CULTURE: 'WAYANG KULIT: MEMORY & TOMORROW'
Venue: Grey Box, GMBB creative mall, KL
Date: May 31
As the month-long KL Festival draws to a close this Sunday, Wayang Kulit: Memory & Tomorrow at the Grey Box, GMBB creative mall in Kuala Lumpur presents a timely reflection on the continued relevance of Malaysia’s traditional shadow puppetry art in a contemporary cultural landscape.
Organised by Fusion Wayang Kulit with support from Yayasan Hasanah through its ArtsFAS grant, the day-long programme is conceived not merely as a showcase, but as an effort to bridge generations through engagement, education and reinterpretation.
The event features guided gallery tours, dialogue sessions examining the history and future of wayang kulit, student evaluation performances and live showcases presenting both classical and fusion interpretations, including Star Wars-inspired productions that have introduced the art form to wider and younger audiences.
The programme acknowledges that preservation today increasingly depends on accessibility, participation and the willingness to explore new creative contexts without losing sight of tradition’s deeper foundations.
Public trials and introductions to the Tok Dalang training programme further emphasise the transmission of knowledge, giving visitors insight into the discipline and storytelling techniques that underpin the craft.
An exclusive puppet-making workshop, limited to 20 participants, also provides a rare opportunity to experience the craftsmanship behind the handmade figures central to wayang kulit performances. This workshop at 3pm requires a participation fee.
Most other activities are free and open to the public. Doors open at 11am this Sunday, with the programme culminating in live wayang kulit performances in the evening – a traditional showcase at 7.15pm followed by a fusion performance at 7.45pm.
More info here.
'JEFF MILLS: LIVE AT THE LIQUID ROOM 30th ANNIVERSARY'
Venue: Over And Above KL, Jalan Tun HS Lee, Kuala Lumpur
Date: May 31
To call a Jeff Mills deejay set performance art at its highest level is almost an understatement. His long-standing engagement with contemporary art, sound installation, and film has taken him into major cultural institutions worldwide, including the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Barbican Centre, CCCB Barcelona and the Rijksmuseum.
This year, the pioneering American deejay-composer is touring his “Live At The Liquid Room 30th Anniversary” show, revisiting the landmark 1995 Tokyo mix that helped define techno’s golden era through high-energy, three-deck performances. Spanning more than 60 cities worldwide, the tour combines documentary screenings of the original performance with live vinyl sets.
Kuala Lumpur is set to welcome Mills’ long-awaited return, when he headlines Over & Above KL this Sunday, in what will be the tour’s final regional stop. This evening first comes alive on screen, with Mills’ documentary film starting at 9.30pm before he takes to the decks from 11pm, adding historical context to a performance that celebrates techno’s enduring legacy and evolution.
It also marks the Detroit techno icon’s first appearance in the capital since his March 2003 visit.
Widely recognised as a techno futurist, Mills, 62, has spent decades blurring the boundaries between underground club culture and contemporary art through film scores, orchestral collaborations and sci-fi-inspired multimedia works.
His Kuala Lumpur appearance, presented by KL dance collective Ohrwurm, therefore carries significance beyond nightlife alone, offering Malaysia’s music, art, new media and film communities a rare opportunity to experience an artist whose influence extends across disciplines and generations. Limited spaces available.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'BERAPA SEKILO? RHYTHM OF THE WET MARKET'
Venue: Awegallery, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends June 8
Something rather fishy is taking place at Awegallery.
In a place many hurry through because of the smell, noise and slick wet floors, watercolour artist Ryzalman Misran chose instead to take things slow and notice the beauty others often overlook in a local wet market: the glimmer of melting ice, the sheen of freshly caught seafood, and handwritten price tags asking, “berapa sekilo?”
