Front Row

Kuala Lumpur native Ganesh Bala is a musician, composer, and producer who is interested in creating neo-traditional music that infuses rhythm, timbres, and instruments from the West, Indian, and Indo-Malaysian culture. His debut instrumental album brings together Asian musical instruments with contemporary Western jazz. We speak with Ganesh ahead of his show, about his approach to fusion music and what a “Malaysian sound” might mean.

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A project by The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur and the National Academy of Arts Culture and Heritage is bringing together Japanese choreographer Un Yamada and Kelantanese traditional dance and music, to create a collaborative piece called “Blessings for Life”. We speak with Un and project coordinator and traditional dancer Zamzuriah Zahari, about finding points of connection between Japanese contemporary dance, butoh, and traditional Kelantanese artforms.

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A project by The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur and the National Academy of Arts Culture and Heritage is bringing together Japanese choreographer Un Yamada and Kelantanese traditional dance and music, to create a collaborative piece called “Blessings for Life”. We speak with Un and project coordinator and traditional dancer Zamzuriah Zahari, about finding points of connection between Japanese contemporary dance, butoh, and traditional Kelantanese artforms.

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The late Ismail Zain is a familiar name in the Malaysian art world, both as an artist and a cultural icon. An exhibition of his works, called (Mem)bayang Maksud, celebrates his unique approach to making Malaysian art and his view of what it meant to be Malaysian. We speak with the exhibition’s curator Jaafar Ismail and Badan Warisan Malaysia president Elizabeth Cardosa, about Ismail’s life, art, and legacy.

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Julian Moreen is a jazz pianist and singer from Germany whose narrative style of music combines influences from folk, modern jazz and indie rock. Ahead of his performance in Malaysia, we speak with him about his beginnings, his inspirations, and his approach to jazz.

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Conservation is an essential part of preserving objects for museums, but it is also a field that often goes unnoticed. The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia is seeking to change this, with an exhibition called “Conservation: Craft or Science?”, which highlights modern conservation practices alongside the artifacts being shown. We speak with conservators Lalitha Thiagarajah, Mohd Azizi Mohd Azhar and Afiqah Mustafa about the importance of their work, the actual science behind what they do, and the extremely diverse types of approaches they take.

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With Deepavali coming up later this month, the usual decorative motifs of oil lamps, kolams, and peacocks are starting to pop up around town. But an art exhibition called “Banana Leaf” seeks to present a different view into the Malaysian Indian community, by featuring a diverse array of artists with works that turn the stereotypical idea of “Indian art” on its head. We speak with two of the artsmakers participating in “Banana Leaf”: multidisciplinary artist Veshalini Naidu, and documentary photographer Mogan Selvakannnu.

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Navi Indran Pillai is a 28-year-old cancer survivor who is still undergoing cancer treatment, which she will require for the rest of her life. An Indian classical dancer, Navi has decided to put on her solo debut dance show to raise funds for her treatment, in order to ease her parents’ financial burden. We speak with Navi about living with cancer and her love for dance.

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Have you ever wondered, what are the practical realities of being a visual artist in Kuala Lumpur and wanting to buy your own home? Well, you might find the answer at an exhibition called “Whose Dream House?” by artists MeiKei Ho and Ong Cai Bin. In their joint show, MeiKei and Cai Bin ruminate on the pressures modern home ownership and question whether the idea of a “dream house” is really the dream at all. We speak with MeiKei and Cai Bin about their works in the show.

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In “Taksu - A Gamelan Theatre Performance”, the shigu, or Chinese lion drum, is performed with Malay and Balinese gamelan, using percussion to celebrate cross-cultural music-making. The show further incorporates traditional Kelantanese sounds and dance, and even choral music. We speak with HANDS Percussion Malaysia’s artistic director Bernard Goh and Balinese composer/musical director I Wayan Sudirana, about creating conversations across cultures with music.

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