Krishna, Love Re-invented: Annual Fund Raising Effort by Sutra Foundations

"Love and the romance of love is so pervasive in our lives that we wonder when this phenomenon first descended upon us. How did this concept in all its myriad expressions become embedded so obsessively in our psyche? Since when and how did desire and eroticism become a sourece of poetic inspiration and was able to caputre the full gamut of the artists’ imagination – enriching myth, literature, visual and performing arts the world over."

Sutra Foundation presents a new Odissi production - Krishna, Love Re-invented. The Odissi presents Ramli Ibrahim as the artistic director, Sivarajah Natarajan as the lightening and set design director and of course the best dancers of Sutra in a scintillating program which will thrill Malaysian audience. Sutra  has been creating waves in the international dance fronts performing to great success in its national and international performances

The fund raising performance will be held as follows:

Date     :  5 – 9th March 2014 (Wednesday – Sunday)

               5th March 2014 (Gala opening by invitation only)

               6, 7, 9 March 2014 (By invitation only)

               8 March 2014 (Open to public)

Those who are interested, please contact:

Sutra House,

12 Persiaran Titiwangsa 3, 53200

Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-4021 1092

E-mail:sutrafoundation25@gmail.com

Website: www.sutrafoundation.org.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sutrafoundation

Game Developers Conference 2013: Definitely More Than Meet the Eyes

On 19th to 21st August 2013, MyCreative sent a representative to Cologne, Germany for the Game Developers Conference 2013 (GDC 2013), the largest game industry event in Europe.

The conference was held in conjunction with gamescom, the leading European consumer show, creating a full week of activity and opportunity for the games industry. This confluence of industry professionals allows GDC Europe to address the development community at a central location in the heart of Europe, and command the critical mass of the European games sector . GDC Europe is the essential platform for learning, inspiration and networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, social, and online games in Europe.

There are a lot of interesting topics that are discussed and presented in the conference and it is definitely an eye opener since game developing is quite new to Malaysia. Among of the intriguing topic is how the free-to-play game developers earn their income and how should they balance revenues with user experience. We are all familiar with free-to-play games such as CandyCrush, Pou, Talking Tom and all. But do we know how do the game developer earn their income?

According to the speaker, up until 3 to 4 years ago, majority of the income from free-to-play games were banner advertisements. However, it is not favorable as it has high frequency of showing and thus is intrusive to the players as the banners will break the game play. Therefore, in order to balance their revenue with users’ good experience, the developers has intergrated the advertisements into the game. They only display advertisements related to the game that is being played so that they don not put the player off. Apart from that, advertisements to first time players has also become a taboo since it will greatly reduce the enjoyment of the players.

There are a lot more information to be shared but a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are the photos taken during the unforgettable trip to Game Developers Conference 2013, Cologne, Germany.

 

Malaysian Contemporary Arts Showcased in MOCAfest, WIEF

On 29th – 31st October 2013, MyCreative participated as one of the exhibitors in the Marketplace of Creative Arts (MOCAfest), World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF).  Held at the Excel Centre, Londan, MOCAfest is a global culture festival, bringing together artists and audiences from the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

For the first time in history,MOCAfest was hosted as part of the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum. The WIEF gathered more than 1,500 government leaders, captains of industries, academic scholars, regional experts, professionals and corporate managers from 100 countries in order to boost trade partnerships between Islamic and European markets, and explore London’s future as a global hub for Islamic Finance.

Hosted by the UK and Malaysian governments and organised by the WIEF Foundation, MOCAfest was also supported by Soul City Arts, a Birmingham-based non-profit community organization delivering arts interventions around the globe, and Radical Middle Way, which aims to promote an understanding of Islam among young people. In addition, the culture and arts event is being supported by UK partners including London & Partners, the Mayor of London, and UKTI.

Among of the international political speakers are our beloved Prime Minister,  Y.A.B Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, The Prime Minister of Pakistan, H.E. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the Governor of the Bank Negara Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Warsi, Minister for Trade and Investment, Lord Green, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Greg Clark, Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahrain Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister, and HM Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam

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Knowing that the MOCAfest would be a great platform to promote Malaysian arts and artist, MyCreative took the chance to showcase the artworks of fortunate artists such as Daud Rahim, Husin Hourmain, Md Fadli Yusof, M Noor Mahmud and Suhaimi Fadzil on an international stage.  There are 17 artworks that are showcased in total and some of the artworks of these artists are from galleries while others are from private collections.

