Front Row

Most people would assume that babies had no business being at a theatre performance. One production, however, doesn’t only welcome babies, but is created especially for them. “Journey of a Baby Butterfly” is the first theatre production in Malaysia specifically for babies, from a relatively new approach called baby theatre. We speak to the creators of the show to discover how exactly one entertains an audience that could, at any moment, cry, crawl away, or, heaven forbid… fall asleep!

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Is photography only for the sighted? A group of seven visually-impaired photographers beg to differ, with an exhibition of their works that employ sensory photography - photography that employs senses other than just sight to create images. We speak to Vivien Kwek and Svivabalan Selvarajan, two of the photographers on show, and Ken Goh, one of the organisers, about sensory photography and how it can be a way of empowering the visually-impaired community.

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In the exhibition “Liku-Liku”, artists Nicholas Choong and Muhammad Hafiz Azizi focus on cityscapes, using their individual techniques to frame urban life and spaces in particular ways. We speak to Nicholas, Azizi, and the show’s curator Raja Anuar Sifuddin about capturing the city, in all its contradictions, on canvas.

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With Malaysia Day just around the corner, there is a lot of conversation happening about East Malaysia. But why do Sabah and Sarawak mostly come to our minds only when it is time to celebrate Malaysia Day? The arts and culture industries, too, are not exempt from being problematic with issues like inclusion and representation when it comes to Sabah and Sarawak. So do artists and creators from East Malaysia truly feel like they are being included in the larger national conversation? We speak to Alena Murang and Nadira Ilana to get their perspectives on being artsmakers from East Malaysia.

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Kayhan Kalhor is a Grammy-winning master of the kamancheh, a Persian string instrument also known as the Iranian spike fiddle. He is bringing his skill with the instrument to a Malaysian audience in a concert called “Under the Persian Musical Sky”, alongside Kiya and Ziya Tabassian of the acclaimed Constantinople Ensemble. The concert is the first in a planned series by Pusaka and the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, called “Music of the Islamic World”. We speak to Kayhan, Ziya, and Pusaka’s creative director Pauline Fan about Persian music, and the rich diversity of Islamic art forms.

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Back in the country for the third year running is a magician, clown, mime artist, dancer, acrobat, juggler, musician, actor and all-round you-can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him performer. Beyond lifting the curtain a little to give us a sneak look at his one-man family-show ‘Cloud Soup’, which is holding its World Premiere here, he tells about the need for children to spend time in the theatre engaging with live performances and creating their own shows.

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The artist who has often made nature the subject of his works now presents nature as the object of global warming. He documents with his brushes, paints and canvases “the effects of environmental degradation linked to climate change.” Adding to the changes are man-created deforestation and the building of concrete jungles in the name of development. This seventh solo exhibition by the artist is titled “Bracing the Heat by Fauzan Omar.”

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Indian singer Benny Dayal has been making waves for his unique vocal stylings and his performances in some of Indian cinema’s recent hit films, particularly his collaborations with acclaimed music composer A.R. Rahman. Benny and his band, Funktuation, will be performing in Kuala Lumpur at the Malaysia Independent Live Fusion Festival. We speak to him about his unique approach to music, his journey to fame, and his love for live performances.

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When we talk about the conservation of heritage sites, we often talk about it as being separate from the people and communities who are linked to those places. Sarmistha Chatterjee is a conservation architect from India who emphasises and works with those connections. We speak to Sarmistha about her work and the importance of communities in the conservation of cultural heritage.

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The Ramayana is one of the best known Indian mythological epics, and it continues to offer fresh angles of exploration for artists and performers. “I Am Ravana” by Australian company Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya is a dance-drama production that explores this story by focusing on the character positioned as the villain, Ravana - and by doing so, questioning and complicating notions of good and evil. The show opened to great acclaim last year in Perth, and will now be showing in Kuala Lumpur as part of the DiverseCity KL International Arts Festival 2018. We speak to the people behind the production about finding contemporary meaning in ancient stories.

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