ARTS EVENT: RIMBUN DAHAN OPEN HOUSE
Venue: Rimbun Dahan, KM 27, Jalan Kuang, Mukim Kuang, Selangor
Date: Nov 30
Joella Kiu, a Singapore-born visual arts curator and art historian, spent the past month at Rimbun Dahan in Selangor, testing a more personal writing voice while peeling back the thorny mystique of the durian. Her research traces how artists use the visual, textual, counter-cartographic, speculative and mythological to articulate urgent ecological conditions and contemporary lived realities.
As Rimbun Dahan rolls out the welcome for its year-end Open Day this Sunday (Nov 30), copies of Kiu’s A Prickly Affair – written during her residency – will be available in both booklet and digital editions. Happening from 11am to 6pm, the (walk-in, free admission) open day arts event invites the public to explore the 5.7ha property in Kuang, Selangor – just a 45-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur.
“Get personal with durian. Find inspiration in a pregnant water plant. Make vanished pathways visible. Remember the taste of family gatherings,” teases the Open Day flyer.
Apart from Kiu’s field research, the other Rimbun Dahan resident artists set to showcase their projects include Jenny Logico-Cruz and Blonski Cruz of Langgam Performance Troupe (Philippines), Mao Sovanchandy and collaborator Yuryphal Tum (Cambodia), and Awika Samukrsaman (Thailand).
An interactive musical artwork by musical instrument-maker and sound artist Hewodn (Indonesia) will also be on display.
Logico-Cruz and Cruz will present a work-in-progress performance, lecture, and food tasting for their project The Inheritance of Taste. Mao and Yuryphal will share experiments with water hyacinth pulp, plaster, photography, food, and performance. Thai textile artist Awika will showcase site-specific weaving projects that trace the former lines and connections between humans, plants, and man-made structures.
If you’re an early bird, Rimbun Dahan director Bilqis Hijjas will lead a 9am tour of the native gardens, with a focus on reforestation and biodiversity. Just be quick to sign up.
All other Open Day activities are casual and relaxed, encouraging visitors to tour the artist studios, enjoy performances, and stroll through the venue’s lush grounds. Also, in this rainy season, be sure to come prepared.
More info here.
Farish’s new book, published by Leiden University Press in the Netherlands, examines how photography and postcard production took root in British Malaya in the late 19th century. Photo: Handout
LECTURE: ‘THE LEGACY OF COLONIAL ERA POSTCARDS FROM BRITISH MALAYA TO THE PRESENT’
Venue: Gerakbudaya, Petaling Jaya
Date: Nov 29, 11am
This Saturday, Farish A. Noor, an academic and historian specialising in South-East Asian and colonial studies, will give a public lecture on his new book, The Legacy Of Colonial Era Postcards From British Malaya To The Present, at the Gerakbudaya bookshop in Petaling Jaya at 11am.
Admission is free, but registration for the event is required, check Gerakbudaya’s social channels for details.
Farish’s book, published by Leiden University Press in the Netherlands, examines how photography and postcard production took root in British Malaya in the late 19th century.
“The colonial-era postcards that were produced up to the 1940s captured virtually all aspects of life in the British colony and remain as visual testimonies of how the colonial subjects at the time lived and worked, as well as their relationship to the land.
“And yet, despite the developments in photography and postcard production, the images that were produced also reiterated and reproduced visuals of the land and its people in debilitating terms that were similar to earlier depictions of South-East Asians that date back to the 17th century,” outlines the book description.
The book explores how colonial-era postcards shaped and reinforced Eurocentric views of society, nature, and “progress” in the colonised East. While postcard-makers weren’t leading colonial expansion, their images helped build the racialised knowledge and power structures that underpinned colonial capitalism.
The event at Gerakbudaya will be moderated by Rabiatul Adawiyah Yusoff (Ruby), postgraduate student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy in Postcolonial Literature in English.
More info here.
FOLK CONCERT: WANG YILING & THE FLAME BEARERS
Venue: Live Fact, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya
Date: Nov 29, 8pm
After the raucous volume surge of Beijing’s Carsick Cars, Soundscape Records dials the intensity down with Wang Yiling, the Chinese singer-songwriter whose music fuses alternative folk, art-pop, and chamber pop.
Hailing from Anxiang in Hunan, she made waves with her 2024 debut album Ode To Wither, earning critical acclaim and multiple awards.