These are the artworks and photos taken during the MOCAfest, WIEF:

Badak Sumbu by Daud Rahim

Needs by Daud Rahim

The Family Tree by Husin Hourmain

The Unseen Rainbow by Husin Hourmain

Alif Selepas Zai by Husin Hourmain

Kho by Husin Hourmain

Nun by Husin Hourmain

Zai by Husin Hourmain

Ain by Husin Hourmain

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Lam Alif by Husin Hourmain

Hamzah by Husin Hourmain

Syahadah by Md Fadli Yusof

Rapatkan Saf by Md Fadli Yusof

Al-Qawiyu of Asmaul Husna Series by M. Noor Mahmud

Al-Mukit of Asmaul Husna Series by M. Noor Mahmud

 

Al-Lateef of Asmaul Husna Series by M. Noor Mahmud

1957 by Suhaimi Fadzil

Mythologies: Solo Exhibition by Yuli at Artemis Art

Yuli (his full name is Yap Yuli) is Malaysian Chinese, and he was born 1986 in Houston, Texas. Academically, he has a Bachelor of Art, Majoring in Graphic Design from University of Curtin, Western Australia, and he also studied at Limkokwing.

From a very young age, Yuli had already shown signs of artistic talent, producing a picture of a simple orange segment containing both pip and pulp, drawn, at age five, and a huge duck, thrice larger than his then tiny self.

Having Asperger’s has certainly not been a hindrance to this young 27-year old artist. In fact, it gives him a unique sense of creativity, allowing him to be taken seriously as a professional artist. His ability to recast classic mythologies with a seamless mix of more contemporary icons is testament to this.

From 2012 to 2013 Yuli became an understudy to Korean artist Yang Dong Kyu, and this has helped the young artist to venture into the use of other media for his art.

Mythologies is Yuli’s second solo exhibition, and is a showcase of vibrant pen and colored marker works on paper, depicting myths and legends reimagined, and certain icons of popular culture rendered in full mythological splendor.

Fifteen of his vibrant colored marker pen works will be showcased in Mythologies until Christmas.

If you are interested to see his amazing artworks, you can visit Artemis Art at Lot 21 & 22, Level G4, Publika@Dutamas, Block C5 Solaris Dutamas, No 1 Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.  Should you have any enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact En Jamal or Ms. Evelyn Wann at 03-6211 1891.

**About Artemis Art

Artemis Art provides support for artists of all ages with the challenges of learning difficulties, be it Autism, Down Syndrome, or ADHD, to name a few. It is their way of helping these artists reach out to the kind and caring public, to demonstrate that despite their specific predicament, their artistic works speak for themselves. Art is, after all, a universal language to communicate one’s vision, hopes and desires.

Japanika

Battle of Yin Yang

The Celestial Kingdom

Art Basel Hong Kong 2013 : Finally an international platform for Asian Contemporary Arts?

Started in 1970, Art Basel is the result of a handful of passionate and determined Basel gallerists who had an ambitious vision. Over 40 years later, Art Basel is one of the world’s most respected art shows, showcasing both long-established and burgeoning art talents alongside one another. Three annual shows bring it together, with its namesake in Switzerland, one held in Miami, and the Asian debut in Hong Kong – which took place for the first time this year.

MyCreative Ventures,  knowing that it would be a major art show of the year, has sent a representative to witness the magic of this prestigious event. MyCreative expected that being the only Art Basel which is held at  Asian Country, Art Basel Hong Kong would focus more in showcasing and highlighting  the interpretation of modern and contemporary arts of Asian countries especially those in South East Asia.

Unlike Asian countries, Western countries put so much more emphasis in elevating the value of arts locally and internationally. In Asian, there are very few such kind of event that can uphold the uniqueness of Asian contemporary arts at the international level even though we have international standard of artists.

Throughout the exhibition, we found out that apart from a large number of galleries from China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) that participated, the Art Basel in Hong Kong potrayed too much of Western galleries than it should be.  There are only one gallery from Malaysia that (Wei-Ling Gallery), 5 galleries from Singapore (and some of them are owned by Westeners), 6 from Indonesia, 2 from Thailand, 22 from Japan and 4 from Phillipines out of 245 galleries that participated.  According to a source, Art Basel received around 600 applications and they have made an effort to include Asian galleries, but of course they have to make sure that the galleries is up to standard with other international galleries as well.

The one and only Malaysian gallery in Art Basel Hong Kong 2013 however did a very good job in promoting Malaysian Contemporary Arts. Instead of promoting solely his artworks or the gallery, Ivan lam transported local art to the international art scenes by sharing the opportunity with other contemporaries. His art piece titled Coma is definitely a gift back to the Malaysian art scene. 

