Kuching to host Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2017
KUCHING: The second ‘Asia-Link Sketchwalk’, themed ‘Sketching Kuching’, will bring in around 250 artists and sketchers from around the region for a four- day conference here, beginning this Oct 5.
The city obtained the hosting duty after the original plan of holding it in Beijing, China, fell through.
Urban Sketchers Kuching president Peggy Wong said it was typical for individual chapters across Asia to host their own event and invite other chapters to attend, but this proved to be too much for the enthusiasts due to time and budget constraints.
“All the Urban Sketchers chapters here agreed to hold one major event a year so everyone can focus on attending that one. Last year’s Asia-Link Sketchwalk was in Bangkok, Thailand. Initially Beijing was going to host this one but going through bureaucracy would take months and they’re not confident about getting confirmation with enough time to organise it properly,” she told The Borneo Post.
This would be Urban Sketchers Kuching’s first major event involving delegates from outside the city. Previously, Urban Sketchers Kuching ran biennial anniversary exhibitions that would go on for a month, along with workshops and weekly sketchwalks.
Last year, they made a bid to bring the Urban Sketchers Symposium to the state capital, but ultimately lost out to Chicago.
According to Wong, preparations for the Asia-Link Sketchwalk began in February and since then, her side have managed to secure event partners and sponsors such as Sarawak Convention Bureau, DiGi, Uber, and What About Kuching.
“The challenge is that Bangkok was a hard act to follow – they were fully- sponsored. There was no registration fee; food and accommodations were all provided. All that we needed to do as participants was to pay for our own airfares.”
Nonetheless, both categories of passes sold out quickly. The Workshop Pass allows its holder to take part in two workshops and gain the full experience of AsiaLink Sketchwalk 2017.
The Sketch Pass gets its holder into the conference, but without the workshops access.
Due to demands, organisers have made a limited number of additional Sketch Passes available – as at yesterday, only a handful was left.
Malaysians constitute the highest number of participants by country, followed by Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia. Other countries include Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India.
The Sketchwalk opens on Oct 5 with an afternoon session at Carpenter Street and Ewe Hai Street, followed by a Sarawakthemed opening party, where old friends can catch up and new friendships can be made.
The next three days will have
All the Urban Sketchers chapters here agreed to hold one major event a year so everyone can focus on attending that one. Last year’s Asia-Link Sketchwalk was in Bangkok, Thailand. Initially Beijing was going to host this one but going through bureaucracy would take months and they’re not confident about getting confirmation with enough time to organise it properly.
participants ‘ playing tourists’ and hitting the iconic areas of Old Kuching, with a local volunteer, in search of scenes to lay on paper.
Areas such as the Main Bazaar and Kuching Waterfront, India Street and Kai Joo Lane, Market Street and Power Street, Sarawak Museum and Padang Merdeka will find themselves immortalised on the sketchbooks of artists from across this region.
Those with Workshop Passes will be spoilt for choice between Donald Saluling (Jakarta), Paul Wang ( Singapore), Mor Thi-wawat Pattaragulwanit ( Bangkok), Sanjeev Joshi ( India), Christophe Alliel ( Kuching/France), Marvin Chew ( Kuching/Singapore) and Szetoo Weiwen ( Kuala Lumpur).
These instructors will share their insight and expertise on a variety of topics – exploring local markets, embracing artistic accidents, drawing people, using paper collage and ink, composition, watercolour basics, and painting food.
Artists who will be sharing with participants their crafts during the evening ‘ Sharetalk’ sessions are William Sim ( Singapore), Alvin Wong ( Hong Kong), Ch’ng Kiah Kiean ( Malaysia), Kwin Krisadaphong (Thailand), Muhammad Thamrin ( Indonesia) and Randy Valiente ( Philippines).
Previous Urban Sketcher events in Asia include the ‘ USK Symposium Singapore 2015’ and ‘Asia-Link Sketchwalk Bangkok 2016’.
Asia-Link Sketchwalk is run by Urban Sketchers Kuching, which has existed as a sketching group since 2010, but only registered with the Urban Sketchers international organisation in 2012.
They meet on the first Sunday of every month for sketch outings, recording life as a form of visual storytelling.
The regulars include graphic artists, students, architects, retirees, housewives, photographers, IT programmers, teachers, a bookmaker, a deaf artist, and anyone who finds joy in the art of sketching on location.
Those interested in helping with Asia-Link Sketchwalk 2017 can contact the organisers via uskkuching@ gmail.com, or visit the event page via fb.me/ ALSWKCH.
Peggy Wong, Urban Sketchers Kuching president