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The Star
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Weekend for the arts: 'Young Mozart Voyager', Deepset and DDA at Live Fact
CONCERT: KL CITY OPERA'S 'YOUNG MOZART VOYAGER' Venue: The Platform, Menara KEN, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur Date: May 31 School holiday alert! Introduce the young ones to something new. KL City Opera, fresh off its double win at the recent Boh Cameronian Arts Awards (for the acclaimed Opera Si! La Boheme ), is now setting its sights on a younger audience with Young Mozart Voyager. Set to play at The Platform, Menara KEN TTDI in Kuala Lumpur on May 31, this original, family-friendly opera pantomime welcomes children and families into the whimsical world of Mozart through a lively blend of music, theatre, and storytelling. There will be two performances on the day – one at 3pm and another at 8pm. Children aged six and above require a ticket. Ages five and below enter free but must share a seat with a parent. 'We wanted to create something magical and accessible – where families can laugh, learn, and enjoy the wonders of Mozart together,' says Danny Chen, KL City Opera executive producer. Performed in English, the 110-minute production (with an intermission) features excerpts from The Marriage Of Figaro and The Magic Flute, offering a playful and engaging introduction to opera. On stage, Young Mozart Voyager follows a curious child who journeys through the fantastical realms of Mozart's operas, meeting beloved characters such as Papageno, the Queen of the Night, and Figaro. The cast features Qahar Aqilah as Mozart, Cheryl Tan as Susanna, Renna Kim as the Countess, Natalie Makulin as Cherubino and Papagena, Wynn Ch'ng Way Sean as Figaro, Cao Yixiao as the Count, Adry Nasution as Papageno, Thompson Yunga as Tamino, Sharlene Rani as Pamina, and Irma Lailatul as the Queen of the Night. More info: Deepset (from left: Lothfi, Zubair, Asshad and Azwan), a longtime fixture at indie venue Live Fact, returns on May 31 to help celebrate its 10th anniversary. Photo: Nadia Jasmine CONCERT: LIVE FACT 'CAN'T BELIEVE IT ... WE ARE 10!' Venue: Live Fact, The Strand, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya Date: May 31 and June 1 Independent venue Live Fact in Petaling Jaya is steadily turning up the heat with its 10th anniversary party series – a rare chance to not just celebrate a vital space for fringe music, but to reflect on what it means to be part of a community shaped by curious ears and open minds. The 'Can't Believe It ... We Are 10!' anniversary celebrations, which kicked off on May 17, continues with four more shows, spotlighting a diverse range of acts across post rock, electronica, singer-songwriter and ambient pop genres. From its humble beginnings in an Old Klang Road suburb to its 2018 move to The Strand, Kota Damansara, Live Fact has seen many bands grow with it and stick around for the long haul. This Saturday (May 31), Live Fact welcomes a familiar name – Deepset – to the stage, joined by Daighila, Metaphor, and Moi Last Von. "From our earliest days to our toughest ones, Deepset has always been there to carry us through. What's a celebration without them?" reads a heartfelt post from Live Fact's social media, underscoring the post rock band's enduring bond with the venue. Back in June 2021, Deepset teamed up with Live Fact on a documentary project aimed at raising funds to help keep the venue afloat during the pandemic. The weekend gets even better with Damn Dirty Apes set to take the Live Fact stage this Sunday (June 1), with support from Ratchet. Known for its intense, atmospheric guitar soundscapes, Damn Dirty Apes, promising new material, bring raw energy and emotional heft to every performance. On June 7, Live Fact dives into electronica and psychedelia with a line-up featuring Euseng Seto, The Filters, and Capt'n Trips and The Kid. On June 15, the Live Fact anniversary goes on 'tour,' making a nostalgic return to Taman Danau Desa in KL with a show at TDSC – a nod to the venue's early roots and the community that shaped it. The line-up for the final anniversary party features Amrita Soon, Ally Lew, Tottie, and Stemilyn. More info here. A view of Khabir's installation artwork from his solo exhibition 'Sukma: Megah, Tundok' at Wei-Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Wei-Ling Gallery EXHIBITION: KHABIR ROSLAN'S 'SUKMA: MEGAH, TUNDOK' Venue: Wei-Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur Date: ends June 21 After his time in the WLG Incubator Young Artists programme in 2023 under the mentorship of Yau Bee Ling, emerging artist Khabir Roslan presents a solo debut exhibition at Wei-Ling Gallery, exploring time through themes of decomposition, repair, and transformation. Using compost soil mixed with pigments and oil, along with stitched bandages and cloth, Khabir creates large-scale, tactile works layered