Don’t be afraid of the arts. You too can enjoy it! Don't believe us? Tune in to Front Row to find out about the best shows and exhibitions that will recharge your brain and restore your spirit, as told by the producers, performers and artists themselves.
Latest episodes
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46 min
2020 to 2021: Moving the Malaysian Arts Forward
2020 has not been kind to our local arts industries. Most shows, festivals and exhibitions had to either close down completely, or experiment by going digital. For this final show…
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25 min
(Pop Culture) Wayang Kulit Puppets Explained
If Darth Vader, Superman, or Wonder Woman were wayang kulit characters, how might their costumes and personalities be reimagined? Fusion Wayang Kulit, a Malaysian troupe that is re…
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27 min
Collecting Kelabit Children’s Folk Songs
Project Ranih is an online archive to collect children’s folk songs of the Kelabit community of Sarawak. We speak with one of the project’s founders, Alena Murang, abou…
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33 min
Freedom Film Fest 2020 - Bangsa: Manusia
The Freedom Film Fest has become a fixture here in the Malaysian cultural calendar, for highlighting documentaries on human rights and social justice that are relevant to this regi…
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31 min
How Woodcut Carving Speaks Truth to Power
Woodcut carving and printmaking occupies an interesting space within visual arts, as it crosses the lines between the traditional and the modern, between folk art and contemporary…
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40 min
Art, Identity, and Southeast Asia
The notion of a Southeast Asian artistic identity is a complicated one, particularly within the context of contemporary art. With 2020 having dealt a huge blow to the arts worldwid…
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27 min
Global Migrant Festival 2020
The Global Migrant Festival is an online arts and literary festival that foregrounds the stories and experiences of low-wage migrant workers and refugees. The organisers of the fes…
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22 min
Revisiting Nadirah
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many performing arts companies have been turning to their archives or past performances to see how they can be repurposed for viewing today - because…
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29 min
Soliloquy - A Dance Film
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed how art is created and performed; Soliloquy - A Dance Film is an example of those possibilities. A collaborative dance video between…
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25 min
Mentoring Emerging Artists
The WLG Incubator is an initiative by Wei-Ling Galleries to mentor and collaborate with emerging Malaysian artists, and this year, the artists selected were Anas Afandi and Tang Tz…
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22 min
Attend a Performance Over a Phone Call
In these pandemic times, the idea of attending a performance often feels rather remote. But what if that performance took place in the form of a phone call, where you spoke to a st…
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35 min
Remembering Salleh Ben Joned
On October 29, 2020, Malaysian literary and artistic icon Salleh Ben Joned passed away at the age of 79. Salleh was known for his powerful poetry and essays in both Bahasa Malaysia…
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33 min
Making Music from Kuching to Hollywood
Musician and producer Alvin Wee, who is originally from Sarawak, has been making a name for himself in Hollywood through his work in films like Kung Fu Panda 3 and Kingsman: The Go…
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17 min
Weathering the Storm, Feathering the Breeze
In 2014, Malaysian sculptor Tengku Sabri Ibrahim had a stroke, which left him doubtful of ever being able to make art again. Yet, over the next few years, he worked with an as…
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33 min
Finding Tagistan
Artist Dhavinder Singh grew up in the old industrial area of Jalan Chan Sow Lin in Kuala Lumpur, surrounded by a community of workers from various factories and workshops. But he h…
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32 min
Look East Gone West
An art exhibition called “Look East Gone West” brings Singaporean artist Ho Rui An’s work to Southeast Asia for the first time, with video installations and films…
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16 min
5 Artists, 5 Galleries, 1 City
Five galleries around Kuala Lumpur are coming together to feature five different artists in a joint exhibition taking place in five spaces around the city - called Art Gallery Week…
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41 min
Save ArtsEquator
Launched in 2016, Singapore-based ArtsEquator is one of the few - if not only - media platforms that cover arts and culture in Southeast Asia. In the short time since its inception…
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14 min
Art Inspired by Pride and Prejudice
In this exhibition, Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice serves as the inspiration for artworks that take on a decidedly modern and Asian air, with a focus on facial expre…
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40 min
Scream Inside Your Heart
Malaysian artist Anurendra Jegadeva is currently living in Melbourne, Australia, and has spent the last 6 months in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic - an apt time to creat…