Latest news with #GaleriSasha
The Star
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Weekend for the arts: 'Chinese Opera' exhibition, 'No Jit?' roundtable
CHINESE OPERA EXHIBITION: AN INTRODUCTION AND A REMEMBRANCE Venue: Galeri 1, Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur The newly opened Chinese Opera Exhibition: An Introduction And A Remembrance at Muzium Negara in Kuala Lumpur takes visitors into the vivid world of traditional Chinese opera – with its legendary tales, striking costumes, delicate props, and timeless music. This special showcase is a collaboration between Muzium Negara and the Pat Woh Association Malaysia, a KL-based group known for preserving and promoting Cantonese opera. It also how Malaysian Chinese opera draws from the Xiqu tradition, blending stylised acting, singing, graceful movement, and symbolic props. Visitors can also learn about Malaysia's own opera legends – Siew Chan Wan (1919–2022) and Choo Sau Ying (1927–2003) – whose dedication kept the art form alive for future generations. Choy Him Heong, now 92, continues to be a living link to this enduring tradition. From ornate headgear to hand-painted backdrops, intricate musical instruments to archival photographs, each display – there are more than 90 exhibits – reminds us how Chinese opera has long served as both entertainment and living heritage for generations of local communities. Visitors can also explore a section dedicated to these instruments, from the erhu and yangqin to modern additions like the saxophone. For a taste of the art form in action, the Pat Woh Association Malaysia's opera troupe will give a special live performance at Muzium Negara tomorrow (July 12) at noon. Admission free. More info here. A view of Sanan Anuar's new works - acrylic and screen printing - at the 'Outside-In' trio exhibition at Galeri Sasha in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Galeri Sasha Venue: Galeri Sasha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur Outside-In , opening tomorrow at Galeri Sasha, presents new works by Fauzan Fuad, Dhavinder Singh and Sanan Anuar - three Malaysian artists whose practices unfold away from the institutional art world. The title gestures toward thresholds: between private and public, interior and exterior, centre and margin. Through painting and mixed media, each artist turns inward, drawing from solitude and memory to explore how the self is shaped by its surroundings. In part, Outside-In is a reflection on artistic position. Fauzan and Sanan are self-taught, while Dhavinder works in Penang, outside the country's main art hubs. Their practices evolve in quiet isolation, where distance becomes generative - allowing space for alternative languages and quiet acts of resistance. Rather than declarations from the centre, these works offer an interior weather: subtle, personal, and clarifying. They remind us that distance can be both isolating and deeply illuminating. More info here. Pangrok Sulap's latest exhibition 'The Sound of Salience' is a survey of its bold, woodcut visions that reveal collective voices and social truths. Photo: The Star/Chan Tak Kong EXHIBITION: PANGROK SULAP's 'THE SOUND OF SALIENCE' Venue: Tali Art Gallery, Petaling Jaya Tali Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition featuring Sabahan art collective Pangrok Sulap's distinctive woodcut aesthetic, with works dating back to 2017 and also a series developed in Hong Kong. Titled The Sound Of Salience , the exhibition presents eight main works and assorted prints that showcase Pangrok Sulap's signature fusion of social commentary and participatory printmaking. Renowned for using art as a vehicle for social commentary, the collective's works serve as a bridge between communities and pressing issues like climate change, land rights, cultural identity, and sovereignty. It's been increasingly difficult to catch the group's work in the Klang Valley, as Pangrok Sulap has been actively involved in residencies and exhibitions abroad - most recently with a strong showing at the University of Tennessee in the United States in March, and a community art festival in Patani, southern Thailand last month. Formed in 2010, Pangrok Sulap is made up of artists, musicians, printmakers, and activists. Free admission exhibition. More info here. The multi-layered theatre career of the late Jit Murad (1960-2022) takes centre stage at the 'No Jit?' roundtable discussion tomorrow (July 12) at Aswara, Kuala Lumpur - part of the ongoing JitFest 2025 programme. Photo: Filepic JITFEST 2025: 'NO JIT?' - ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION Venue: Main Lecture Hall, Aswara, Kuala Lumpur After the triumphant theatre return of the late Jit Murad's Visits last month, JitFest 2025 shifts gears with an academic focus tomorrow morning. Titled No Jit?, this roundtable discussion (10.30am at Aswara), organised by Dramalab and Aswara, asks why there is so little sustained public discourse on Jit and his body of work beyond the occasional media feature. The panel brings together academics, writers, and theatre practitioners — all inspired by Jit's work. No Jit? will be moderated by Dr Niki Cheong, with speakers including Dr Susan Philip, who will examine Jit's work through a literary lens; Dr Ann Lee, who will discuss humour and comedy; and Fasyali Fadzly, who will reflect on theatre history and Jit's impact on Malaysian storytelling. Kam Raslan will sit in as the respondent. The session will probe deeper questions: is the silence about Jit himself and his works, the state of English-language theatre, or a wider reluctance to engage critically with theatre in Malaysia at all? Free admission event, but registration is required. More info here. Artist Lyne Ismail with the 'Energy Series (The Boy)' series, on display at Temu House. Photo: The Star/Yap Chee Hong EXHIBITION: LYNE ISMAIL'S 'CAT TOWN: ENERGY, MATTER, AND THE ART OF BECOMING' Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Cat Town: Energy, Matter And The Art Of Becoming brings science and art into thoughtful, immersive dialogue. Visual artist, material scientist, and academic Lyne Ismail invites viewers to explore abstraction, sensory perception, and expansive ideas through the lens of resonance and transformation. On view is a new series of large abstract paintings alongside a live cymatic installation, where water responds to sound and vibration by forming intricate, mandala-like patterns. By making resonance visible, Lyne encourages viewers to feel their way into meaning, rather than decode it intellectually. The exhibition also expands on her book Musings Of The Spring Water, launching in tandem with the show. Together, they offer a sensory and reflective journey into energy, intuition, and the act of becoming. This Sunday (July 13, 3pm), Lyne reads from the book and shares personal reflections on the thoughts, intuitions, and inner movements that shape her writing and artistic practice. More info here. Alice Chang bridges art and history in 'Me, Then Blue', her new solo exhibition at Lai Lai Art Studio in Ampang. Photo: The Star/Yap Chee Hong EXHIBITION: ALICE CHANG'S 'ME, THEN BLUE' Venue: Lai Lai Art Gallery, Ampang, Selangor In her fifth solo exhibition, Me, Then Blue, artist-sculptor Alice Chang shows us that there's beauty even in the broken, taking viewers into "the deep sea" by immersing the gallery in a mesmerising blue light. The exhibition was inspired by the Wanli shipwreck, discovered by fishermen off the coast of Terengganu in the 1990s. After learning about it in 2019 and acquiring several bags of broken porcelain salvaged from the wreck, Chang decided to breathe new life into the fragments by transforming them into new sculptures. The exhibition features these sculptures, alongside a series of expressive blue-and-white paintings that reflect Chang's personal interpretation of these centuries-old artefacts and their enduring journey through time. More info here. Ain (left) shares the inspiration behind her new 'Atas Pagar' series - a cut-up house grille. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli EXHIBITION: AIN'S 'ATAS PAGAR' Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, Kuala Lumpur Newcomer artist Ain takes the spotlight at The Back Room gallery with her second solo exhibition, Atas Pagar. Quiet and contemplative, the show is filled with the ashes of memories, comprising a series of new works in Ain's ash painting series, which sees her creating small paintings out of ceramic ash and pigments. The fragile nature of the paintings and their vulnerability to disintegration are part of the artist's ongoing concerns with memory and family history. The exhibition takes its cue from an incident not too long ago when her grandmother's house in Kuantan, Pahang, was broken into. The way the burglar had cleanly cut through the metal grille over the kitchen window to enter the house stuck in Ain's imagination, which is why she also included said grille as part of the show. Born in Bangkok and raised across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan, Ain draws on her diasporic upbringing in a practice that spans video, sculpture, painting, and installation. More info here.
