Emergency: A Multi-Arts Festival!

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Five Arts Centre is proud to present,

Emergency: A Multi-Arts Festival!

The Annexe Gallery, Central Market 11am-7pm
Thursday October 16 – Sunday, October 26
Jalan Hang Kasturi Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
60377254858 fivearts@tm.net.my
Its page on Facebook + Official Site

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Sebuah Darurat Dua Minggu is a multi-arts event. The project examines and re-presents ideas, narratives, and images from the first Malayan Emergency, from 1948 to 1960.

The festival follows the on-going and exciting emergence of documentary arts practices in Malaysia which is a curious blend of re-examination and re-presentation of historical data, events and ideology by contemporary artists.

Project participants include many of Malaysians’ dynamic creative talent such as Amir Muhammad, Azmyl Yunor, chi too, Chu Chu Yuan, Elaine Pedley, Fahmi Fadzil, Fahmi Reza, Grey Yeoh, Hardesh Singh, Hari Azizan, Jerome Kugan, Leow Puay Tin, Lim Chung Wei, Marion D’Cruz, Mark Teh, Mislina Mustaffa, Norman Teh, Wong Tay Sy, Yee I-Lann and many more.

The project will comprise theatre performances, film screenings, an exhibition, plus an exciting roll of different interactive presentations daily. All events are free except for the theatrical performances.

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EMERGENCY FESTIVAL!

Events schedule below. Subject to change.
Exact dates and times for specific events TBC.

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12 YEARS

Exhibition – Thu 16 to Sun 26 Oct 2008, 11am to 5pm
Curated by Wong Tay Sy, Norman Teh and Grey Yeoh

“[T]he victor writes the history while the loser fades away….” Is that always true? Challenging this notion along with new ways of presenting history without being preachy, one-sided and linear, curators Wong Tay Sy, Grey Yeoh and Norman Teh explore the Malayan Emergency. The exhibition focuses on contextualising visual materials from the Malayan Emergency within our contemporary framework and offers an alternative and interactive approach to presenting history. A key element of this exhibition is the demonstration of the effect of the “presentation” of history. This effect of documentation is viewed from the perspective of the contemporary project collaborators and the interpretation of historical materials from the Emergency era.

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Operasi Oktober

Thu 16 to Sun 19 Oct 2008, 8.30pm
Theatre Performance – Directed by Fahmi Fadzil

Fresh from winning “Best Group Performance” at the 6th Boh Cameronian Arts Awards, Fahmi Fadzil directs an improvised tale where “over a series of encounters, four people meet in anticipation of a revolution, but they don’t know that it has already begun.”

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New Village People

Thu 21 to Sun 26 Oct 2008, 8.30pm
Theatre Performance – Directed by Hari Azizan

Hari Azizan, director of the much publicised “Vagina Monologues” brings us a story where “the lives of two good friends change forever when they are forced to leave everything behind by the British army and start afresh in a New Village during the Malayan Emergency.”

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Revolusi ‘48

Mon 20 to Sun 26 Oct 2008, 8.30pm
Film Screening -Directed by Fahmi Reza

The sequel to Fahmi Reza’s highly successful “Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka”, “Revolusi ‘48″ follows the largely unknown armed revolution for national liberation launched against British colonial rule in Malaya 60 years ago. This documentary tells the untold story of those who struggled in the anti-colonial guerilla war of independence, during the Malayan Revolution of 1948.

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Presentations, performance & participatory events

Re: Search Re: Source

Thu 16 to Sun 26 Oct 2008, event time varies
Curated by Mark Teh

Mark Teh continues his dissection of historical events (“Baling (membaling)”; “Dua, Tiga Dalang Berlari”) with an investigation and re-presentation of themes, issues and stories from the Malayan Emergency period. With participation from some of Malaysia’s foremost creative personalities, history is presented as an activity that can be creative and participatory.

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Please refer to the forthcoming festival guide for time and date of presentations. These presentations include:

• Filmmaker Imri Nasution will examines the parallel developments in studio-era Malay film industry and the Emergency.
• Writer-filmmaker Amir Muhammad will provide alternative interpretations of films made during the Emergency.
• Visual artist Chu Chu Yuan of 1948 Artspace will talk about the “Entry Points” art projects in the New Village community of Seri Kembangan, Serdang.
• Visual artist Yee I-Lann will provide a fascinating perspective on the geography and history of Sabah before, during and after the Emergency.
• Filmmaker-designer Fahmi Reza will present a 1-hour performance-lecture, every day throughout the Emergency Festival!
• Dancer-choreographers Marion D’Cruz & Elaine Pedley will create a lecture-demonstration of Communist propaganda dances.
• Playwright Leow Puay Tin will curate and perform a selection of texts about or from the year of Merdeka.
• Singer-songwriter Azmyl Yunor will rearrange songs from the Emergency era, as well as create new songs inspired by this time.
• Poet-singer-songwriter Jerome Kugan will DJ two nights of “Disko Darurat”!
• Composer-new media activist Hardesh Singh will create a sound installation using music, sounds & speeches collected from the Emergency era.

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The Strive of The Indigenous Peoples

PERJUANGAN ORANG ASAL

Exhibition, Performance, Memorandum
11am Wednesday 10 September till
7pm Sunday 14 September
The Annexe Gallery, Central Market
Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur
0320701137 colin.coac@gmail.com

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The Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS) is hosting a series of events on indigenous peoples and rights in Malaysia to celebrate the first year anniversary of the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP).

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*Its invitation page on Facebook. All text here courtesy of the organisers. Scroll down for map to the venue.

PUBLIC EXHIBITION

A public exhibition on indigenous peoples of Malaysia, their contributions as well as current challenges. The exhibition includes photographs by orang asal as well as activists like Colin Nicholas, and also an installation of a typical blokade used by the orang asal to prevent developers’ vehicles from entering their territories.

CULTURAL NIGHT

A cultural night of exchange with performances by members of the orang asal communities. Guaranteed more authentic than Citrawarna. Sat 13 Sep, 7pm, an all night revelry!

MEMORANDUM HANDOVER

There is a private workshop from 10-12 Sep to discuss the final draft of a memorandum on indigenous peoples rights. While this workshop is NOT open to the public, supporters are welcome to join them in the handover of the memorandumto DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agung on Sat 13 Sep, 9am. Come earlier and meet at The Annexe Gallery if you like to join.

BACKGROUND INFO

Since June 2008, representatives from different indigenous peoples organisations across Malaysia have been reviewing national and state laws in the areas of adat and customary law, land and resources and development policies and assessing them against the Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP).

Adopted on 13 September 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly, the DRIP presents a set of minimum standards for how governments should treat indigenous peoples and is intended to help address the social and economic marginalization faced by indigenous communities.

The Declaration describes the rights of indigenous peoples, and their rights to identity, language, education and their traditional lands. It also emphasizes their rights to be involved in all decisions and matters that affect them as well as their right to pursue their own vision of economic and social development.

Malaysia has been a strong supporter of the DRIP, backing it as early as 2006 when it was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council and then voting twice in favor of the Declaration’s adoption by the General Assembly. The adoption of this instrument is the clearest indication yet that Malaysia and the international community are committed to the protection of the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples.

Representatives from different Orang Asli, Kadazandusun, Murut, Dayak and Orang Ulu groups will be deliberating on the final draft of the memorandum from 10-12 September 2008. This is a private event, not for the public. However, JOAS will present a memorandum based on the review to DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agung at the Royal Palace on 13 September 2008 on behalf of the indigenous peoples of Malaysia, and indigenous peoples as well as supporters are invited to join the group on the walk to the Royal Palace.