Front Row

The story of the Malaysian arts is often a story of migration: art forms that journeyed from other countries and cultures to find a home here, to evolve in their own unique ways. In conjunction with this year's Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations, we explore the histories and  journeys of some of these art forms, and how they became a part of Malaysian culture.

Image Source: PUSAKA

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In this age of being able to take and store thousands of photographs with ease, it is quite easy to overlook the unique position photographs have had throughout the history of their existence, particularly in terms of photography’s cultural significance. An ongoing exhibition at Ilham Gallery, called “Bayangnya Itu Timbul Tenggelam - Photographic Cultures in Malaysia” aims to capture some of this, by displaying Malaysian photographs from the 1920s to the 1970s. We speak with curators K. Azril Ismail, Hoo Fan Chon, and Simon Soon about what these photos might tell us about our past.

Image Source: Ilham Gallery

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The past few months have seen many artsmakers and creatives taking to the online space as a way to show their works, thanks to COVID-19. Capitalising on this, A+ Gallery is debuting its inaugural Online Festival of Video Art, featuring a whole month of works that each explore the potential of video art. The festival is from the 1st of August to the 12th of September, with new selections being unveiled every weekend in August, each curated by a different artsmaker. We speak with the festival’s convenor, Lee Weng Choy, and one of its curators, Ray Langenbach, about video art and why the online space offers new opportunities for the art form.

Image Source: A+ Gallery

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After nearly 4 months of not being able to perform, Dancebox August 2020 is back to present 10 new dance works from emerging and established choreographers. And it looks to be an interesting mix of everything ranging from Indian classical dance to contemporary. We speak with one of the featured dancers, Hwa Wei-An, about how he has been reinterpreting notions of falling and freeriding into his dance works.

Image Source: Hwa Wei-An

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A group art exhibition called “She Who Is Watching” aims to explore and complicate the position of women and artists as observers. Six international female artists - from Indonesia, Turkey, Algeria, Lebanon, Iran, and Germany -  share their works and points of view on issues like gender, discrimination, migration, and ecology. We speak with three different artists to understand what it means to them to “observe”. 

Image Source: Wei Ling Contemporary

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The Other Hundred is a global photography initiative that aims to challenge stereotypes by highlighting people, places, and cultures that are often overlooked by major media. The initiative, which was started by the Global Institute of Tomorrow, brings together 100 photo stories by photographers around the world through an open call for entries, and currently, it’s on its fourth edition For 2020, the project is responding to the COVID-19  pandemic, with the theme “Healers”. We speak with the initiative’s founder Chandran Nair about the importance of creating a space for untold stories.

Image Source: The Other Hundred

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The annual Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM) is adapting to current times by presenting a series of webinars entitled "Under the SEA: Neighborly Talks on the Performing Arts in the Time of COVID-19”. The series aims to bring together arts practitioners and experts from the 11 countries in Southeast Asia, to familiarise each other with the regional arts scene, as well as to discuss issues and challenges currently facing the industry. We speak with the folks behind the webinar series to find out more.

Image Source: Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM)

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As the local performing arts try to figure out how to move forward from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are trying various new initiatives that take into account this “New Normal” - which includes many virtual efforts. The Kwang Tung Dance Company is presenting a fundraising project called “Merentas Awan” from July to December 2020, which uses photography and videography to depict contemporary dance in the online space. We speak with dancer Tan Bee Hung from Kwang Tung about the project and about creating performance work in these new and uncertain times. 

Image Source: Kwang Tung Dance Company

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If you were a Malaysian theatregoer back in 2011, you’d remember the sensation created by Parah. A play written by Singaporean playwright Alfian Saat, it was inspired by the then-protest over the Malay-language novel Interlok by a Hindu rights group. The play went on to win many accolades, and has been restaged seven times. Now, in keeping with this “New Normal”, the Instant Cafe Theatre Company is bringing us a virtual restaging, called Zoom Parah. We speak with director Jo Kukathas about the intricacies of staging a play via Zoom, and why the themes of the show remain as relevant as ever today.

Image Source: The Instant Café Theatre Company

If you were a Malaysian theatregoer back in 2011, you’d remember the sensation created by Parah. A play written by Singaporean playwright Alfian Saat, it was inspired by the then-protest over the Malay-language novel Interlok by a Hindu rights group. The play went on to win many accolades, and has been restaged seven times. Now, in keeping with this “New Normal”, the Instant Cafe Theatre Company is bringing us a virtual restaging, called Zoom Parah. We speak with director Jo Kukathas about the intricacies of staging a play via Zoom, and why the themes of the show remain as relevant as ever today.

Image Source: The Instant Café Theatre Company

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.