OUR VERY OWN BIENNALE

The KL Biennale, (KLB) which runs until March 31, 2018 will see participation from over a hundred artists spanning 12 countries — Malaysia, The Philippines, China, Cambodia, Sweden, Palestine, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Japan. These nations were selected in conjunction with our 60 years of Independence and also the 50 year anniversary of these Asean countries.

The target here is to reach a quarter of a million visitors from around the globe; parallel to Strategy 9 Initiative 7, which is the Strategic Plan of our Ministry of Tourism and Culture 2016-2020, placing KLB 2017 as a primary event to help hit the target of 36 million visitors to Malaysia by the year 2020.

With the National Art Gallery (NAG) being the main venue for KLB 2017, supporting sites include Galeri Prima, Piyadasa Gallery, The National Library, Ruman Uwan Bainah, SGM Grand Culture Centre, Galeri UPM at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Galeri Ilham, Galeri Seni Tuanku Zahirah UiTM, Galeri Petronas, My Town Shopping Centre and The National Blood Bank.

The artist listing is an impressive one; some of the names which must be mentioned are Awang Damit Ahmad, Sharmiza Abu Hassan, Bibi Chew, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Jeganathan Ramachandram, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Jalaini Abu Hassan, Anniketyni Madian, Yeoh Jin Leng, Ibrahim Hussein, Joseph Tan, Syed Ahmad Jamal, Sulaiman Esa, Niranjan Rajah, Fatimah Chik, Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir, Anthony Lau, Jaafar Taib, Dzukifli Buyong, Ismail Zain, Khoo Sui Hoe, Johan Marjonid and many more.

The idea for KLB 2017 was first conceived by NAG’s Biennale Committee almost two years ago. When it came to implementation, board member Johan Ishak, who’s also Media Prima’s Television Networks (MPTN) chief executive officer, was the natural choice for the job. The torch was readily passed, and now the KLB chairman is tasked with ensuring that our first