What Ryzalman captures on canvas are the small details ... a patient painter's world where fish scales shimmer against beds of crushed ice, market parcels sway from customers’ hands, and everyday exchanges light up the canvases
In his solo show Berapa Sekilo? - Rhythm Of The Wet Market, familiar pasar basah scenes are transformed into poetic hyperrealistic watercolours rich with atmosphere.
“Through this exhibition, I hope viewers may come to appreciate the poetry woven into the rhythms of daily Malaysian life,” says Ryzalman.
At the gallery, visitors can witness his meticulous watercolour technique and keen attention to detail, as the works reimagine the wet market as more than a place of transaction, revealing its soulful layers.
More info here.
THEATRE/DANCE: 'CHAPTER 2'
Venue: Black Box, Aswara, Jalan Tun Ismail, KL
Date: May 30 and 31
Thai dancer-choreographer Pichet Klunchun brings an acclaimed regional work shaped by both tradition and change to the KL Festival's final weekend.
Long celebrated for his mastery of the classical khon mask dance, Pichet turns inward in Chapter 2, which plays at Black Box Aswara on May 30 and 31.
Bold yet contemplative, Chapter 2 sees Pichet reflecting on the evolution of his artistic practice through the challenges and physical limitations he has faced.
Internationally acclaimed for reworking the traditional khon mask dance from within its own conventions, Pichet has long expanded the classical form through contemporary ideas and technology. In Chapter 2, he turns his attention to his own body, examining how a lasting injury reshapes his relationship with the precision and discipline khon demands.
Engaging with AI on questions of embodiment, expression and co-authorship, Pichet shifts from challenging tradition to confronting technology itself. The work asks whether AI can dance with feeling, while also reflecting on the risk of human movement becoming mechanical. In doing so, Chapter 2 becomes both a meditation on the future of khon and a wider inquiry into how the human body might coexist with its machinic other.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'UNTITLED' GROUP SHOW
Venue: GMBB creative mall, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends June 7
Untitled is a visual art group exhibition under KL Festival that invites audiences to respond to works – no labels, no titles, no artist names – through personal interpretation, without prior context from the artists.
Viewers can write reflections on site using purchased “gift letters” (RM2) and place them alongside the artworks, with all proceeds channelled directly to participating artists.
In a rare intervention in the exhibition ecosystem, Untitled offsets the typical financial burdens of emerging artists — including submission fees, production costs and logistical constraints — positioning itself as a more accessible platform for early-career practice.
Launched through an open call across mediums, the (ticketed) art show features 127 artists and 329 works, with admission fees also pooled and redistributed to support the participating artists.
The exhibition – held on the 5th floor of GMBB – is curated by a young team including Danielle Lin, Jakob van Klang, Nurunnuha Md Alwi, Haymie Yu Xin Yi, Lorrain Tan and Kimberley Boudville.
Untitled is one of the supporting arts, culture and heritage initiatives under Arts for All Seasons (ArtFAS 2026), an initiative by Yayasan Hasanah.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'INSPIRED BY TEKAT'
Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends May 31
It's the last weekend to catch Inspired By Tekat, a group exhibition reimagining Malaysia’s traditional tekat embroidery.
Through a series of diverse styles and mediums, the show at the Temu House bungalow in Petaling Jaya offers audiences contemporary interpretations of the heritage craft.
Featuring artists such as Afiza Abubakar, Chau Xhien, Daisy Ooi, Hannah Nazamil, Nadirah Zakariya, Ummi Junid, Xeem Noor, Yann and Yante Ismail, the show is the inaugural project under 3R Media’s Arts Heritage Artists programme, supported by Yayasan Hasanah through the Arts for All Seasons (ArtsFAS) grant to sustain Malaysia’s artistic heritage.
Tekat, which dates back to the 15th-century Melaka Sultanate, is a traditional Malay embroidery technique involving the intricate couching of gold or silver threads over a raised fabric base to form elaborate motifs.
The exhibition also features demonstrations, artist talks and interactive sessions, inviting visitors to engage directly with the craft and its makers.
More info here.
