Sharpened Word - November/December 2019

For our Nov/Dec edition, we are going to bring you some local cultural flavours by introducing asli artists to showcase their talents and share their life story to the audience.

For this edition, SW is also proud to announce that we are part of Ipoh International Art Festival which will start from 1 December.

A quick intro to our three panelists for this month:

There is the Ipoh-based Ronnie Bahari who is a self-trained freelance photographer. From the Semai tribe, Ronnie uses his lens to depict the stories of his compatriots and his works has been actively published and exhibited country wide via workshops and exhibitions. One of his ambitions is to publish a photo book on all the 18 indigenous tribes residing in Malaysia.

Then we have Nanie Lee Simpan from the Temuan tribe. Hailed from Melaka and currently a dance instructor attached with Encore Melaka, Nanie has been involved actively in dance since the tender age of 19 and was a professional dancer during her tenure with Istana Budaya for 10 years. Nanie is well versed with both traditional and contemporary dance.

Lastly we have Shazni Bhai, a figure that needs no introduction among the asli community. Bhai has been working diligently with the asli over the past years to fight for their rights and to improve their socioeconomic positions. In fact, he spent more time in the jungle than in cities these days. Bhai will give us a very different and yet unique and practical insights on the asli community. He uses art and culture as a conduit to bridge the divide between the asli and urban community.

This will be a bi-lingual session i.e. we will use both Bahasa Malaysia and English for the convenience of our panelists.

After our session, there will be the opening ceremony for the Art Festival.

Hence, instead of the normal Saturday which we usually conduct our session, we will be holding this event on a Sunday instead i.e. 1 December 2019 on 22 Hale Street from 2.00pm to 4.30pm.

So, please do take note of the time change and hope to see you guys!