The recipients for the Krishen Jit Fund 2024 (from left): Haddy, Haziqah, Yeap, Hasbe, Sharifah Aleysha and Syarifah Nadhirah. Photo: The Star/Art Chen
Hasbe Zuraini Abu Bakar, a seasoned educator with expertise in English, literature, and theatre, has long been driven by a passion to bring the transformative power of the performing arts to a wider audience, with a special focus on inspiring the younger generation.
Her project, "The Sensory Drama School Tour", was one of six recipients of the Krishen Jit Fund for its 2024 cohort, announced earlier this week in KL. The grant, now in its 19th year, is administrated and managed by Five Arts Centre. The projects will be awarded between RM4,000 and RM12,000, with the total funding amounting to RM51,000.
Hasbe can now start planning to bring theatre performances to students with disabilities in Terengganu.
"The main inspiration for this project is my 21-year old autistic son. My husband and I love theatre, but we couldn’t take him to performances (when he was growing up), so I started an English drama class to give him that experience," said Hasbe at the grant presentation ceremony in KL last week.
The Sensory Drama School weaves sensory elements like touch, light, sound, and smell into its drama activities, creating a tailored experience for students with sensory integration challenges.
The project will be piloted over two months next year in two districts – Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Nerus – due to the high number of Integrated Special Education Programme schools, and the presence of the Terengganu Autism Association in the area.
Hasbe said that rather than having the drama school located in one location, the troupe will go to schools instead – hence the “tour” aspect.
“Most of the families in this area are in the B40 bracket, so they don’t often get the opportunity to bring their children out to watch performances. That’s why we’re bringing the performances to them through this project,” she added.
The other recipients of the Krishen Jit Fund 2024 have also presented diverse projects, from an exploration of the plight of trees in Kuala Lumpur to a poignant video essay documenting the journey of two artists as they discover the avatars of people they have loved and lost.
For an environmental arts project, Syarifah Nadhirah Syed Abdul Rahman’s Roots And Ruins series chronicles the history of roadside trees and Kuala Lumpur’s greening through artistic inquiry and archival work.
“As a society, we don’t reflect or grieve the loss of trees in public spaces. Through this project, I aim to gather insights from authorities to better understand the issue,” said Syarifah.
The 31-year-old visual artist and curator of the Forest Learning Centre (in KL) hopes to put together a project that reflects on landscape trends and urbanisation, aiming to deepen appreciation for native trees through an immersive exhibition and walking tour focused on iconic dead trees.
Four other projects focus on film, each offering distinct approaches.
Jacky Yeap, 32, a filmmaker who organised the Raintown Film Festival in Taiping, Perak this year, will explore the concept of viewing the viewer in his experimental work titled See See.
"It actually started from a simple reason. Whenever I went somewhere, I’d feel uncomfortable with people staring at me, which made me angry—thinking, 'Why are you looking at me?' So, I began questioning why I felt this way and gradually expanded on the idea from there," said Yeap.
Kelantan filmmaker Haziqah Azemi will use the grant to develop her film project Garek, which features perspectives of Muslim women jailed for pregnancy outside of wedlock.
The feature film, which has already been picked up by an A-list worldwide collaborator for co-production, will be set in Tumpat, Kelantan.
Sharifah Aleysha Syed Zainal Rashid’s TRACE/US is a video essay following her and artist Theyvapaalan S. Jayaratnam as they search for traces of deceased loved ones in old writings and photographs.
The project uncovers a long-lost Penang from the 1950s-1960s and the 1990s, weaving an alternative story while exploring the artists' personal histories.
“I was very close to my late maternal grandfather. After his passing, I went through his belongings in Kulim (Kedah) and found his old notebooks. One dated back to the 1950s, when Singapore was still part of the Malayan Federation. It was fascinating to discover a version of my grandfather's life that was completely unknown to me, revealing a side of Malaysian identity I hadn’t seen before," said Sharifah Aleysha.
Kuching-born Cheryl Lisa Haddy, a final-year cinematic arts student, is part of the team behind CCTV, a film about Tabitha, a girl trying to remove a surveillance camera installed by her strict mother.
“The film, which is our final year project, is inspired by my childhood experience from when my parents got divorced. It’s about a mother and daughter who are struggling to reconnect after the divorce, but it's told as a comedy,” said Farrah Anne Dhaliwal, who is the film’s director.
This year, the fund, which is supported by Astro and Creador Foundation, received 72 applications. Each grantee will receive funding to complete a creative project, including training, workshops, residencies, productions, or new works in various art forms. Since 2006, the Krishen Jit Fund has awarded 89 grants totalling RM672,000 as of 2023.
