TERRAIN FOR TALENT
Themed according to Kuala Lumpur’s own geography, the long-running arts festival Urbanscapes just had a prosperous 2019
For nine days, Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur was ablaze with creativity, representing art in all forms at Urbanscapes 2019, the longest-running creative arts festival that celebrated its 17th edition late last month.
It brought together both local and foreign festivalgoers for a memorable art fiesta celebrating KL’s urban landscapes.
Drawing its curtains with gusto, this year’s festivities included 80 programmes that attracted a record turnout close to 85,000 to #ReconnectKL, as they explored happening to-dos that activated from Medan Pasar, River of Life, REXKL, The Godown KL, Sentul Depot, Kwai Chai Hong, Lorong Bandar 13, Lorong Panggung and other unique spaces in the heart of the city.
The theme for this year’s Urbanscapes was Reconnect KL, which ties back to its smart usage of numerous unique locations in the sprawling city. The event included over 20 venues scattered over downtown Kuala Lumpur.
Urbanscapes was launched in Jalan Bukit Bintang in 2002 by its founder, Malaysian-born Adrian Yap, a popular-culture enthusiast, who came up with the idea of organising an event whereby the types of eclectic stories that were already being published in his city guide KLue could physically manifest.
Through the years, besides showcasing Malaysian talent, foreign artists and musicians thrown in the mix to make it more attractive for the audience.
What today has become a citywide art fiesta of music, theatre, contemporary art forms and more, has also served to bring local communities closer.
The plethora of activities offered this year was an obvious indicator.
Besides the walking tours covering street art or attending the Unlimited Grooves Festival (UGF), which showcased local and international acts including Glass Animals, The Drums, Boy Pablo, Iqbal M and others at the 110-year-old Sentul Depot, people bonded naturally over their love for not just the city but the art that was showcased.
In true festive fashion, Urbanscapes 2019 offered a full package that included music, theatre, public art, dance, film and, yes, also food. Collaborations with local and international artists as well as creative communities to breathe life into Kuala Lumpur as a city also paid off handsomely.
Yap, the man behind the success story of the event, said the 17th year had seen Urbanscapes grow into an annual celebration of Kuala Lumpur with all the fanfare, and thanked visitors, festivalgoers and the event’s partners for this accomplishment.
Life sat down with the Malaysian visionary to get the inside story on how to successfully carry out an event of this magnitude.
“Tenacity, I suppose, is one aspect. It has been a really long time, on many accounts — it probably doesn’t make sense. However, everything that goes into it is a challenging endeavour, so that is what keeps us going,” remarked the US-educated Malay.
“Another reason is the people that work on putting this event together are very passionate about what they do. In a way, it is our love letter to the city. It is as if we are saying, ‘Hey, you know what, this is our city, this is our home, we want to contribute something. Our way of doing this is by holding this annual festival.’
“At the end of the day it is desire and passion that keep us looking forward to the next year.”
Yap has through the years made it a point to open the floor for both Asean and international artists and musicians to showcase their talents at the festival.
“It is not that Urbanscapes is a very local event,” he said. “We have always had regional participation. We’ve had some acts come through from Thailand, be it in music or films, and that has been the case for the last five to six years.
“Singapore’s participation has been more prominent because we actually work with their ministry. Indonesia’s participation this year came in the form of a massive installation made of bamboo, which was housed right smack in the middle of KL.”
While Yap is eager to showcase Thai artists at Urbanscapes, he said it would be a challenge, due the logistics of bringing them to Malaysia.
“Definitely, we are very open to collaborating with Asean nations, Thailand included, because I think creativity in this region is way up there, in so many different [ways], whether it is for commercial work, art or design. Bangkok is known to Malaysians, and all the interesting stuff that goes on out there. Definitely, the desire is out there to collaborate.”
Definitely, we are very open to collaborating with Asean nations, Thailand included
Yap credits teamwork for spicing up Urbanscapes each year to attract a more diverse audience.
He said the dedication of the people involved has through the years helped in bringing a freshness to the yearly event that has allowed it to attract regional tourists.
The Malaysian entrepreneur further remarked that adding novelty and a newness to an event that has come this far would also not be possible without event partners that have played a pivotal role in helping the festival grow from strength to strength.
So after 17 years, Yap remarked, what keeps him going has been his passion for creating memorable moments for the residents of KL.
At the end of the day, he said it wasn’t all about the biggest production value, or spending millions of dollars to set up an event, but rather the more sentimental things.
“Last night I was just wandering around the city, and I found myself at one of the back allies where there was an art gathering with minimal production value in terms of cost, but it was a great party — there were about a hundred people having fun.
“On the grand scale of all the different things we did this year, that is probably the one that cost us the least but whose impact was great.”
Sharing a couple reasons for Urbanscapes 2019’s success, Yap said: “Firstly, we were able to get the right people on board. Next we had content that resonated with the city. This festival is about telling the KL story — it is a love letter to the city — and we were conscious and aware to not let that out of our focus.
“This year we had great partners to work with who not only contributed funds and scholarships but also content.”
For video of this story, visit bangkokpost.com/vdo.