Reviews of current and coming shows and events in Penang.
Nasir Nadzir, In Remembrance: A Celebration of his Life and Artistic Journey, Until 23rd May 2021
This exhibition is dedicated to my dear friend Nasir Nadzir, who passed away very suddenly from Covid-19 earlier this year. I’ll be honest; this is the hardest article I have ever had to write and so in order to do him justice, I decided to go to the park and immerse...
The Vibrant Journey by Shobhana Anne, Until March 29th
The catalogue for this newly opened show at Hi Bus Depot opens with a quote by the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral: “You shall create beauty not to excite the senses but to give sustenance to the soul.” This exhibition was truly the sustenance I needed right now for my...
STILL by Sharon Kow, Until 21st December 2020
As I entered the art space at G Hotel on the first floor, I was struck with an immediate sense of calm that comes with Sharon Kow’s work. The subject matter of her work is very still, just like the title. Kow has breathed calmness into her hyperrealistic drawings,...
Jazz on the Jetty, Wednesday 16th-Sunday 20th September 2020
Penang’s jazz scene hit a setback back in 2018 when the long-running Penang Island Jazz Festival was cancelled. The current pandemic-related restrictions on live entertainment have made things extraordinarily difficult for all live performers, jazz musicians included....
Covid B – An Exhibition by Low Chee Peng, Until August 31st 2020
Low Chee Peng welcomes you to the garden of the apocalypse with this fantastic exhibition. Injecting a much needed dark sense of humour into what remains of this awful year, it is a witty and intelligent show. Not everything is obvious straight away so I urge you to...
Celebrations and Nostalgic Moments By Alex Leong, Until August 28th
Celebrations & Nostalgic Moments - an exhibition by Alex Leong, is simply glorious. This is what we’ve been missing for the last six months. It is a magical visualisation of everything we have yearned for during the loneliness and isolation of the MCO. Alex Leong...
Malaysia’s First Live Performance Post-MCO
Today, July 1st, theatres are permitted to open for the first time since the lockdown started, and penangpac at Straits Quay will be the first theatre in the country to put on a live performance, The Ice Kacang Project, Friday 3rd until Sunday 5th at 8.30pm. So what...
Murals, Now & Then, Until March 22nd
Murals, Now & Then is the 4th Solo Art exhibition of Mr Hoo Chee Few. It opened on March 8th at Galeri Seni Mutiara. the exhibition is about the artist’s impressions of murals and street art, represented in watercolours. Hoo Chee Few is a Penang-born artist who is...
Red Velvet, 26th-29th March 2020
Red Velvet The Play is billed as a “dark comedy”. In fact it has been described to me as a play that deals with taboo issues that are viscerally uncomfortable for some people, making them laugh as a deflection or a release. What are these issues? Paedophilia, hidden...