Now touring with her band, The Flame Bearers, Wang Yiling brings her evocative sound to Live Fact this Saturday evening, a performance perfectly attuned to the moody, rainy season in Petaling Jaya.
Wang Yiling’s creative aesthetic draws on the singer-songwriter traditions of the 1960s and 70s, melding the Eastern sensibilities of Chinese cultural heritage with a feminine delicacy and the intimacy of her personal experiences. The result is a deeply emotive lyrical and musical style that resonates with both nuance and authenticity.
Her live performances – in Mandarin – are equally versatile, spanning street shows to intimate livehouses. On stage, she alternates between solo renditions – voice and instrument alone – and collaborative sets with her band, embracing improvisation to reinterpret and reshape her music in the moment.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: NAJIB BAMADHAJ’S ‘THE PROMISED GARDEN’
Venue: G13 Gallery, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends Dec 6
Talk about a love letter to Claude Monet, one of the founders of Impressionism. Najib Bamadhaj made the most of his European journey earlier this year, showcasing a solo series – inspired by Monet – at Art Zurich 2025 in Switzerland before travelling to France to actually visit Monet’s iconic garden in Giverny.
It was this experience that inspired the 12 new works in his current exhibition at G13 Gallery.
Rather than replicate the scenes, Najib paints the emotions the places evoked, which is why butterflies recur throughout the series – symbols of quiet beauty and the delicate, fleeting moments he felt.
The paintings guide viewers through the garden across all four seasons, from the soft pastels of spring to the richer tones of autumn and winter. Inspired by Monet’s lifelong devotion to shaping his garden, Najib approaches his own practice with the same patience and care.
Using acrylic, bitumen, and touches of silver and gold leaf on jute, he creates textured, weathered surfaces that evoke the sense of a garden slowly evolving over time.
More info here.
‘Broken: A Young Writers’ Anthology’, edited by Brigitte Rozario, will be launched at BookXcess, IOI Mall Damansara, Petaling Jaya, on Nov 29. Photo: Handout
BOOK LAUNCH: ‘BROKEN: A YOUNG WRITERS’ ANTHOLOGY’
Venue: Bookxcess IOI Mall Damansara, Petaling Jaya
Date: Nov 29, 11am
Here come the young voices. Since 2018, the Junior Writers Programme has been quietly shaping Malaysia’s literary landscape, offering a platform where emerging names can be heard and nurtured.
This Saturday, the spotlight turns to its eighth collection: Broken: A Young Writers’ Anthology, edited by Brigitte Rozario. The book will be launched at BookXcess, IOI Mall Damansara, Petaling Jaya, on Nov 29 at 11am.
Threaded through fiction, Broken brings together 20 young writers, each offering a glimpse into their world through short stories that are at once personal, probing and refreshingly bold.
Attendees will have the chance to hear select stories brought to life through readings and engage directly with the young writers in a Q&A session.
The event also honours the programme’s community spirit, with a cheque presentation to the charities supported by the Junior Writers Programme.
More info here.
A view of the ‘I Love Sushi’ exhibition at The Toffee building in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli
EXHIBITION: ‘I LOVE SUSHI’
Venue: The Project Room, UR-MU @ The Toffee, Jalan Raja Chulan, KL
Date: ends Dec 31
Malaysians can now explore sushi beyond the plate. The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) is welcoming the masses to its touring exhibition I Love Sushi, which offers a short – yet insightful – journey through Japan’s iconic dish as a celebration of history, art, and tradition.
Organised with the Embassy of Japan in Malaysia, Urban Museum Kuala Lumpur (UR-MU), and Sushi Hibiki, this free exhibition reimagines sushi as a cultural masterpiece, reflecting Japan’s creativity, craftsmanship, and deep respect for nature.
At the gallery, I Love Sushi allows visitors can explore captivating visuals, interactive displays, and digital experiences that trace sushi’s evolution – from a centuries-old preservation method to the refined nigiri-zushi of the Edo period, and finally to the modern global phenomenon it is today.
The exhibition also offers a multisensory experience at The Project Room, featuring a virtual reality “sushi shop,” educational videos, and exhibits – a sushi “wall” with 150 varieties – highlighting the precision and artistry behind every roll and slice.
Part of a decade-long world tour that began in 2022, the exhibition celebrates food as a bridge of cultural exchange, showing how, like art, it connects people across borders.
More info here.
