five arts centre annual report 2018 · 2019. 4. 26. · list of events/ projects by five arts...

of 23 Five Arts Centre Five Arts Centre

27 & 27A, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tel / fax: 603-7725 4858 mobile no: 6018- 202 8827 email: [email protected] www.fiveartscentre.org

FIVE ARTS CENTRE – ANNUAL REPORT 2018 2018 was an exciting year for Malaysia, as we saw the peaceful transition to a new government, and the subsequent shift in our collective mind set, that change could be possible. We, at Five Arts Centre, were excited about this shift, and we too saw ourselves shifting, opening up to new perspectives. The most obvious shift for us was seeing how we could deepen and find new meanings in our connection with our immediate regional neighbours. Following from our networking efforts and touring exposure preceding 2018, we found ourselves making a conscious effort to present our work in Jakarta with Baling (directed by Mark Teh) and in Bangkok with Gostan Forward (directed by Mark Teh, performed by Marion D’Cruz and Anne James). Besides presenting our art work, we also engaged in forums and panels alongside our performances in those cities. In addition, we also programmed and led a two-day forum in Bangkok, on building a network of Southeast Asian producers (led by June Tan). This forum was a way to talk about, connect to, share, and eventually strengthen the idea of arts management in other Southeast Asian cities.

We also provided a space to allow fellow arts practitioners based in other countries – such as Japan (Kaori Nishio), Singapore (Lee Mun Wai) and Canada (Lee Su-Feh.) – to share their practice via discussions, presentations and workshops at KOTAK, our Black Box in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

Our shift and embrace of new perspectives also led us to consider moving into a more structured arts advocacy, by bringing together and initiating the formation of a grassroots coalition, ReformARTsi, to look into specific areas of arts reform, to be presented to the new government. Our approach is to build upon the in-depth experience of Ivy Josiah and Janet Pillai, (members of Five Arts Centre), and their work in advocating for gender equality and cultural/ arts education awareness, respectively. We hope to bring together our fragmented and niche community by researching on, enlarging and advocating on three focal points – arts education, arts funding and artistic expression (censorship). We hope that once we can understand and formulate clear recommendations, we can lobby to the government for these changes. Wish us luck!

While buoyed by our enthusiasm for our new shift, we could not also neglect the underlying passion that unites the members of Five Arts Centre – the making of art work. We continue to support and attempt to steady the efforts of emerging practitioners, as they put on their first public production either as writer, director, producer or performer with Tiga (led by June Tan and Hoe Hui Ting in KL) and Initiate.Develop.Perform (led by Chee Sek Thim in Penang). These two programmes come under our Trampoline platform which finds its philosophy of providing a space to experiment, to make mistakes and for emerging artists to eventually jump off this artistic ‘trampoline’.

Our recognition of the importance of archiving continues to play on our minds, even though it can be exhausting. We have set up two online archives – My Art Memory Project and Arts Education Archive Malaysia, and we are trying to figure out how best it can be scaled out, without placing the traditional burden of archive maintenance and growth, on the shoulders of our volunteers. We continue to document the ideas and development of performance making with a new book launched in 2018, Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre. This publication seeks to re-contextualise and critically reflect on an experimental theatre conference held in January 2015, on the work of Malaysian theatre director Krishen Jit (1939 – 2005).

In short, 2018 was a year of shifts for us. Shifts by the old, shifts by the new, small personal shifts and big national shifts. With each shift, we have to learn a new dance, new steps – and it’s something we look forward to in 2019. We hope you will enjoy our report – writing it gave us the opportunity to look back with gratitude for the support we have had, and also to be encouraged by the continued passion, enthusiasm and inventiveness of our little (and changing) arts community.



LIST OF EVENTS/ PROJECTS BY FIVE ARTS CENTRE 2018

No Events Dates Performances (main Five Arts Centre productions) – 7

1. Version 2020 at Theater Commons Tokyo, Japan. 24 - 25 Feb 2. Version 2020 at KOTAK, Five Arts Centre, Kuala Lumpur. 15 - 18 Mar

3. The Complete Futures of Malaysia (Chapter 4) performance lecture at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Seoul, Korea. 24 - 25 Mar

4. Baling at the Fast Forward Festival 5, Onassis Cultural Central, Athens, Greece. 9 - 10 May

5. Baling at SIPFest – the Salihara International Performing-arts Festival, Gallery Salihara, Jakarta, Indonesia. 1 - 2 Sept

6. Baling at Nexus Arts Lion Arts Centre, OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, Australia. 31 Oct - 2

Nov 7. Gostan Forward at Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting, Bangkok, Thailand. 16 - 17 Nov

Performances, Showings & Workshops @ KOTAK, Five Arts Centre (supported by Five Arts Centre) – 4