Malaysian Reserve
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Malaysian Reserve
Outside-In exhibition brings 3 artists together
Galeri Sasha's latest show brings together 3 artists working far from the mainstream art world WHAT happens when artists step away from the mainstream? Outside-In exhibition, opening July 12 at Galeri Sasha, brings together three Malaysian artists: Fauzan Fuad, Dhavinder Singh and Sanan Anuar whose work is shaped not by institutions, but by solitude, memory and the places they call their own. Presented as a quiet, introspective group show, Outside-In moves through painting and mixed media to explore how personal experience, space and distance influence the way artists see and express themselves. Beyond the Mainstream Fauzan and Sanan are self-taught artists, while Dhavinder is based in Penang, away from the Kuala Lumpur (KL) art scene. Each artist has developed a language of their own: Personal, independent and often in quiet resistance to the mainstream art scene. Rather than being a limitation, this distance becomes a generative force, allowing each of them to explore alternative approaches and themes. The Livings by Fauzan Fuad Instinct, Revision Fauzan's recent paintings emerge from a period of reflection during his residency at Rimbun Dahan. Working through layers of paint, he allows both instinct and doubt to remain visible on the surface. Some marks feel resolved, others less so. Rather than editing them out, he treats them as part of the process. Each canvas becomes a kind of ledger — of impulse, revision and the ongoing negotiation between intention and acceptance. Dhavinder's Sitting still, planting thoughts (empty tv) Uneasy Interiors Dhavinder constructs domestic scenes populated by familiar objects: Plastic chairs, houseplants, folding stools that are placed in unstable, flattened, off-kilter, deliberately estranged. His compositions reject architectural logic in favour of a psychological one. These spaces are not about comfort, but about how memory, estrangement and abstraction coexist in our lived environments. Ulang Tayang by Sanan Living Alone & Painting Sanan, who grew up in a large family, explores the shift of living alone for the first time in Kuala Lumpur. His Sendiri series captures this transition through mixed media paintings that explore themes of repetition, hesitation and emotional drift. Using acrylic, pastel and screen printing, he traces the quiet textures of daily life, moments when time slows, loops or pauses and reflects on how solitude can transform both him and his artwork. A Quiet Show with Room for Reflection Together, the three artists invite viewers to consider how distance — from others, from the centre — can open up new ways of seeing. Outside-In doesn't speak from the mainstream, but from its edges, offering slow, reflective works that reward close attention. Admission is free. The exhibition runs from July 12-27 at Galeri Sasha, 35A, Jalan Wan Kadir 2, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, KL.
The Star
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Weekend for the arts: 'Shrineshare' exhibition, Suzlee Ibrahim's 'Borders'
EXHIBITION: 'SHRINESHARE' Venue: No. 293, Jalan 17/6, Petaling Jaya Date: May 24 and 25 The Shrineshare exhibition, which has previously toured locations including Brighton and Leicester in England, as well as George Town and Port Dickson, will finally arrive in Petaling Jaya this weekend. Designed as a portable, touring community-based show, the exhibition will be held at 293, Jalan 17/6, Petaling Jaya – an independent venue set up by 293, with RogueArt, co-hosting the project. Shrineshare is curated by David Blandy, Zedeck Siew, and Sharon Chin, with support from the British Council Malaysia's 2024 'Connections Through Culture' grant. The exhibition features a diverse line-up of local and international artists (the US, Britain and Thailand), including Amze Emmons, Arif Rafhan, Bethany Balan, Betti Stong, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Daniel Locke, David Blandy, Hardeep Pandhal, Jamie Oon Muxian, Jesse Joy, John Powell-Jones, Nadhir Nor, Petra Szeman, Ruangtup Kaeokamechun, Rupa Subramaniam, and Poodien. 'What do you hold sacred in times of crisis?' This question was at the heart of Shrineshare, prompting the 16 artists to respond with a series of handmade prints – or 'shrines' – created using rubber stamps. Each shrine offers a glimpse into the personal and reflective spaces of its creator. Printed on brightly coloured paper – echoing the aesthetics of South-East Asian shrines – and framed in ASCII-art designs reminiscent of the early Internet, the works blend tradition with digital nostalgia. Free admission. Exhibition is open: Saturday (3pm-10pm) and Sunday (10am-5pm). More info here. EXHIBITION: SUZLEE IBRAHIM'S 'BORDERS SERIES' Venue: G13 Gallery, Petaling Jaya Date: ends June 7 Marking his 50th solo exhibition, Borders Series: A Journey Between Movement And Serenity reflects Suzlee Ibrahim's lifelong pursuit of abstraction as both gesture and philosophy. In this latest body of work, the Kuala Terengganu-born artist and academic explores the balance between movement and stillness, freedom and form. Created during the solitude of the pandemic, this series from Suzlee draws from a moment folding origami with his niece - where spontaneity meets structure. That interplay runs through the 30 works, where intuitive strokes yield to quiet geometry. With over 40 years in acrylic and oil, and as dean of fine art at Aswara, Suzlee treats the canvas as a space for both emotional release and formal inquiry. No matter how many exhibitions he's held, a Suzlee show always