poland, Austria, Serbia, Canada, Netherlands and the Philippines.
The local favourites this year include Abdul Mansoor Ibrahim, Juhari Said, Mad Anuar Ismail, Ilse Noor, and Fuad Pathil. When it comes to the various printmaking techniques, this exhibition doesn’t disappoint with its broad range of styles, including linocut on paper, etching, drypoint on paper, woodcut, mezzotint on paper, screen print and others.
More info here.