8. Ponteng - Student Singer Songwriters Unite! produced Joshua Jotham, Darynn Wee & June Tan.

31 Aug

9. Tiga 3 – produced by Hoe Hui Ting & June Tan. 20 - 23 Sept

10. There is Speficifisfety by Lee Mun Wai & Lee Ren Xin. 28 - 30 Sept

11. Fitzmaurice Voicework workshop for actors & activists by Lee Su-Feh, presented by Queer Lapis. 15 - 16 Dec

Talks by local & foreign artists @ KOTAK, Five Arts Centre – 2

12. Navigating Living: a sharing by Kaori Nishio & Lee Ren Xin. 11 - 12 Aug 13. Approaches to Site-Specific Performance in Japan, a talk by Leow Puay Tin. 4 Nov

Talks by local & foreign artists organised by Five Arts Members outside KOTAK – 2

14. Fishbowl Conversation: DiBuang (Dalam) Negeri: Who And What Is Excluded From Malaysia Baharu? At Leonardo’s Dining Room, organised by Marion D’Cruz. 16 Sept

15. Conversations: Interrogating the Arts through Writing - T.K.Sabapathy & Krishen Jit at the George Town Literary Festival 2018, organised by Marion D’Cruz.

24 Nov

Arts Lobbying Town Hall Meeting

16. Arts Lobbying Town Hall Meeting at Indicine, KLPac. Five Arts Centre as Secretariat for informal coalition of performing arts practitioners 2018-2019

14 Oct

Krishen Jit Astro Fund 2018 (43 Applicants)

17. Krishen Jit Astro Fund Press Conference. 10 Dec Archival Projects & Events – 3

18. My Art Memory Project website / archive. Jan- Dec

19. Remember When... 1984 Here & Now oral history event with Kee Thuan Chye, Mano Maniam and Fatimah Abu Bakar.

15 Apr

20. Arts Education Archive Malaysia website / archive. Jan - Dec Publication – 1

21. Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre book launch at KOTAK, Five Arts Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

26 May



22. Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre book launch (Re:Viewing Krishen Jit) at Centre 42, Singapore. 23 Jun

KOTAK rented by other artists & activists – Performances, Workshops, Classes & Shooting (2 events publicised by us) – 6 23. UiTM film shoot. 2 Apr

24. Fake News from Real Bodies, Real News from Fake Bodies - performance art event by Sharon Chin and artists.

29 Apr

25. Fantasy Film Sdn Bhd film shoot. 2 Jun 26. 7 Voices 2.0 presented by Yayasan Chow Kit Kids under DramaLab. 18 - 19 Aug 27. We Are KIX film shoot. 2 Oct 28. Teater Normcore: Stereo Genmai by Mocha Moka Ink. 19 - 21 Oct Various – Workshop @ KOTAK, Five Arts Centre 29. Five Arts Centre Theatre Workshop for Yayasan Sime Darby. 6 Oct

Version 2020 at Theater Commons Tokyo, Japan



MAIN PRODUCTIONS • Version 2020

24 - 25 February 2018 at Theater Commons Tokyo, Japan. 15 - 18 March 2018 at KOTAK, Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Staged just months before the historic 9 May 2019 elections, Version 2020 was a performance that asked, “what happened to Malaysia’s future?” In 1991, Wawasan 2020 was launched to transform Malaysia into a high-income, first world nation-state by 2020. In 2017, Transformasi Nasional 2050 was announced, with the aim of turning Malaysia into a Top 20 nation by 2050.

Caught between these visions and dis/continuities, five performers suggested alternative versions of Malaysia’s futures. By leaping between times (from 1991 to 2018), Version 2020 excavated and combined the personal and the documentary with the fictional and the speculative – presenting differing Malaysias through the lenses of the past and future. Version 2020 was part of Mark Teh and collaborator’s The Complete Futures of Malaysia, conceived as a generative series of projects unfolded over time, and in multiple chapters and formats – via performances, videos, exhibitions, and more. .

Version 2020 premiered at SPIELART Festival Munich in October 2017, toured to Theatre Commons Tokyo in February 2018, and was staged in Kuala Lumpur in March 2018.

Production Team Conceived and directed by Mark Teh Creative Producer June Tan Production Designer Wong Tay Sy Visual Projection Designer Fahmi Reza Lighting Designer Syamsul Azhar Stage Manager Woon Siew Yin Production Manager Hoe Hui Ting Performers Imri Nasution, Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri, Lee Ren Xin, Roger Liew &

Fahmi Reza.

Version 2020 at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre.