Essentially a vending machine, Coma  vended 500 different pieces of  miniature 8 x 8 artworks by living local artists throughout the duration of the fair.  The artworks were rotated daily throughout the exhibition so that the landscape of the piece will change everyday. Each of the artwork was housed in a perspex case with labels bearing the artists particulars. In other words, Ivan Lam gave out 500 pieces of t Malaysian artists' name cards throughout Art Basel Hong Kong 2013!!  Kudos to Ivan Lam on his selfless effort in promoting Malaysian  Contemporary Arts.

The rest about Art Basel Hong Kong is inspiring. One of the  Artist talks that sparked my interest is on ‘Two Decades of Indonesian Contemporary Aer. According to Arin Dwihartanto Sunaryo, an artist from Bandung, there is not much assistance from the Indonesian Government in terms of development work, primary education and not much formal infrastructure  However, Indonesian artists have a strong community where they run several initiatives locally and abroad and it was initiated by the artists themselves and they work as a group.

Due to this reason, European galleries have been frequently visiting Indonesia for the past 2 to 3 years  Nevertheless, the acceptance of Indonesian art was not immediate. It took a while.  According to Matthias Arndt, Gallerist and Editor of ‘SIP! Indonesian Art Today’, Berlin,  an artwork that was exhibited in Berlin 3 years ago was not sold. The same artwork which is currently in display at Art Basel Hong Kong was sold to a Berlin art institution on the first day of opening.

Indonesian artist have been exhibiting at Venice Biennale. Due to the exposure and recent exhibition at Guggenheim New York, this year Indonesia has been invited to open a pavilion  Due to the above invitation, now the Indonesian Government is supporting and playing an active role in the Venice Biennale.

In order to harness the visibility and exposure of Malaysian contemporary art, participation in international exhibition and conference is important. Therefore, all parties should work together in order to garner the international  attention and get the necessary exposure to elevate our art standard. Art Basel is definitely one of the platform that we should consider. Hopefully, there will be more Malaysian art galleries that will be participating for Art Basel Hong Kong 2014.

Coma, Ivan Lam

The Restaurant of Many Orders – When the hunter become the hunted

In one of his famous fables, Kenji Miyazawa, a Japanese poet disparaged particular human attitude and behaviours vis-à-vis environments. As a devoted Buddhist and vegetarian, arrogance and joy-hunting seemed not to his liking, and thus he expressed this through ‘The Restaurant of Many Orders’.

The plot starts with 2 arrogant hunters from the city who enjoy hunting animals just for the sake of fun. Wandering into the deep forest, both of them soon lost their way and their hunting dogs also perished, leaving them disorientated and frightened.  To their astonishment, they found a restaurant in the middle of the jungle. Being hungry and frightened, they entered the restaurant ‘of many orders’ where they find a lot of strange notes with instructions for them to follow. At first, they followed each and every instruction but later they found out that they are the one being ordered and will soon be served to the wild animals for food.

If you would like to know the ending of the story, you can watch the Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project  “Restaurant of Many Orders” this upcoming 26^th and 27^th October at Damansara Performing Art Centre. Focused on its theme “The relationship between Human and Nature”, the show is based on this tale and composed of contemporary and traditional dance, voice, songs and masks, in order to make audiences travel between the world of animals and the world of humans.

Having been described as “Physical Theatre”, this project inherits the one-and-only Hiroshi Koike style: mysterious, delusional and fun with highly skilled cross-genre artists. Being the first project after disbanding the world-recognized TARAHUMARA, Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project  explores the world after the great earthquake of Japan, bridging people to people, past and present, crossing the boundary of different arts, media and body.

This program is held in conjunction with 40^th year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, presented by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur, jointly organized with Damansara Peforming Arts Centre.

Event: The Restaurant of Many Orders

Date: 26^th & 27^th October 2013

Pricing: RM 50 for adults

                RM25 for students and members

Website: www.dpac.com.my or www.kikh.com

Sekilas Bicara Tentang Animasi

Animasi boleh dikatakan hampir sinonim dengan zaman kanak-kanak dan remaja. Pada awalnya, animasi dihasilkan sebagai satu hiburan bagi kanak-kanak dan remaja. Dewasa kini, terdapat juga bahan animasi dewasa yang disasarkan bagi golongan dewasa. Sebagai contohnya, animasi Crayon Shin-Chan yang diterjemahkan kepada lebih daripada 20 bahasa di seluruh dunia sebenarnya merupakan animasi bagi golongan dewasa. Kartunisnya, Yoshito Usui pada asalnya melukis komik Krayon Shin-Chan khusus bagi golongan suami di Jepun untuk memahami betapa sukarnya para isteri mereka yang terdiri daripada surirumah dalam menguruskan keluarga dan anak-anak mereka. Komik tersebut kemudiannya diadaptasi menjadi animasi.

