Front Row

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many performing arts companies have been turning to their archives or past performances to see how they can be repurposed for viewing today - because of the challenges of staging live shows or even having rehearsals and so on. Which is how we now have an online streaming of the play Nadirah, written by Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa’at back in 2009. The play has been staged here in Malaysia several times by the Instant Cafe Theatre, starting in 2012. So now, they will be streaming a version of the play that was staged in Tokyo in 2016, which we will be able to watch from the 19th to the 22nd of November, via cloudtheatres.com. We speak with two of the play’s performers, Sharifah Amani and Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin, about revisiting the play, and the new dimensions it might take during an online staging.

Image Source: Instant Cafe Theatre

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The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed how art is created and performed; Soliloquy - A Dance Film is an example of those possibilities. A collaborative dance video between dancer and choreographer SueKi Yee and musician Rachel Morais, it was made this year, while observing social distancing requirements, and with SueKi in Kuala Lumpur and Rachel in Brisbane. We speak to them both about their collaborative process, and what it was like to make art during a global pandemic.

Image Source: SueKi Yee Youtube 

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The WLG Incubator is an initiative by Wei-Ling Galleries to mentor and collaborate with emerging Malaysian artists, and this year, the artists selected were Anas Afandi and Tang Tze Lye. Over a six-month program, the two artists worked with Malaysian artist Ivan Lam as their mentor to discuss, research, and develop new concepts. The results of this are currently being shown at the WLG Incubator Young Artists Show. We speak with Anas and Tze Lye, as well as the director of Wei-Ling Contemporary, Lim Wei Ling, about the importance of nurturing emerging artists and providing a space for them to both create and reflect on their work.

Image Source: Tang Tze Lye, Wei-Ling Contemporary

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In these pandemic times, the idea of attending a performance often feels rather remote. But what if that performance took place in the form of a phone call, where you spoke to a stranger for an hour? That is the basic premise of a performance happening as part of the Singapore International Festival of Arts, with a show called “A Thousand Ways - Part 1: A Phone Call”, by American theatre company 600 Highwaymen. To learn more, we speak to the duo behind the show, Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone, about the show and reimagining the idea of performance for the times we are in.

Image Source: Singapore International Festival of The Arts

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On October 29, 2020, Malaysian literary and artistic icon Salleh Ben Joned passed away at the age of 79. Salleh was known for his powerful poetry and essays in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, and is also often referred to as a maverick and non-conformist for his works that challenged taboos about race, religion, sexuality, and so on. In many ways, he is also seen as being relatively underrated or unrecognised for his contributions to the local literary scene. We pay tribute to Salleh and his legacy, with poet and writer Bernice Chauly, and academic and writer Malachi Edwin Vethamani.

Image Source: Salleh Ben Joned Facebook

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Musician and producer Alvin Wee, who is originally from Sarawak, has been making a name for himself in Hollywood through his work in films like Kung Fu Panda 3 and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. He most recently worked on Disney’s Mulan, and his upcoming work includes doing sound mixing for the next James Bond movie and the upcoming Top Gun sequel. However, Alvin still finds much joy in working with Malaysian musicians, and has worked with folks like Zee Avi and Rendra Zawawi. We speak with Alvin about his work and his journey to Hollywood.

Image Source: Alvin Wee 

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In 2014, Malaysian sculptor Tengku Sabri Ibrahim had a stroke, which left him doubtful of ever being able to make art again. Yet, over the next few years, he worked with an assistant to rework his process of artmaking; the result is “Bujukan Semilir/Feathering the Breeze”, an exhibition of sculptures, drawings, and stories that draw on his experience of recovering from his stroke and getting back into sculpting. We speak with curator Jaafar Ismail of Fergana Art about the exhibition.

Image Source: Tengku Sabri Ibrahim, Fergana Art

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Artist Dhavinder Singh grew up in the old industrial area of Jalan Chan Sow Lin in Kuala Lumpur, surrounded by a community of workers from various factories and workshops. But he has since seen the area transformed by excessive development into one of the heaviest reconstruction sites in the city, filled with squatter homes and abandoned buildings. In his latest exhibition called “Tagistan”, Dhavinder gathers fragments of discarded objects from these abandoned settlements and repurposes them to create an intimate experience made up of history and personal recollections. We speak with him about the exhibition and what it hopes to say about urban histories and memory.

Image Source: Viv Adram

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An art exhibition called “Look East Gone West” brings Singaporean artist Ho Rui An’s work to Southeast Asia for the first time, with video installations and films that examine the so-called East Asian miracle, global capitalism, and the divisions between east and west. We speak with artist Rui An, and curator Kathleen Ditzig about research-based art, and how these works feel more relevant than ever at a time of stricter borders and a global lack of mobility.

Image Source: Ho Rui An

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Five galleries around Kuala Lumpur are coming together to feature five different artists in a joint exhibition taking place in five spaces around the city - called Art Gallery Weekend 2020 Right Here Right Now. Jointly organised by The Back Room KL, Artemis Art, Richard Koh Fine Art, Suma Orientalis and Core Design Gallery, the initiative aims to revive the experience of visiting art galleries and highlight the importance of working together in the post-MCO landscape. We speak with Suma Orientalis gallery director Sophia Shung to find out more.

Image Source: Art Gallery Weekend 2020

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