Articles (Tokyo): artscape review: http://artscape.jp/report/review/10143980_1735.html Kazu Show, Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/kazu.show.1/posts/1720731717947497?_rdc=1&_rdr Articles (Kuala Lumpur): Subhadra Devan, NST: https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/groove/2018/03/343409/designing-future RouWen Lin, Star 2: https://www.star2.com/culture/2018/03/12/five-arts-centre-mark-teh-spielart-festival-wong-tay-sy/ Melanie Chalil, Malay Mail: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/features/article/new-theatre-production-version-2020-explores-memories-of-a-fading-vision#jX1ZWFqfilJfVdWt.97 Carmen Nge, Critics Republic: http://www.criticsrepublic.com/2018/04/03/retrofuturism-version-2020/ Adnan Qiyas, Daily Seni: http://www.dailyseni.com/v4/version2020-losingsight/ Subhadra Devan, Hooi Khaw & Su: http://hooikhawandsu.com/thoughtful-version-2020-malaysia-way/ Fasyali Fadzly, Arts Equator: https://artsequator.com/review-version-2020/ • Complete Futures of Malaysia (Chapter 4)

24 - 25 March 2018 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul, Korea.

Researcher and performance maker Mark Teh presented a lecture performance investigating the multiple futures of Malaysia that have been postponed, recycled, or remain out of reach. Using Dataran Merdeka as a prism to think through different ‘Malaysias’ that had been enacted and contested in this most public of spaces in Kuala Lumpur, this work weaved together documentation, speculation and personal reflection, to examine competing futures proposed by the colonial, the national, the protest and the commons. Past chapters of The Complete Futures of Malaysia have been presented in 2017 as a participatory research installation and series of discursive events in the ESCAPE from the SEA exhibition (APW, Kuala Lumpur); a photographic installation (Bangkok Art and Culture Centre); and the Version 2020 performance.

Mark Teh in the performance lecture in Seoul, Korea.



• Baling 2018 9 - 10 May 2018 at the Fast Forward Festival 5, Athens, Greece. 1 - 2 September 2018 at SIPFest, Jakarta, Indonesia. 31 October - 2 November 2018 at OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, Australia.

Baling at Fast Forward Festival 5, Athens, Greece. Baling was based on the 1955 Peace Talks held in Baling, Kedah, between the Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman and the leader of the Malayan Communist Party, Chin Peng. Using publicly available transcripts of the talks, director Mark Teh looked at questions of nation formation with performer-researchers who share similar and contrasting political views to the participants of the Talks. In the process, the meanings of nation, loyalty, terrorism, reconciliation, sacrifice, surrender and independence are constantly modified and remediated, and the “roles” taken by individual performers also come into perspective. Baling was first commissioned by Asian Culture Complex Theatre (South Korea) in 2015. Executive Producer: Five Arts Centre (Malaysia). Co-produced by Asian Culture Centre Theatre (South Korea), Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama 2016 Executive Committee (Japan) and Kyoto Experiment (Japan). Supported by: The Royal Arts Gala, Sime Darby Foundation, Goethe Institut Malaysia. The mobility for the tour in Adelaide, Australia was made possible by CENDANA. Baling has been staged in 9 countries and 10 cities from 2015 to 2018 including South Korea, India, Japan, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Greece, Indonesia & Australia. Production Team Conceived and directed by Mark Teh Creative Producer June Tan Production Designer Wong Tay Sy Visual Projection Designer Fahmi Reza Lighting Designer Syamsul Azhar Stage Manager Woon Siew Yin Performers Anne James, Imri Nasution & Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri.

Fahmi Fadzil (in the earlier versions).



Baling at SIPFest 2018, the Salihara International Performing-arts Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia. Articles (Athens): Ingo Starz, Online Merker: https://onlinemerker.com/athen-onassis-cultural-centre-fast-forward-festival-mark-teh-baling/?fbclid=IwAR3Su4qvEe5HNeyAfF-UQs-Yyv847ypGVlLwwrXE_0HaRmXI-x1vHzAtvNU Tonia Makra, Book Press: https://www.bookpress.gr/politismos/theatro-xoros/stegi-5fff-2018 Article (Jakarta): Audrie Safira Maulana, Ultimagz: http://ultimagz.com/event/mengenal-sejarah-malaysia-melalui-teater-baling/



Baling at OzAsia Festival 2018, Adelaide, Australia. Articles (Adelaide): Broadsheet: https://www.broadsheet.com.au/adelaide/entertainment/article/directors-picks-ozasia-2018 ArtsHub: https://www.artshub.com.au/festival/news-article/sponsored-content/festivals/richard-watts/the-art-of-displacement-how-ozasia-festival-celebrates-contemporary-practice-256497 realtime: https://www.realtime.org.au/ozasia-2018-mutualism-interview-joseph-mitchell/ Tony Knight, Stage Whispers: http://www.stagewhispers.com.au/reviews/baling Georgina Smerd, Glama Adelaide: https://glamadelaide.com.au/ozasia-festival-review-baling/ Robert Horne, In Daily: https://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/festivals/2018/11/01/ozasia-review-baling/ Peter Maddern, Kryztoff RAW: http://www.kryztoff.com/RAW/?p=10878 Murray Bramwell, Daily Review: https://dailyreview.com.au/adelaides-ozasia-festival-remember/79252/ Ben Brooker, realtime: http://www.realtime.org.au/ozasia-2018-performance-more-than-cultural-diplomacy/



