A view of the 'INILah' exhibit by The One Academy's student participants in the iNYALA section of 'Immersio 2024' at GMBB creative mall in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Yap Chee Hong
Digital art festival series Immersio 2024 has turned the fifth floor of Kuala Lumpur’s creative mall GMBB into a playground of art, technology, and culture. Now in its sixth edition, this annual new media festival showcases over 50 cutting-edge artworks and installations by 32 artists and collectives from across South-East Asia.
Visitors can immerse themselves in the fusion of technology and culture at Immersio 2024 until Dec 22 (closed on Mondays), guided by this year’s theme, Maya – a Sanskrit word meaning illusion or “magic.”
Organised by new media outfit Filamen, this year’s festival offers a triple-header experience with the Maya exhibition, Malaysia and South-East Asia Collectives, and iNYALA.
“Immersio has always been about pushing boundaries and creating a space where ideas, creativity, and collaboration thrive,” says Abdul Shakir, co-founder of Filamen and co-organiser of Immersio, during a tour of the exhibition.
The Immersio series has grown stronger with each edition, considering it started out as a side programme at the Urbanscapes festival in 2017. The previous two editions at Muzium Telekom in KL highlighted its growing potential.
A visitor interacts with the projected artwork by Mud Layar in the Malaysia and South-East Asia Collectives segment of Immersio 2024. Photo: Filamen
“This year, we’ve expanded our vision by uniting artists and creative technologists not just from South-East Asia but also from across Malaysia. It’s about advancing the community and empowering them to transcend limitations, shaping the future of new media storytelling,” he adds.
Immersio 2024 is one of the highlights of the Kreatif KL festival, organised by Think City.
GMBB’s spaces also provide the perfect backdrop for Immersio 2024, seamlessly blending immersive displays, large-scale installations, sculptures, single channel videos and projection mapping to enhance the festival’s futuristic, interactive vibe.
“With the expanded scale of this year’s showcase, it’s become impossible for us to manage all the artists on our own,” says Shakir.
A visitor explores the artwork titled 'Caustic II - Soul Passion' by Jay Young in the 'Maya' exhibition. Photo: Filamen
“We also want digital art collectives beyond KL to have the freedom to curate their own spaces. As a result, the entire Immersio experience now flows like a journey through distinct galleries.”
He recommends visitors set aside a few hours to fully explore GMBB’s entire fifth floor, where the Maya exhibition spans four halls, the Malaysia and South-East Asia Collectives occupy 12 rooms, and iNYALA takes over eight rooms.
A connected digital world Curated by multimedia artist Koh Kai Ting, the Maya exhibition explores the concept of “Maya”, inviting audiences to explore the unseen interplay between technology and tradition.
“Maya bridges my two interests – mythology and ‘accelerationism’. It’s more than just a personal exploration as an individual artist; it’s a platform to showcase a community that shares this interest.
A view of digital artworks by Malaysian collective Tumbuk Tikus (far left) and Vietnam’s 084Visual in the Malaysia and South-East Asia Collectives hall area of 'Immersio 2024' at GMBB in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Yap Chee Hong
“I structured Maya around four frameworks: ‘Chronopolitics’, which challenges the concept of linear timeline; ‘Quest’, which explores transcendental inquiry; ‘Diaspora’, which examines the migration and urban lifestyles within the Malaysian context; and ‘Symbiosis’, which reflects on humanity’s position in nature,” Koh explains.
Organised around these four themes, Maya provides a unique lens through which to reimagine and critically examine the social and cultural dynamics shaping South-East Asia.
The inclusion of young, dynamic new media artists, designers and creatives from the region offers viewers an alternative narrative of South-East Asia, presenting a fresh perspective that contrasts with conventional art forms.
In her work, Raito Low, a Malaysian animation director based in Taiwan, bridges the natural world with the indigenous Austronesian ethnic group of Taiwan.
Malaysian artist Kapal Lorek's video installation is seen in the 'Malaysia and SEA Collectives' exhibition. Photo: The Star/Yap Chee Hong
“Stones are filled with endless possibilities in nature, from sand to mountains, flowing across the land and embracing the world around us. In the Amis language, ‘Tanatanetek’ means ‘as soft as stone,’ symbolising a unique view of resilience and the gentleness of the land.
“Through this work, I invite viewers to reimagine the essence of stones and appreciate the firm yet tender hearts of the Amis people,” says Low.
Pauline Despi, a Filipina artist, believes that a new media showcase can carry emotional depth. Her work Ambergris certainly delivers on that.
“Grief manifests in many forms. During the height of the pandemic, offering condolences to others while grieving myself felt unbearably hard. I realised I had been suppressing my grief so effectively that I turned it into a series of paintings in my notebook," says Despi.
A visitor walks past the digital art and sound installation by Malaysian artists Kicau Bilau at the 'Maya' exhibition, part of 'Immersio 2024'. Photo: Yap Chee Hong/The Star
“The colourised mounds in these paintings evoke that lump-in-the-throat feeling we get when we’re on the verge of tears. By transforming these paintings into 3D objects for Ambergris, I allowed those suppressed emotions to surface,” she adds.
Meanwhile, the Malaysia and South-East Asia Collectives programme features curated spaces for individual collectives from various countries and Malaysian states. These spaces celebrate the region’s artistic diversity, with each collective offering a unique interpretation of Immersio’s theme.
Lastly, iNYALA highlights student works from The One Academy, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). This section presents the fresh perspectives of the next generation of artists, providing a platform for innovative ideas and experimentation.
A visitor walks through a room with Thailand artist Pavee's new media work titled 'Microorganisms.' Photo: The Star/Yap Chee Hong
“What makes this year’s Immersio special is witnessing the growth of the digital art community. Over the years, we’ve expanded from showcasing works from just Kuala Lumpur to featuring artists from all of Malaysia, and now, South-East Asia.
"Events like Immersio are crucial for sustaining the digital art ecosystem, connecting emerging collectives, and educating audiences on the value of digital art,” concludes Shakir.
In conjunction with Immersio 2024, visitors will also have access to two additional digital art exhibitions, Seed Of Change and Root Of Progress (celebrating Yayasan Telekon Malaysia’s 30th anniversary) at the Digital Art Gallery, Muzium Telekom. Aethera, a solo new media art exhibition by Vasflow, showcased at the Media Art Gallery at GMBB, is also an added attraction. Audiences with tickets to Immersio 2024 will receive complimentary access to these exhibitions.
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