with care and memory. Hexagonal motifs - echoing Singgora clay roof tiles from Nusantara architecture - repeat across the surfaces, evoking both fragmentation and continuity. Titled from the Bahasa Malaysia words sukma (soul), megah (greatness), and tundok (humility), the show reflects on cyclical rhythms of making. Neither quite painting nor sculpture, the works unfold as soil-stained scrolls that stretch floor to ceiling, anchored by a fragment of a boat's hull - merging gesture, object, and grounded reflection. For those new to his work, Khabir is a transdisciplinary artist whose practice weaves together science, cosmology, and philosophy. A Fine Arts graduate from UiTM Shah Alam, he was awarded "Most Promising Artist" after winning the UOB Painting of the Year 2020 in the Emerging Artist category. More info here. Wong's new exhibition ' at Galeri Sasha features paintings, sculptures, and a contemporary take on wayang kulit. Photo: Galeri Sasha EXHIBITION: WONG PERNG FEY'S ' Venue: Galeri Sasha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur Date: ends June 21 Galeri Sasha is showing a solo exhibition by Wong Perng Fey, through to June 21. 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. Ramlan (right) shares insights on his work 'Multiplicity' during the recent opening of Tali Art Gallery in Petaling Jaya. Photo: Danny Stones ART TALK: LEA VALENTIN AND RAMLAN ABDULLAH Venue: Tali Art Gallery, Jam PJ (access via The Gasket Alley), Petaling Jaya Date: May 31, 5pm This Saturday, step into a conversation that bridges continents and disciplines as French ceramicist Lea Valentin joins veteran Malaysian sculptor Ramlan Abdullah for an hour-long dialogue on art, space, and the evolving language of contemporary practice. Held via video call at Tali Art Gallery, this intimate session offers a rare glimpse into the minds of two artists whose works - though grounded in very different materials - share a deep sensitivity to spatial experience and sculptural form. The talk is part of Transmapping: Transitive Spaces in Art, t he debut exhibition by Tali Art Gallery, running until June 15. Featuring works by Valentin, Ramlan, and eight other artists from Australia, France, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the exhibition explores the fluid boundaries between art, space, and perception - inviting viewers to reconsider how we map meaning onto the spaces we inhabit. Admission is free, and all are welcome to be part of this unfolding conversation. More info here. Lai's exhibition 'Ethereal Echoes' offers the public a rare opportunity to engage with over 80 deeply reflective works - including manuscripts, oil paintings, and ink pieces - created by the artist between 1986 and 2024. Photo: Lai Loong Sung 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.
The Star
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Weekend for the arts: Live Fact turns 10, 'Twelfth Night' at KLPac
CONCERT: LIVE FACT 'CAN'T BELIEVE IT ... WE ARE 10!' Venue: Live Fact, The Strand, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya Date: May 17, 8pm Independent venue Live Fact is turning 10 this year – and with it comes a rare chance to not only celebrate a vital space for music on the fringes, but to reflect on what it means to belong to a community of curious ears and open minds. The 'Can't Believe It ... We Are 10!' anniversary series kicks off this Saturday with a line-up that leans fully into Live Fact's left-field leanings: expect a heady start from ANGQASA, Sesitikus and Buddha Beat – acts whose sonic explorations move between experimental noise, ambient textures, and genre-melting fusion. It's also a chance to catch Penang's Buddha Beat in an intimate setting before it takes the stage at the Rainforest World Music Festival 2025 in Sarawak next month. Blending bamboo flute melodies with electronica and psychedelic twists, its sound takes on a different kind of magic at close range – immersive, hypnotic, and deeply transportive. Over the past decade, Live Fact has been more than just a venue – it has been a refuge for those drawn to the margins of sound and sensibility. It's the kind of place where you come to watch a gig and end up staying for a conversation, a chance encounter, or the slow dawning realisation that you're not alone in the way you listen to the world. The anniversary series continues with four more shows, spotlighting a diverse range of acts across post rock, electronica, singer-songwriter and ambient pop genres. More info here. A view of the 'Oceans That Speak' exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Izzrafiq Alias EXHIBITION TALK: 'THE MALAY WORLD AND THE SEA' Venue: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Date: May 17, 10am In conjunction with the Oceans That Speak exhibition, the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia will host a (free admission) talk by Dr Sumit Mandal titled The Malay