Ho Rui An
Singapore and Malaysia are set to forge closer neighbourly ties through the bridge of theatre, film and visual arts at the inaugural CausewayEXchange, a new annual festival that promotes the exchange of art, ideas, creativity and business opportunities between the two countries. Co-organised by The Arts House and DMR Advertising and Promotions, the festival will run from 26 to 31 August at The Arts House.
CausewayEXchange will kick off its 2010 season in Singapore by bringing together Malaysia’s quirkiest, most talented and inspirational artists in an exciting potpourri of stand-up comedy, theatre, film screenings, visual and digital art exhibitions, photography workshops, as well as the world’s first e-photo exhibition.
Says Mr Shawn Lourdusamy, Marketing Director of DMR Advertising & Promotions: “I have always enjoyed and admired the arts in Malaysia, in comedy, theatre, exhibitions and stage performance and have often wondered why it seldom crossed the causeway into Singapore. I decided to look into the possibility of sharing the wonderful arts that Malaysia has to offer with Singapore. This started the concept of CausewayEXchange.”
Continuing the thrust of CausewayEXchange, the festival will take Singapore artists to Malaysia and showcase them to the Malaysian audiences in 2011.
In Her Own Words: A Celebration of Humanity and Universal Love
One of the festival’s highlights is the digital art exhibition, In her Own Words, A Celebration of Humanity and Universal Love, which pays tribute to one of Malaysia’s best filmmakers, the late Yasmin Ahmad.
Using Yasmin’s own blog as inspiration, visual artist Kevin Bathman has blended her own words with striking visual images to create an art series as progressive as Yasmin’s own thoughts.
Yasmin is best known as the international award-winning Malaysian film director and Executive Creative Director of Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. She was responsible for writing and directing Petronas television commercials and films such as Sepet, Mukhsin, Muallaf and Talentime that shattered social boundaries and barriers in Malaysia.
In Singapore, she is also known for directing the well-received television commercials, Family in 2008 and Funeral in 2009, both for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.
In July last year Yasmin suffered a stroke: the subsequent neurosurgery failed to save her.
Kevin Bathman, a Malaysian who resides in Sydney, currently works as an Art Director. He was so inspired with Yasmin’s outlook on life and her inspirational body of work, that Kevin devoted his expertise to paying tribute to one of Malaysia’s seminal figures.
The exhibition will be running from 27 to 31 August at The Arts House. You can also visit the exhibition’s Facebook group for more information: www.facebook.com/inherownwords.
More information on CausewayEXchange can be found at its official website: http://www.causeway-exchange.com/.
