Showcase of live art in Melaka
Catch the world’s largest and only site-specific art and performance festival next month, writes Dennis Chua
OVER 45 world-class artistes will soon gather to transform the historical city of Melaka into a canvas for live art. This will happen at the Melaka Art and Performance Festival (MAPFest), the world’s largest and only site-specific art and performance festival on a Unesco World Heritage site.
MAPFest returns to Bukit St Paul, Bandar Hilir Melaka from Nov 24 to 26, from 10am to 10pm daily.
Mustering together artistes from Australia, Russia, Indonesia, the United States, Japan, Spain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Belgium and El Salvador, it is set to brighten the streets of Melaka with various solo and collaborative art performances.
The top highlights for MAPFest 2017 includes the Mapping Programme, sitespecific performances improvised based on artistes’ disciplines and dance movements which take place in the afternoon at various sites in the vicinity of Bukit St Paul.
is a collection of short works 10 minutes long, performed by various artistes in the evening on the top of Bukit St Paul. Choreographers Lee Kien Fei (top) and Tony Yap of Malaysia.
It is a perfect platform for artistes to showcase experimental works.
On the final night, Sunday, the audience will be treated to a large-scale performance titled that features all the festival artistes in collaboration and directed by Tony Yap, the event’s creative director.
is a devotional work marking the internal journey into the memory of body and soul. The living preserve the past and current, and allow things to pass.
In addition, there are also the morning yoga classes and dance workshops and a forum open for public participation free of charge.
The festival also features a photo exhibition with the Canossian Alumnae Association to raise awareness for the Canossian Sisters at the Sacred Heart Convent School, and this starts on Nov 4.
All the performances and exhibitions are free and open to the public. Visit www. melakafestival.com.
Festival producer Andrew Ching said: “We seek out financial support from corporations and the public sector to help us in promoting Melaka and Malaysia in the art industry. Our festival is a world-class international art festival, and has been attracting lots of local and foreign tourists.”
MAPFest is a platform for the young, emerging and accomplished artistes to share and showcase their artistic talents.
Yap said: “The performers get as much out of MAPFest as the audience. Contemporary dancers, musicians, visual and new media artistes alongside shamans from rural Java, voice stories of transformations, rites of passages and concerns of the inner conscience are part of the festival this time.”
Yap was one of the principal performers of The IRAA Theatre from 1989 to 1996. He has worked extensively in Australia and internationally, including the Agamemnon Festival, in Italy and
at the Vienna International Art Festival.
As the founding artistic director of Tony Yap Company in 1993, he is committed to the exploration and creation of an individual dance theatre language that is informed by physical research, Asian shamanistic trance dance, Butoh voices and visual design.
MAPFest is produced by Arts And Performance Festival Melaka, initiated by E-Plus Entertainment Productions, and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
Over the years, the festival has garnered awards from all over the world, including The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards in Shanghai (Marketing Campaign Gold Winner — Culture And The Arts), and The Marketing Awards in Singapore (Gold Winner for Best Use of Venue).
Choreographer Agung Gunawan from Indonesia.