• Gostan Forward 16 - 17 November 2018, Bangkok International Performing Art Meeting (BIPAM) 2018, Bangkok, Thailand. Gostan Forward is an excavation and exploration of dancer-choreographer Marion D’Cruz's dance memory. This performance lecture traces Marion's growth as a student, dancer, choreographer and educator, and reveals her choices, strategies and influences over the span of her 40-year dance career in Malaysia. Marion tells stories and performs excerpts of her favourite and most significant dance pieces, including Terinai, Swan Song, Urn Piece, Chilayu, and more. This performative uncovering of a dancer’s history and her choices is interlaced with a parallel journey across the development of contemporary dance and Malaysian politics from the 80’s to current times.

Gostan Forward at the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting. First staged in 2009, the performance has played in:

• Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Baru • Singapore, in 2010 and in ‘ConversAsians 2012’, at the Esplanade, Singapore. • Japan, at the KOBE-ASIA Contemporary Dance Festival #2 (2012) and • Finland, University of the Arts Helsinki during Shifting Dialogues III: Documenting Asian Art

and Performance: Embodied Knowledge, Virtuality & the Archive (2014). Production Team Directed by Mark Teh Creative Producer June Tan Performed by Marion D’Cruz with Anne James. Visual Designer Grey Yeoh Stage Manager Darynn Wee

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PROJECTS SUPPORTED BY FIVE ARTS CENTRE • Ponteng - Student Singer Songwriters Unite!

31 August at 8.30pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Ciku from University Malaya.

Ponteng was an open public platform that invited students in local colleges or universities around Kuala Lumpur to perform their own compositions in public. It was an acoustic-based showcase allowing either a solo or a band performance, with each set by a solo singer or group, lasting 10 minutes each.

Bands/Individuals involved in Ponteng: 1) PerfectFifth (Sunway University) PerfectFifth is a band that was formed to showcase songs from an original musical short film, Orpheus. This musical short film was done in a month, complete with original songs and scoring. 2) The Knicks (University of Malaya & UiTM) The Knicks consist of two friends coming together to share their love for music. Nik Aizuddin is an aspiring rapper who composed his first rap on Youtube called Awek Kebaya in 2018. He is currently doing his MBA while juggling his day job as an event executive. Nick Raja Adam composes songs as a hobby and self-expression. Ponteng was their first public performance together. 3) Nane Asmat (University of Malaya) Nane Asmat is a full time performing arts student from University of Malaya, majoring in Drama. 4) Jeremy (Brickfields Asia College) Jeremy is a full time Law student from Taiping, with a passion for music, trying to make it big in Kuala Lumpur. He has been writing originals and producing covers on Youtube since 2012. 5) Varsh (Brickfields Asia College) Varsh started writing and composing music in 2017, and has released two songs on Spotify, with the help of her producer Benjamin Variyan. Varsh is from Petaling Jaya and is a full time law student.



6) Ciku (University of Malaya) They began writing and composing since 2015, and the Ciku band was formally formed in May 2018 consisting of students of University of Malaya with different academic backgrounds. Ciku first debuted at a busking competition conducted by Majlis Perbandaran Selayang and managed to win first runner up by performing their original songs called Tak Selalu Ada and Hadiah Dari Tuhan.

Produced by Joshua Jotham & Darynn Wee Executive Producer June Tan Venue supported by Five Arts Centre Technical support by Iseekmusic Studio • Tiga 3

20 - 23 September at 8.30pm / 22 & 23 September at 3.30pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Tiga presented its 3rd edition in 2018. Tiga is a platform for new and emerging performing arts practitioners who are interested in developing their skills, be it writing, acting, producing or directing. For any performing arts practitioner, the idea of mounting a production is always daunting. Tiga hopes to create a space for emerging practitioners to learn by practice, by doing. In this space, emerging practitioners are encouraged to experiment and to try things out, while being supported by existing production structures, with feedback from more experienced artists. Tiga is guided by a belief that we learn by doing, and the platform strives to find the balance between nurturing, and allowing practitioners to take risks. In every edition, emerging practitioners are given 3 objects to create performance that include the three given objects. For Tiga 1, the three objects were knife, bed and chair. Tiga 2 had a bouquet of flowers, a left slipper and a speed-limit sign. In Tiga’s 3rd edition the items were Sarong, Pottu and Wantan Mee. Tiga 3 had 2 new directors working with the 3 performers to create 2 different pieces. The works included: Performance 1 T H R E E You can come full circle with three points. Three performers explored movement, sounds and text, responding to the pressures of contemporary Malaysia. Fadhli Masoot, Tess Pang, Hannan Barakbah in T H R E E.