Jika dunia perfileman ini berasal daripada fotografi, maka dunia animasi sebenar-benarnya berasal daripada ilustrasi grafik. Daripada sekadar visual (fotograi dan ilustrasi grafik) semata-mata, filem dan animasi menggabungkan visual dan juga audio dalam satu konteks yang sama. Animasi berasal daripada babak-babak ilustrasi grafik yang berubah sedikit demi sedikit dan seterusnya dihidupkan menerusi pergerakan. Contoh yang paling mudah, anda boleh saksikan ‘flipbook animation’ bagi idea kasar animasi ilustrasi tradisional.

                                                                      

Kemudiannya, seiring dengan perkembangan teknologi yang semakin canggih, pelbagai teknologi moden telah digunakan bagi menghasilkan animasi dengan memanipulasi objek nyata yang difotografikan bagi mewujudkan ilusi pergerakan animasi. Teknik ini juga digelar sebagai  ‘stop-motion animation’. Antara cabang-cabang bagi animasi jenis ‘stop-motion’ ini adalah animasi pepatung (puppet animation), animasi tanah liat (clay animation), animasi ‘cut-out’ , animasi silhouette, animasi model, animasi ‘go-motion’, animasi objek dan macam-macam lagi. Teknologi computer kemudiannya telah membawa industri animasi ke satu lagi tahap di mana rekaan animasi boleh dihasilkan dengan menggunakan teknik 2D, 3D dan sebagainya.

Antara animasi yang terawal ditayangkan adalah Felix The Cat. Selain itu, animasi-animasi malar segar (ever-green) seperti Popeye The Sailorman, Little Lulu, Mickey Mouse juga masih lagi menggamit hati sesiapa yang pernah menontonnya. Selain daripada negara barat, negara Asia yang diwakili oleh Negara Jepun juga menghasilkan manga dan anime (animasi) yang tidak kurang hebatnya. Kebanyakan daripada animasi ini walaubagaimanapun diadaptasi daripada komik antaranya Doraemon, Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Sailormoon, Shibi Maruko Chan dan lain-lain lagi.

Jika dibincangkan tentang animasi tempatan pula, animasi kita juga tidak kurang hebatnya.  Sejarah animasi negara bermula daripada animasi pertama yang dihasilkan oleh Filem Negara Malaysia seawal tahun 1978 dengan karya yang cukup memahat di ingatan para penonton iaitu Hikayat Sang Kancil. Jika animasi luar negara lebih berunsurkan hiburan (barat) dan  (Jepun), animasi ini lebih memberi pengajaran dengan menyemarakan lagi nilai kebudayaan Melayu. Cerita-cerita pengajaran dan dongeng Melayu ini kemudiannya dihasilkan lagi dengan beberapa lagi sambungan Hikayat Sang Kancil seperti Sang Kancil dengan Buaya, Sang Kancil dengan Monyet, Sang Kancil, Buaya dan kerbau dan macam-macam lagi.

Titik permulaan oleh Bapa Animasi Negara, Hasan Muthalib ini kemudiannya disambung dengan kemunculan karya-karya yang tak kurang hebatnya seperti Usop Sontorian (1995), Keluang Man  p(1997),  Silat Lagenda (1998), Cheritera (2001), Putih (2001), Ranggi (2006), Bola Kampung (2007) Upin dan Ipin (2007), Geng: Penggambaran Bermula (2009), BoBoiBoy (2011), War of the Worlds: Goliath (2012) dan Bola Kampung : The Movie (2013).

Martabat animasi negara perlulah diangkat setara dengan animasi-animasi antarabangsa yang lain demi kepentingan negara sekaligus menyokong Dasar Industri Kreatif Negara. Selain pilihan kerjaya populistik pilihan ramai seperti doktor, peguam, akauntan dan guru yang dikatakan lebih cerah masa depannya, kerjaya dalam bidang kreatif seperti animasi, filem, fesyen dan rekaan, seni visual dan persembahan seni juga tidak boleh dianaktirikan kerana diversiti dan kepelbagaian kunci utama kejayaan negara.