Front Row

What does “pink” - the word, the colour - mean to you? An art exhibition hopes to explore this question and the many connotations and meanings of the word through the works of different artists. The show, organised by the Pink Tank Collective, is called P!NK, and it centres the evolving notions of “pinkness” within a Malaysian context. We speak with the exhibition’s project manager SITIS.

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The Art Includes 2019 festival aims to use arts and culture to highlight differently-abled people, as well as give them a platform to demonstrate their capabilities. We speak with the festival’s founder Stevens Chan, singer Rozella, artist Art Jamila and her mother Noorhashimah Noordin, about the role the arts can play in helping people overcome their personal challenges.

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In Dr Sasi Victoire’s play titled Alice in the Antipathies, Lewis Carroll’s beloved book about Alice’s adventures in Wonderland is used as the starting-off point to examine issues of migration and identity - particularly within the Malayalee diaspora that moved from India to Malaysia and then to Australia. We speak with Sasi, director Chandrabhanu, and performer Sabera Shaik, about the many ways in which Carroll’s original tale can be reimagined, and how it continues to resonate with audiences.

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The 2005 movie Sepet, directed by the late Yasmin Ahmad, has become a quintessential Malaysian film, with its story of young love between a Malay girl and a Chinese boy. Now, on Yasmin’s 10th death anniversary, the movie has been adapted for the stage by Liver & Lung Productions into a musical, called Sepet the Musical. We speak with the show’s writer, director, composer and co-producer, Shafeeq Shajahan.

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To celebrate Merdeka and Malaysia Day, we look at some of Malaysia’s rapidly disappearing cultural practices and art forms, and the people who are working to preserve them. In the second of a two-parter, we look at: the oral storytelling forms of Kayan Parap and Takna from Sarawak with Adrian Jo Milang; and, the traditional Sabahan lute called sundatang, with Johann Adam Kitingan and Faridahwati Sarto. Click here to listen to part 1.

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To celebrate Merdeka and Malaysia Day, we look at some of Malaysia’s rapidly disappearing cultural practices and art forms, and the people who are working to preserve them. In the second of a two-parter, we look at: the oral storytelling forms of Kayan Parap and Takna from Sarawak with Adrian Jo Milang; and, the traditional Sabahan lute called sundatang, with Johann Adam Kitingan and Faridahwati Sarto.

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In Nick Payne’s award-winning play Constellations, two people meet at a party, and then we see the multiple realities and versions of their relationship. The play is making its Malaysian debut thanks to Rabbithole Productions. We speak with the show’s producer/actor Amelia Chen and director Qahar Aqilah about the process of telling this complex, yet very human, story.

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How do we capture the sense of passing time in art? An exhibition called “Transience and Transformation” tries to, with the work of three different artists, Imhathai Suwatthanasilp and Jiratchaya Pripwai of Thailand, and Yim Yen Sum of Malaysia. They each approach this theme with their own unique approaches and styles: with lines, with thread, and even with human hair. We speak with the exhibition’s curator, Lienne Loy.

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How do we capture the sense of passing time in art? An exhibition called “Transience and Transformation” tries to, with the work of three different artists, Imhathai Suwatthanasilp and Jiratchaya Pripwai of Thailand, and Yim Yen Sum of Malaysia. They each approach this theme with their own unique approaches and styles: with lines, with thread, and even with human hair. We speak with the exhibition’s curator, Lienne Loy.

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Comedian Prakash Daniel tries to find beauty in everything around him, and talks about it in his comedy special. We speak with Prakash about why, in this age of cynicism, he chooses to focus on the positive in his comedy.

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