Performance 2 Perkhidmatan Bibir The world is full of people who preach, but do not themselves do what they preach. Lip Service brings the audience through three hypocrites, using the objects of Wantan Mee, Sarong and Pottu. The three scenes explore the same theme of hypocrisy, with different story backgrounds, times and places.

Fadhli Masoot, Tess Pang, Hannan Barakbah in Perkhidmatan Bibir. Production Team Executive Producer June Tan Producer Hoe Hui Ting Directed and Devised by Josh Asedass & Theyvapaalan S. Jayaratnam. Performed and Devised by Fadhli Masoot, Tess Pang & Hannan Barakbah. Writer Zaheera Zahari Graphic Designers Veshalini Naidu & Syafinaz Allwee. Lighting Designer Ariff Kamil Stage Manager Darynn Wee This production was supported by Five Arts Centre and Yayasan Sime Darby. Article: RouWen Lin, Star2: https://www.star2.com/culture/2018/09/19/tiga-five-arts-centre-kotak-space-theatre-experimental-new-script/?fbclid=IwAR2KQiXlWS6MxWVrSsuzP-HmFMBL4zxyaiXpZIEDqxOkMfhV_Iv8dHQDyng



• There is Speficifisfety by Lee Mun Wai & Lee Ren Xin 28 & 29 September at 8.30pm / 30 September at 3.30pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

In 2017, independent dance artists Lee Ren Xin (Malaysia) and Lee Mun Wai (Singapore) jointly presented a new collaborative work, Where’s the speficifisfety?, which zoomed in on the micro, the detailed, and the nuanced. The work looked at the space between two bodies (or entities) in a room, exploring how each entity listens to — and negotiates with — the propositions and responses within and between themselves, and with their environment. The audience thus bears witness to the performance of the present moments, as the artists meet, engage and negotiate with each other, and attempt at relating even as the relationship shifts, culminating in a series of delightfully delicate (and occasionally precarious) encounters. Picking up from where they left off in their 2017 performance, the dance artists encountered each other again in 2018 with There is Speficifisfety. Approaching their work from the angles of affect, relationality, fielding and modulation, Ren Xin and Mun Wai brought no pre-determined themes to the performance space prior to their encounter. Instead they allowed their bodies to encounter each other, understanding that each body is already loaded with prior context and history; that each body is already a vessel of immanence. The work acknowledged and attempted to take a closer look at the multiple and layered nature of these “speficifisfetys” – the very things that are produced in real time by the bodily encounter; an encounter that will only know what it is about when the encounter happens. Where 2017’s performance was a search for an elusive speficifisfety, then 2018’s There Is Speficifisfety was an affirmation of its presence; a celebration of all the interstitial and in-between spaces arising from the encounter between the two bodies. Performed by Lee Mun Wai & Lee Ren Xin. Produced by Mok Cui Yin

Lee Mun Wai & Lee Ren Xin in There is Speficifisfety at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre.



• Fitzmaurice Voicework workshop for actors & activists by Lee Su-Feh 15 & 16 December, 10am – 6pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Malaysian dancer, choreographer, and facilitator Lee Su-Feh taught a 2-day introductory workshop to voice, as part of Queer Lapis’s effort to facilitate exchanges between the arts community and the activist community. This workshop offered tools to observe the sensations in the body and harness the energy in them into the speaking or singing voice. It helped get in touch with the individual’s birthright to move, speak or sing from a place of pleasure and wellness. Presented by Queer Lapis in collaboration with the High Commission of Canada in

Malaysia. Supported by Five Arts Centre.

Lee Su Feh in Fitzmaurice Voicework workshop. TALKS / FORUMS BY LOCAL AND FOREIGN ARTISTS • Navigating Living: a sharing by Kaori Nishio & Lee Ren Xin

11 August at 8.30pm / 12 August at 3pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Kaori Nishio (Japanese playwright/director) and Lee Ren Xin (Malaysian dancer/choreographer) had been working together on a research project that started off on the topic of Karayuki-san (Japanese prostitutes) in Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo during 1870-1920. However, their discussion soon branched off into diverse topics and other research, related to national policies that affect migrations, evolution of gender roles, marriage institution, etc. The sharing session discussed their research. Kaori Nishio presenting her research on Karayuki-san.



