Fawwaz Sukri's painting 'Cover Album Series: Kembara Seniman Jalanan' (acrylic on canvas, 2024). Photo: Galeri Puteh
EXHIBITION: 'SESAT DI KUALA LUMPUR'
Venue: Galeri Puteh, KL Eco City Mall, Kuala Lumpur
Date: June 8-30
On Sunday, Galeri Puteh will be opening Sesat Di Kuala Lumpur: Lagunya Begini, Tampaknya Begitu, an exhibition showcasing nearly 60 artists inspired by legendary Malaysian singer, songwriter, and actor Datuk M. Nasir.
Running through the month of June, the exhibit features a multi-generational line-up including Rafiee Ghani, Abdullah Jones, Samsuddin Wahab, Najib Bamadhaj, Shafiq Nordin, Hisyamuddin Abdullah, Kide Baharudin, Ika Sharom, Mustaffa Ahmad Hidzir (aka Tapa Otai) and others.
The exhibition features a range of mediums, including paintings, mixed media art, wall installations, and photographs.
Inspired by M. Nasir's extensive music and arts legacy, the exhibition also references his song from the 1986 cult classic movie Kembara Seniman Jalanan.
An opening reception will be held this Sunday at 2pm, with the public invited to check out a gallery programme that might offer a surprise or two when it comes to music, art and poetry.
More info here.
Comic book artist Cari Gadoh's 'The Disappearance Of Uncle Samad', one of his three books available at the Comic Art Festival KL this weekend. Photo: Cari Gadoh
COMIC ART FESTIVAL KUALA LUMPUR
Venue: Level 3, Fahrenheit 88, Kuala Lumpur
Date: June 8 and 9, 10.30am-6pm
Comic Art Festival Kuala Lumpur (CAFKL), a creator-focused event that celebrates the best of Malaysia's illustration and comic art culture, is back! This year's festival features 446 booths with over 500 individual artists, plus special comic artist guests and art-centric activities such as the Comic Worm, Comic-on-the-spot and Speedpainter Showdown.
You'll get the chance to meet and interact with local comic creators such as Alan Quah, who has illustrated covers for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm; creators of popular webcomics Bichi Mao and Mist; illustrators RYNISYOU and Zeen Chin, as well as The Woke Salaryman.
For those keen to do some on-the-spot art, ASK Dance Company dancers Imran Syafiq and Adlan Sairin will be modelling for the Life Drawing sessions – be sure to bring your sketchbook and art tools! You can also collect stamps in your CAFKL passport to win a special prize (while stocks last).
Admission is RM15.
More info here.
Parti Design Awangan, led by husband-and-wife architect team Nabil Mustafa and Hana Daut, will showcase their 'Pagar Tupai' installation – a homage to the 'Pagar Musang' fence commonly found in traditional Malay houses. Photo: The Star/Daryl Goh
ART AND DESIGN: 'TUKANG FESTIVAL'
Venue: The Spine, Petaling Jaya
Date: June 8 and 9
Visual artist Cheng Yen Pheng invites you to handcraft bricks to take home. Syiborisyd and Aruznadi will teach natural dyeing from food scraps, while Parti Design Awangan demonstrates modern updates to traditional Malay architecture. These activities are part of the free admission Tukang Festival, held this weekend at The Spine in Petaling Jaya.
Organised by Tourism Selangor, the event celebrates craft, design, environmental issues, recycling, and art in both outdoor and indoor spaces. The Tukang Festival, featuring the "Reka Lestari" exhibition and workshops by Cheng Yen Pheng, Parti Design Awangan, Syiborisyd and Aruznadi, Khabir Roslan, Ahnaf Hakimi, and Jamil Zakaria, also includes live music and poetry performances throughout the day.
The event also hosts an arts and craft market and runs from 10am to 8pm.
More info here.