World And The Sea. A trans-regional historian and Muhammad Alagil Chair in Arabia Asia Studies, Sumit will explore how maritime routes once connected the Malay world – spanning present-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei – to distant regions across the Indian Ocean through the movement of people, goods, and ideas. The talk highlights how this rich seafaring past shaped the region's cultural landscape, in contrast to the land-focused outlook of today's nation-states, using a 19th-century Malay travel narrative as a key point of reference. The Oceans That Speak exhibition is ticketed. More info here. Lim Soon Heng (far left), KLSP's executive director, and the cast of the theatre production of 'Twelfth Night' at KLPac. Photo: Lim Soon Heng THEATRE: 'SHAKESPEARE DEMYSTIFIED: TWELFTH NIGHT' Venue: Pentas 2, KLPac Date: May 17 The Actors Studio and KL Shakespeare Players (KLSP) are staging another laugh-out-loud production in the celebrated "Shakespeare Demystified" series. This time, audiences can slide into Twelfth Night, a comedy with disguises, deception, and duplicity all in the name of ... love? Only limited Saturday tickets are available (be quick to grab them), with Sunday's matinee performance sold out. This song-filled performance (at 100-minutes) condenses the original three-hour play while retaining the most iconic scenes in Shakespeare's original text, accompanied by narration in contemporary English that provides crucial context and highlighting the play's key themes. Since 2011, the "Shakespeare Demystified" format has proven to be an engaging and accessible introduction to the Bard's works for youths and general audiences alike. With a cast of only seven actors dynamically performing close to 15 roles, the show embraces creative storytelling with simple yet effective sets and props, allowing the language and humour of Twelfth Night to take centre stage. More info here. Sunda Shelves will host an Orang Asli traditional craft market on May 17, featuring indigenous artisans from the Temiar community of Gerik, Perak. Photo: Tropical Rainforest Conservation & Research Centre BOOKSHOP EVENT: TEMIAR INDIGENOUS CRAFT POP-UP Venue: Sunda Shelves, Petaling Jaya Date: May 17, 11am-3pm The book talk on Sen'oi Serog, a storybook by the Tropical Rainforest Conservation & Research Centre (TRCRC), is fully booked - but visitors can still experience Temiar culture through a craft market earlier in the day at Sunda Shelves. Featuring handmade items by Temiar indigenous artisans, the pop-up market offers a glimpse into the forest knowledge and traditions explored in the book, which centres on the 'Bering' fruiting season and is a collaboration between TRCRC and five Temiar and Jahai team members from Hulu Perak's Air Banun resettlement. The craft market, featuring the Temiar community from Gerik, Perak, is supported by proceeds from Sen'oi Serog book sales, which help sustain the community's efforts to preserve the cultural and ecological heritage rooted in Malaysia's tropical rainforest. You can do your part by supporting the craft market - and picking up a copy of the book along the way. More info here. An artwork from Lai titled 'Dream Chasing Soul', which is showing at his 'Ethereal Echoes' exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Lai Loong Sung 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. Free admission exhibition. Open: 11am-5pm. Closed on Mondays. More info here. CONCERT: 'A WHISPER OF SOUL' WITH THE KLPAC ORCHESTRA Venue: Pentas 1, KLPac Date: May 17 and 18 A Whisper Of Soul: A Reflection Of Life's Journey is an intimate and personal three-part concert that brings you through the life of award-winning soprano Ang Mei Foong, with the KLPac Orchestra under the baton of Lee Kok Leong. It traces Ang's years training in Taiwan, Rome and Australia before establishing herself in Malaysia, pursuing her PhD and becoming a passionate music educator and performer. The First Movement: Fate captures the youthful uncertainty and anticipation of the future, almost like a letter to her 18 year old self. In this movement, Ang brings to life three of Giuseppe Verdi's works, including La Forza del Destino or The Force Of Destiny. Second Movement: Self Reflection features pieces like Jules Massenet's Meditation and works by Antonin Dvorak, Robert Stolz and Francesco Cilea. It marks the period that sees Ang charting her way as an artist not only in pursuit of technical excellence, but her artistic identity. The Third Movement: Acceptance reflects the realisation that life, like art, is a continuous cycle of struggle, transformation and renewal. Richard Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder embodies this journey with a sense of serenity. More info here. A wide selection of glass works by Fuan Wong is on display, including a standing piece in the right foreground. 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.
