Moving with the times
The nation’s first virtual arts festival Gerak Angin is set to give Malaysia Day celebrations a diverse cultural boost.
DURING this time of the year, Sarawakian sape player Alena Murang would usually be playing at summer festivals in Europe and shows in Taiwan.
That won’t be happening this year. Even on the local front, nearly all major arts festivals have been cancelled or postponed.
For Alena, who was born in Kuching and has Kelabit heritage, she has been lucky to have had a busy calendar, performing regularly since the movement control order (MCO) came into effect in March.
The pandemic practically shut down the arts scene but Alena was quick to adapt to the times. She is one of the first few Malaysian artistes to hop onto the virtual stage.
Alena is used to performing in front of large crowds and transitioned well online. She took to social media to engage with her audience, performing almost every MCO
night with what she calls her “live sape sound-bath” sessions.
Since then, she’s also done other online collaborations, and even produced a video for Hari Gawai (a tune called Liling – Stay At Home Semangat Gawai). She released her new single, Gitu’an, in late July.
“What I missed most is working with a team of people to create something great,” says Alena, now based in Kuala Lumpur.
She has a chance to play for the broader masses with the upcoming Gerak Angin, the nation’s first virtual arts festival.
The Malaysia Day-inspired Gerak Angin, which starts streaming at 3pm tomorrow, is co-curated by Masakini theatre founder Sabera Shaik and Sutra Foundation’s Datuk Ramli Ibrahim.
Alena, together with Mupun Tauh Dance Troupe (a Kl-based Kelabit dance outfit), joins 16 other performing arts groups for this multidisciplinary festival of dance, music and theatre, which ends on Oct 2.
Gerak Angin, organised by Masakini, Sutra Foundation and Surprise Ventures and funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, can be streamed for free via the festival’s Youtube channel.
The videos will be released daily, giving Malaysians a sample of the performing acts scene which is still struggling to bounce back after getting hit hard by the pandemic.
A chance to record a live session for Gerak Angin recently lifted Alena’s spirits tremendously.
“It was really lovely being on set with the lights, video team, and other creatives; and to also have a space to talk and reflect with the other groups in the festival,” says Alena.
In Gerak Angin’s music category, Alena is joined by Geng Wak Long, KL Jazz & Arts Centre, Hands Percussion, Sri Wahyuni (presented by Pusaka) and Swara Community Arts Centre.
Alena’s performance, called Ra’ong (sun hat in Kelabit), will be streamed on Sept 30. This updated work, says Alena, revolves around the sky and Kelabit mythology linked to the cosmos.
“This is a show of semangat,
drawing on the strength of our past and rooting it in the present,” she explains.
Through this uniquely Sarawakian cultural performance, Alena hopes to see younger people start to be more responsible for what happens to their cultural heritage.
In Ra’ong, two songs will be presented in Kelabit and Kenyah, both listed as endangered languages.
The first, called Midang Midang,
is an old Kelabit song of courtship, with a young lady naming the men she would like to get to know. The second, called Liling, is a folk song surrounding community.
Alena, who was trained by sape legend Mathew Ngau Jau, collaborated with her cousin Joshua Maran (guitarist/producer), guitarist Jonathan Wong and percussionist Jimmy Chong on Ra’ong.
Apart from Gerak Angin, Alena is currently finishing up her new album. She also mentions her involvement in Project Ranih, a digital archive of children’s songs in the Kelabit language scheduled for a release next month.
A time to dance
Dua Space Dance Theatre will start off Gerak Angin’s dance programme on Sept 17 with its new work titled The Poems of Shading Leaves (Shading Leaves).
Shading Leaves, created specifically for the festival, is choreographed by Dua Space’s co-founders Anthony Meh and Aman Yap in collaboration with Souls Impact Percussion.
Shading Leaves, Yap says, is packed with dream-fantasy movements, while also featuring musical instruments such as the gong, rainsticks, cak lempong (small kettle gong) and shigu.
“Shading Leaves is a celebration of our cultural richness and wealth of floral diversity. We are combining elements of Chinese dance and music elements of the different races in Malaysia,” explains Yap.
Shading Leaves features dancers Meh, Yap, Lim Hong Jie, Kenny Leow Thiam Aik, and Howard Hew Fuh Hoong.
The music for Shading Leaves is composed by Souls Impact Percussion’s artistic director Cross Chin.
Shading Leaves marks Dua Space’s first dance show since the start of the MCO. Besides uploading a Diy-style short dance piece on its Youtube channel in May and conducting some workshops online,
Dua Space has not had any new works.
“We’re very thrilled about performing again, even though it is in front of the camera,” says Yap.
He feels that a festival like Gerak Angin is a big boost for the arts.
“Financially, all participants are paid. But more importantly, it is great to keep creating art during this time and share our art with the public,” says Yap.
Dua Space also launched a new online series called Dua Space Dance@online on Sept 11. The ticketed online series, which will run until Oct 23, features cross-disciplinary sharing, a dance video and a behind-the-scenes documentary video.
Wake up the senses
Have you ever tasted colour or seen sound? This is synesthesia, a neurological condition where the stimulation of one of your senses stimulates several others.
It is also the name of the short physical theatre piece presented by theatre collective Theatrethreesixty for Gerak Angin.
Synesthesia, directed by Nicoleann Thomas, explores the cognitive connection between our senses as a living organism and the destruction of all things natural.
Thomas says this is going to be a dark and poignant piece, forcing viewers to think about environmental issues.
“This is an issue that has bothered me for years. So I wanted to delve into how we, as humans, have screwed up our perception of how we treat rubbish and Mother Earth.
“So, it’s a synesthesia of sorts, where our cognitive senses are all confused with what’s actually going on in the planet,” she adds.
Synesthesia streams on Sept 28. It features Putrina Mohamed Rafie, Ian Abel Nathaniel and Brian Cheong with original music by Fabien Thomas.
Synesthesia, an original work conceptualised by Thomas and Nathaniel, is also devoid of any dialogue and only uses sounds.
Thomas says viewers can expect Mother Nature personified, and a stage strewn with rubbish (shades of Samuel Beckett’s play Breath).
Christopher Ling, Theatrethreesixty’s co-founder and artistic director, is excited over the company’s involvement in Gerak Angin.
“It feels like being home again. Nothing compares to the exhilaration of putting together a new show. The artist thrives on the ups and downs of the process,” shares Ling.
Theatrethreesixty’s last show was
24 Jam Dalam 37 Tahun, written by Khairi Anwar. It played a mere days before the MCO.
Since then, the theatre company has kept a very low profile.
It has been considering virtual projects, but Ling says his team is still trying to make sense of how to engage the masses. “Right now, our focus still remains live performances,” he adds.
Synesthesia is a welcome (online) return, but Ling reveals Theatrethreesixty is already in the process of preparing for the premiere of a new musical, to be staged live this December.
Visit gerakangin.com to view full festival programme and line-up.