A view of the 'Crafts & Care' Orang Asli exhibition, presented by Gerimis Art Project, at GMBB Mall in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Gerimis Art Project
EXHIBITION: 'CRAFTS & CARE'
Venue: GMBB, Kuala Lumpur
Date: June 8 onwards
Gerimis Art Project's new exhibition Crafts & Care explores the cosmological life of the Orang Asli through their crafts. Over six years, collaborations with Semai, Mah Meri, Temuan, Temiar, and Batek communities provided insights into their daily lives and traditional practices.
This exhibition illustrates the Orang Asli's deep physical and spiritual connection to their ancestral land, emphasising a worldview where there is no distinction between humans, the natural world (plants, animals, rivers, mountains), and the spiritual realm (souls and spirits of the land). In this interconnected relationship, differences are dissolved, and care for all living and non-living entities takes precedence.
Informative displays also highlight the Orang Asli's relationship with natural fibres, planting cycles, curative rituals, and ancestral practices.
This permanent exhibition, in partnership with GMBB, opens on June 8, and is open daily from 11am to 8pm.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: TAJUDDIN ISMAIL'S 'RHYTHM OF NATURE'
Venue: G13 Gallery, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends June 29
G13 Gallery, in collaboration with TJ Fine Art, is showing Rhythm Of Nature, veteran artist Tajuddin Ismail’s 16th solo exhibition.
This showcase, which will be hosting its opening reception on June 8 at 2pm, highlights Tajuddin's unique fusion of painterly gestures and his profound connection to the natural world, capturing its dynamic movement and inherent beauty.
The month-long exhibition, featuring works made between 2021 and 2024, reflects his dedication to exploring the intersection of nature and art, skillfully blending chaotic and harmonious elements to create resonant works.
Embracing painterly abstraction as his signature style, Tajuddin's innovative approach pushes the boundaries of conventional art, inviting art lovers on a journey of contemplation and appreciation for the natural rhythms that shape our world.
More info here.
Ang Xia Yi's 'Wasting Time' (domestic textiles, 2024). Photo: The Backroom Gallery
EXHIBITION: 'INVENTORY OF INTIMACIES'
Venue: The Backroom Gallery, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: ends June 23
The Back Room's latest show, Inventory of Intimacies, a group exhibition, features three emerging Malaysian artists: Ang Xia Yi, Cheong See Min, and Nia Khalisa.
These artists work with textiles, found fabrics, and fibres to record time and history on an intimate scale against the backdrop of grander societal narratives. The exhibition showcases a variety of textile and fibre mediums, including pictorial patchwork quilting, weaving, and batik drawings.
Inventory of Intimacies explores how these three practices harness textiles' ability to capture the fluid and indistinct quality of memory. Unlike photography or language, which fix memory in precise representations, textiles convey impressions that appeal to the sensual side of human nature and evoke the soft comfort of nostalgia.
More info here.
A file image of Ahmad Fuad Osman in December 2019. The artist is showcasing his 'Archipelagic Alchemy' exhibition in Kuala Lumpur this month. Photo: The Star/Ong Soon Hin
EXHIBITION: AHMAD FUAD OSMAN'S 'ARCHIPELAGIC ALCHEMY'
Venue: A+ Works of Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Date: June 8-29
Ahmad Fuad Osman's Archipelagic Alchemy, curated by Carlos Quijon Jr, is the second in a travelling exhibition series, initially presented at the ISCP Project Space in New York from Dec 2023, to April 2024. This series explores how archipelagic conditions can reshape our understanding of global contemporaries and futures.
The exhibition examines the archipelagic framework through colonial history and futurism. It focuses on the 17th-century exchange of New Netherland (now Manhattan) and Pulau Run (one of the Spice Islands) under the Treaty of Breda, which ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Featuring a speculative documentary and archival materials collected by Ahmad Fuad, Archipelagic Alchemy offers a postcolonial perspective on this historical moment, inviting viewers to reimagine our place in the world.
The Kuala Lumpur iteration includes objects and colonial paraphernalia from the artist's personal collection. Appointments required to visit the exhibition.
More info here.