stirs anticipation. Borders offers abstract art enthusiasts and collectors a compelling chance to see a master in his element, distilling decades of practice into gestural fields, intuitive structures, and richly layered surfaces. Admission is free. More info here. Wong Perng Fey's 'Pakcik Dan Makcik (acrylic on wood, 2025). Photo: Galeri Sasha EXHIBITION: WONG PERNG FEY'S ' Venue: Galeri Sasha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur Date: May 24 to June 21 Galeri Sasha opens a solo exhibition by Wong Perng Fey, this Saturday. Developed between Austria and Malaysia, the show marks a tonal shift from the psychological intensity of his Beijing years toward a language of clarity, wit, and restraint. Featuring painting, sculpture, and a contemporary take on wayang kulit, the exhibition explores presence without performance - being rather than becoming. It signals a moment of arrival for Wong, placing him firmly within ongoing conversations around abstraction and self-representation. Known for his gestural style and evolving material language, the globe-trotting Wong has exhibited across Asia, with works in major collections including Khazanah Nasional, Singapore Art Museum, and Bank Negara Malaysia. He lives and works between Graz and Kuala Lumpur. More info here. Banny Jayanata's 'Branches And Concrete' (oil on canvas, 2025). Photo: The Back Room EXHIBITION: 'THE GARDEN BITES BACK' Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL Date: ends June 1 The Back Room presents The Garden Bites Back, a solo exhibition by Indonesian artist Banny Jayanata. Developed during his residency at Rimbun Dahan, the show explores the tension between ruin and tenderness. It also marks Banny's first solo in Malaysia. Influenced by poet-critics like Baudelaire and Goenawan Mohamad, Banny sees nature as a fractured mirror. Raised near the Lapindo mud volcano disaster, his work reflects landscapes shaped by collapse - swamps, ghost trees, and fragile blooms staged like moral allegories. Two large canvases anchor the show: in one, a painter wades through pale waters as mangrove roots claw above and otters swirl below; in the other, five figures strain under a felled tree, their limbs fused into a single mass. His thick impasto gives the scenes a bark-like texture. Romantic yet grounded in ecological grief, The Garden Bites Back pairs beauty with dread - soft hues masking sunken bodies and faceless screams. Each gesture is an act of care in a fractured world. The show is a collaboration with ROH, with support from Rimbun Dahan. More info here. A view of Lai's 'Ethereal Echoes: Sketches And Recent Works' exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, which features 80 works. Photo: Harmoni - Soka Art and Culture EXHIBITION: LAI LOONG SUNG'S 'ETHEREAL ECHOES' Venue: Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia, Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL Date: ends June 8 Ethereal Echoes: Sketches And Recent Works, an evocative solo exhibition that traces the four-decade artistic journey of Selangor-born veteran artist Lai Loong Sung has taken over the Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) art gallery space. It offers the public a rare opportunity to engage with over 80 deeply reflective works — including manuscripts, oil paintings, and ink pieces — created by Lai between 1986 and 2024. Rooted in both philosophical insight and personal revelation, Ethereal Echoes draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese text Zhuangzi, where 'Tianlai' (Heavenly Sound) refers to the 'unspoken word' — the soundless sound that echoes from the universe and the depths of the human soul. As Lai shares, 'Ethereal Echoes is a melody from the heavens and a sound born within humanity.' This exhibition represents the culmination of Lai's ongoing reflections on the complexities of contemporary life — from war and environmental degradation to the impact of rapid technological advancement — woven together with intimate expressions of the inner self. The show is divided into three sections, each part of the exhibition invites viewers on a deeply contemplative journey. Lai has also transformed the gallery into a working studio, where he'll be developing a large-scale painting and occasionally offering live art demonstrations. Free admission exhibition. Open: 11am-5pm. Closed on Mondays. More info here. IMMJN's collection of works selected for the 'More Men (And A Woman) With Plants' exhibition. Photo: Artemis Art EXHIBITION: 'MORE MEN (AND A WOMAN) WITH PLANTS' Venue: Harta Space, Ampang, Selangor Date: ends May 30 Continuing its ongoing collaboration with Harta Space, Artemis Art presents More Men (And A Woman) With Plants, the latest iteration of a thoughtfully evolving exhibition series by Penang-based artists who draw inspiration from, and pay homage to, one of nature's most enduring yet often overlooked presences: plants. Featuring works by Ch'ng Kiah Kiean, Cheah Meng Kwok, Esther Geh, Fuan Wong (also the series co-founder), Howard Tan, IMMJN, and Thomas Howell, the exhibition goes beyond the conventions of botanical art. Here, plants are not merely subjects of study, but vessels of memory, emotion, and time — rendered in a range of mediums from ink and photography to glass and mixed media. Each work offers a distinct lens into the ways flora can reflect inner states, cultural imprints, and our ever-evolving relationship with the natural world. This also marks the third instalment of the Men In Plants exhibition series, following earlier editions in George Town. Keep an eye out for workshops and artist-led tours happening throughout the exhibition period. More info here.