• Fishbowl Conversation: DiBuang (Dalam) Negeri: Who And What Is Excluded From Malaysia Baharu? 16 September at 2pm at Leonardo’s Dining Room & Wine Loft, Bangsar.

In conjunction with the Malaysia Day Celebrations at Jalan Bangkung, Five Arts Centre organized a discussion on Malaysia Baharu. The discussion included a range of issues on who, and what is included and excluded in Malaysia Baharu. Moderated by Jacqueline Ann Surin & Marion D’Cruz. Presented by Five Arts Centre

Fishbowl Conversation: DiBuang (Dalam) Negeri: Who And What Is Excluded From Malaysia Baharu?

• Approaches to Site-Specific Performance in Japan, a talk by Leow Puay Tin 4 November at 3pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Leow Puay Tin presented a talk about site-specific performances seen during a six-month stay in Japan, when she was on a Japan Foundation Asia Center grant last year. She discussed some performances that she found to be particularly exciting in terms of their concept and approach, and which showed the potential of the site-specific work to treat a variety of social issues in very interesting ways.

Leow Puay Tin sharing her research on site-specific performance in Japan.



• Conversations: Interrogating the Arts through Writing -T.K.Sabapathy & Krishen Jit at the George Town Literary Festival 2018 24 November at 3.15pm at Event Space @CAT, Penang.

As part of the George Town Literary Festival, Five Arts Centre presented a panel on 2 recently published books on the arts. 'Writing the Modern' is a diverse selection of essays from T.K. Sabapathy’s corpus of art writing; and 'Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre' is an assemblage of essays responding to Krishen Jit’s work. As pioneers in writing about the arts in Southeast Asia, T.K. Sabapathy and Krishen Jit exemplify an unusual commitment and belief in the value of critical engagement, and their work has inspired countless writers, creators and practitioners for over 50 years. The panel discussed the value of writing and the issues faced in writing. “Its art historical import notwithstanding, 'Writing the Modern' is a vivifying read. Sabapathy writes with such flair, such verve, such density of purpose, it is not unusual to find oneself re- reading many of his sentences simply to revel in his consummate command of the English language." - Carmen Nge, Arts Equator, 12 September 2018. “The book 'Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre' is one of a kind…… It is like peeling the layers one by one, ‘excavating’ if you like, and with lots of critical studies and analysis (thus the ‘interrogations’), Krishen surfaces but not all. There are many more layers to be uncovered for Krishen was no ordinary bloke, nor his works easy to be ‘appropriated’”. - Johan Jaaffar, The Star Online, 28 May 2018. Speakers T.K. Sabapathy & Charlene Rajendran. Moderator Carmen Nge Produced by Marion D’Cruz and Chee Sek Thim Presented by George Town Literary Festival & Five Arts Centre Supported by Yayasan Sime Darby

Charlene Rajendran, T.K. Sabapathy& Carmen Nge in the conversation.



Theatre Games Workshop for Yayasan Sime Darby 6 October from 10am – 3pm at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI. A workshop was held for Yayasan Sime Darby. The workshop was to enhance confidence, team-building, creativity, spontaneity, focus, problem-solving and most of all, to have fun. The workshop was led by Marion D’Cruz and Suhaila Merican with a guest appearance by Chew Kin Wah! ARTS LOBBYING TOWN HALL MEETING 14 October at 2pm at Indicine @ KLPac. Five Arts Centre (FAC) recognised that there is an opportunity that the Pakatan Harapan government is opening up space, for input and ideas from the public. The arts can do with several reforms and policy changes. To this end, many civil society groups have been organising themselves to present papers to the respective ministries, and Five Arts Centre decided to contribute to the reform agenda for the arts, by bringing our community together. Objectives of the Town Hall meeting:

• To strengthen our network and build a consensus on specific reforms and policy changes for the Arts.

• To build a coalition of Arts companies and individuals to jointly advocate the government. • To raise awareness that there are joint voices on the issues affecting the Arts.

Presentations were made for reforms in the following three areas:

1. Enlarging space for arts education (in schools, in syllabus; developing future arts makers & audiences).

2. Enlarging space for arts funding (tax exemption status for companies, transparent granting schemes for arts).

3. Enlarging space for artistic expression (removing censorship mechanisms and laws that limit freedom of expression; arts as space for imagination, criticality & difference).

A 15 member committee emerged from a meeting attended by 70 people. The secretariat for the first year would be Five Arts Centre.

70 attendees from different performing arts backgrounds in the Town Hall Meeting.



The Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund 2018 The Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund was introduced by ASTRO together with Five Arts Centre in commemoration of the late Dato’ Krishen Jit and is aimed to provide deserving arts practitioners with monetary aid to pursue projects in the Arts. One of the main objectives of Krishen’s pioneering work was celebrating original Malaysian creativity in as varied and alternative ways as possible in all the areas of the arts. His ground-breaking theatre practice straddled and brought together a wide range of contrasting spheres, producing projects that were inter-disciplinary, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and experimental. Negotiating between academia and practice, tradition and contemporary pop culture, Hollywood and Bollywood, the mainstream and the marginalized, Krishen’s work articulated a Malaysian identity that was ever evolving and encouraged practitioners and audiences to reflect on their lives and societies. This is the spirit of the Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund. The Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund, works as an extension of this spirit to encourage and support creative work in Malaysia. The announcement of the Fund took place on 28 April 2006 at Utih…Celebrating Krishen. This was a commemorative event on the first anniversary of his death. The Fund was launched by Astro at this event. The Selection Panel for 2018 was:

• Tan Sri Datuk Norliza Rofli – Director, Department of Culture and Arts, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia.

• Jolyn Gasper – Snr. AVP, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Responsibility, Community Affairs, ASTRO.

• Leow Puay Tin – Playwright and Researcher, Sunway University. • Ravi Navaratnam – Representative from Five Arts Centre. • Mac Chan – Representative from Five Arts Centre.

The Fund is administrated and managed by Five Arts Centre. In 2018, the Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund received 43 applications for projects in dance, theatre, film, video, publication, visual arts, music, animation, education, training and interdisciplinary work. 5 projects were selected. The press conference to announce the grantees was held on 10 December 2018 at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre. 2018 GRANTEES WENDI SIA The Grant: RM10,000 The Project: “GERIMIS” - Art Exhibition – an immersive installation art exhibition that bridges the narratives of Orang Asli (OA) with ours, through the reconstruction of a home, using every day and common-place objects to tell the narratives of OA.

LEE REN XIN The Grant: RM10,000 The Project: Community Research Initiatives – a two-pronged research in her neighbourhood: One consists of a daily ritual of dancing/walking around the larger neighbourhood. The other research component is a direct involvement in the community – conducting weekly dance/movement workshops with the residents.



NAARAAYINI BALASUBRAMANIAM (GoodKids Enterprise) The Grant: RM5,000 The Project: “When Bells meet Buckets” – aims to tell the story of youth who struggle to break out of the urban poor stigma. The story will be delivered in form of Bharatanatyam, accompanied by bucket drums and acting. THAVARUPANI (RUBY)) SUBRAMANIAM The Grant: RM5,000 The Project: “ANTIDOTE: Uncovering Skin & Soul” – a documentary which captures issues all women face, regardless of diversity, in their background, values, and ethics. 30 diverse women share intimate stories which are deciphered into art painted on their skin. DANNY LIM The Grant: RM3,000 The Project: “Bersih: The Inside Story” – a book about the behind-the-scenes history of the Bersih movement.

Krishen Jit Astro Fund 2018 Grantees & panel members. ARCHIVE PROJECTS & EVENTS Remember When...Roundtable Series for My Art Memory Project Remember When ... is an Oral History Project, comprising a series of conversations with pioneering Malaysian theatre practitioners, conducted before a ‘live’ audience. With each voice we hope to capture a reflective, complex and highly personal history of the local stage. The recordings of these conversations will be uploaded as Podcasts on the MY Arts Memory Archive website.



Remember When…1984 Here & Now 15 April 2018 at 2.30m at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Conversation about 1984 Here & Now.

Participants Kee Thuan Chye, Fatimah Abu Bakar & Mano Maniam. Moderators Kathy Rowland & Fasyali Fadzly. Videographer Kino-I Pictures

My Art Memory Project Archive Homepage

Arts Education Archive Malaysia Homepage



PUBLICATION Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre is a volume comprising essays, critical reflections and a performance text that stem from an experimental theatre conference held in January 2015 on the work of Malaysian theatre director Krishen Jit (1939 – 2005). Fourteen writers from different disciplines, generations and backgrounds draw from personal encounters, critical theory and performance analysis to engage with ideas about Krishen’s theatre. They excavate and interrogate Krishen’s practice in relation to a politics of theatre, culture and identity, experimentation and networking, archiving and remembering. Readers are invited to encounter and reflect on these ideas dialogically through works, images, design elements and textual interventions that intimate, if not perform, the way interactions occurred during the conference. Just as a performance relies on an engaged audience, this book depends on active readers to apprehend, digest and respond to questions about the business of theatre. Edited by Charlene Rajendran, Ken Takiguchi & Carmen Nge, Designed by Zarina Othman for William Harald-Wong & Associates. Writers Marion D'Cruz, Janet Pillai, Charlene Rajendran, Ken Takiguchi, Carmen Nge, T.K

Sabapathy, Makoto Sato, Huzir Sulaiman, Claire Wong, Kathy Rowland, Bilqis Hijjas, Mark Teh, Alvin Lim & MeLê Yamomo.

Published by Five Arts Centre & Epigram Books. Book Launch 1: Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre 26 May at 11am at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre, TTDI.

Book Launch at KOTAK @ Five Arts Centre.



Articles: Johan Jaaffar, Star Online: https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/the-bowerbird-writes/2018/05/28/remembering-krishen-jit/ Dinesh Kumar Maganathan, Star2: https://www.star2.com/culture/2018/06/14/krishen-jit-five-arts-centre-book-essays-mark-teh-marion-dcruz-kathy-rowland/ Bissme, The Sun Daily:https://www.thesundaily.my/archive/spotlight-krishen-jit-GUARCH553097 Subhadra Devan, NST: https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/groove/2018/06/376834/krishen-jits-impact-theatre-today Aishwarya Adaikalaraj, Daily Seni: http://www.dailyseni.com/v4/excavations-interrogations-krishen-jit-contemporary-malaysia-theatre-on-krishen-jits-legacy/ See Tshiung Han, Critics Republic: https://www.criticsrepublic.com/2018/07/23/for-filling-up-and-flipping-through-a-review-of-excavations-interrogations-krishen-jit-contemporary-malaysian-theatre/ Felipe Cervera, Arts Equator: https://artsequator.com/book-review-excavations/ Marina Tan, Mekong Review: https://mekongreview.com/king-krishen/ Book Launch 2:Re: Viewing Krishen Jit 3 June at 6.30pm at Centre 42, Singapore.

Book Launch at Centre 42 Singapore



ABOUT FIVE ARTS CENTRE Five Arts Centre is a dynamic collective of Malaysian artists and producers, dedicated to generating alternative art forms and images in the contemporary arts landscape. It is well-known for cutting edge performances in theatre, dance, music and young people’s theatre, and incorporates aspects of the visual and digital arts as well. The collective has performed and presented its work in Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Australia, Canada, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, UAE and the United Kingdom. Since it was formed in 1984, by theatre directors Chin San Sooi and Krishen Jit, and dancer-choreographer Marion D’Cruz, Five Arts Centre has been committed to articulating the complexity of Malaysian culture and identity through explorations and fusions of local vocabularies, forms and traditions, in relation to the global, modern and cross-cultural. As such, it has been instrumental in the growth of a Malaysian identity in the arts, that draws from multiple influences and hybrid histories. For over three decades, Five Arts Centre has been at the forefront of creating experimental, interdisciplinary and intercultural work, providing platforms for the next generation of arts practitioners. Contemporary social, political and cultural issues impinging on Malaysian life are precipitated by way of performances, exhibitions, creative seminars and research workshops. From 2004 to 2006, Five Arts Centre was the manager of Arts Network Asia, a regional organisation supporting arts work in Asia. In 2006, ASTRO and Five Arts Centre launched the Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund to support artistic work by Malaysians and others committed to the development of the arts in Malaysia. At the 12th Boh Cameronian Arts Awards in 2015, Five Arts Centre was awarded the inaugural “Most Inspiring Award”. In 2016, Five Arts Centre was awarded the “Praemium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists” from The Japan Art Association. Today, the collective consists 13 individuals from diverse generations and disciplines. They are Anne James, Chee Sek Thim, Chew Kin Wah, Fahmi Fadzil, Ivy N. Josiah, Janet Pillai, June Tan, Kubhaer T. Jethwani, Mac Chan, Marion D’Cruz, Mark Teh, Ravi Navaratnam, and Suhaila Merican. In addition to the work done within the company, individual members of Five Arts Centre, many who have full time jobs, continued to work in a range of areas – education, film, stage, activism, forums, conferences, workshops, talks..... Five Arts Centre is supported by Astro, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the National Department of Culture and Arts, Yayasan Sime Darby, Kino-I Pictures and many Friends of Five Arts Centre. IN CONCLUSION... In conclusion, the work continues. We will continue to figure out how to manage the changes in our country, the changes in our members (Five Arts Centre as a collective turns 35 years old in 2019), the changes and new realisations of both the emerging and “non-emerging” artists within Five Arts Centre and our network. If 2018 is the year of shifts for us, perhaps 2019 could be the year we understand how to define these shifts and to create new spaces – be it within our arts advocacy efforts, our emerging artists’ platform, our archiving efforts and also by the art we do. We would once again like to thank our supporters and network who have enabled us to ask these questions, and who have provided the means for us, as artists, to try and enrich our communities with the presentation of possible positions and perspectives, to these complicated and layered questions. Report prepared by Hoe Hui Ting, Darynn Wee, June Tan, Marion D’Cruz & Mark Teh.

five arts centre annual report 2018 · 2019. 4. 26. · list of events/ projects by five arts...

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