Alice Sarmiento is a full-time educator, freelance writer, independent curator, and occasional seamstress. Her writing and curatorial work centers feminist, relational, and community-engaged practices, while her work as a critic casts a feminist lens across Filipino cultural production, ranging from contemporary art to Pinoy showbiz.
As a curator, Alice has worked on the curatorial teams of the inaugural (and so far, only) Manila Biennial in 2018 as well as the Visayas Visual Art Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon) in 2023. Before returning to Rimbun Dahan for the second month of her residency, she founded Spare Bedroom, a space for restaging installative and relational works, in order to extend their public programs and reactivate engagement with their community.
Alice is also a member of the Rural Women Advocates, leading creative and curatorial projects to advocate for women in the peasant sector. She has also volunteered since 2011 as an adoption counselor and humane educator for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society.
I came to Rimbun Dahan to look at the center’s textile collection, and use it as a prompt to think about heritage textiles and indigenous craft methods. As someone who had worked with textiles in different capacities in the past (first as an undergraduate in a fashion program, then as a teacher, then as a researcher for several curatorial projects) I was familiar with the anxieties around this form of cultural production, one which so heavily depends on women’s work.
Using the time and space afforded to me by this residency, as well as its proximity to a wealth of other Malaysian resources in the form of markets, museums and friendly banter, I began working on Once A Vibrant Tradition – a text that negotiates the tensions of craft and community caught in the crosshairs of capitalism.
For Open Day, Alice will be in conversation with Wen Di Sia artist, writer, and advocate from Gerimis Art, a group that documents and supports the arts, culture, and local economy of the Orang Asli. She will also be sharing printed drafts of the Malaysia sections of Once A Vibrant Tradition in zine form, in order to open these to the public for comment.
Gigi Giovanelli is a sculptor based in New York City. She studied Fine Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is currently pursuing a BFA in Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design. Her practice centers on sculpture as a form of storytelling, grounded in material sensitivity and emotional resonance.
Rooted in her upbringing in North Carolina, Gigi’s work reflects a lifelong physical and emotional closeness to nature. Her sculptures often take the form of delicate, creature-like beings, suspended in states of balance and transformation. These forms speak to the fragile systems, both ecological and emotional, that hold us in place. Through them, she raises questions about support, purpose, and what it means to live within, or beyond, the boundaries of the present.
By blurring the distinctions between humans, animals, and natural forms, Gigi creates sculptural landscapes that evoke a sense of loss and the inevitability of return.
During my one-month residency in Malaysia, I chose to work entirely with materials gathered from the surrounding landscapes: burnt soil, coconut husks, and fallen branches. From these fragments of the environment, I created a series of sculptural creatures that stand and balance on their branch limbs, as though drawing support and life from the very materials they are made of.
This body of work emerged from a sensitivity to place and questions of home, investigating the origins of one’s own body and the land it calls home. The coconut shells and burnt soil: remnants of both growth and destruction, became metaphors for the ongoing cycles of life, death, and regeneration.
The creatures’ delicate balancing acts speak to the fragile interdependence we share with our environments, both physical and emotional. Just as the sculptures rely on their landscape for support, we too depend on external systems – ecological, communal, and psychological – to stay upright. This work becomes a visceral outline of those supports, a reflection on the invisible forces that keep us held. The sculptures reflect how all life depends on a delicate and sometimes unstable balance with nature.
As I worked, I found myself drawn to the idea of being lost in one’s own body, searching for a sense of belonging and grounding in a vessel that never quite feels like home. This internal displacement: of seeking support within the body but never fully arriving, led me back to the land. That’s why I chose to build the creatures from soil, coconut husks, and fallen branches: all materials that had already returned to the earth, and yet, through this process, found a new life within my forms. In this quiet cycle of return and renewal, the sculptures embody a journey where longing meets stillness, and the revelation emerges that perhaps the belonging we seek inside ourselves has always existed in the ground beneath us.
In making this work, I lent the creatures an animistic spirit, imagining the land as alive, intelligent, and expressive – qualities it truly holds, though often overlooked in its stillness. This work is as much about presence as it is about form. Each creature holds the memory of the physical land and the emotional scaffolding we lean on. They remind us that we are shaped by our surroundings, that we come from the earth, and ultimately, we return to it.
Malaysian cultural worker Low Pey Sien spent several months in residence at Rimbun Dahan in 2025.
About the Artist
Low Pey Sien (b. 1991) is a Malaysian cultural worker from Kuantan, Pahang. Her architectural background is a major influence – her works observe the relationship between space, place, and people. She often sees herself as an observer rather than a participant, a listener rather than a creator. She enjoys different perspectives and taking time to understand and put things together into a bigger picture.
She mainly works in photography, film, and graphic media, lately actively exploring themes on body, shame and identity. Her works were exhibited in “Kenduri Seni Patani” art festival organised by Patani Art Space , Thailand (2024), “Continuum” exhibition under the “Creative Access in New Media” online residency, organised by In Transit, UK and Filamen (2024), “No Self, Just Body” exhibition under the “ACAC AiR 2023: Starquakes” by Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Aomori, Japan (2023), and “Women in Film & Photography 2023: Bodies” organised by Objectifs, Singapore (2023).
Her recent video works include video art “Wani-Onna” (2024), dance documentary ”Movement: We Are Bodies” (2022), dance film “La La Li Ta Tang Pong” (2020), video art “Keroncong Kuala Lumpur II” (2017), and video art ”Invisible Old Klang Road” (2016).
When she is not creating, she freelances as curator, producer, and graphic designer, mainly working with her friends, to bring their creative works into this world.
During my residency at Rimbun Dahan in January and March 2025, I was able to revisit a project that was put on hold due to other commitments. Being in this special retreat gave me time and space to rest, and to focus on editing a short documentary, tentatively titled “Summer Camp”.
Three years ago, My friends and I had the opportunity to document the 4D3N reunion gathering attended by over 100 former Internal Security Act (ISA) political detainees. These former ISA political detainees were mostly detained in the 1960s and 1970s. They shared with us the significant events during their detention, and shared memories of collective resistance in this period of white terror. However, their struggle is not homogenous, they came from diverse backgrounds and political ideals. Even so, they began to understand each other, fostering care, love, support, and resolving conflicts between themselves. Perhaps this is the most important spirit that emerges from the political detention camps—a spirit that is very much needed in our diverse society.
The statement sounds very nice, but actually I’m still at a loss as to how to piece the materials together. At the end of my residency in March, I couldn’t see the form yet. I hope to push the progress a little bit more for this coming open studio in July.
Singaporean artist Isabella Ong has been in residence at Rimbun Dahan for two months, from June to July 2025.
About the Artist
Isabella Ong (b. 1992) is a Singapore-based artist whose work explores the relationship between data, form and environment. Working across installation, code and text, she examines how ecological, cultural and technical systems are structured and represented. Her practice engages with material processes alongside physical computation and generative methods, translating natural phenomena into spatial and visual languages.
She received her MArch in Design for Performance & Interaction from The Bartlett, UCL, and a BA (Hons) in Architecture from the National University of Singapore. She was an artist-in-residence at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (2023) and currently teaches at NUS Department of Architecture and NAFA’s Design Practice programme. Her practice is shaped by ongoing collaborations across disciplines and communities.
The word artefact has two meanings. It can refer to a human-made object, or an error in observation or representation introduced by the technique or tool involved. During my residency, I explored the duality of object and error through a body of work that interrogates the Corinthian column as a Straits artefact: a classical form adopted into the local building vernacular, often described by historians as ‘untutored’ or ‘plagiarised’ copies of the classical order. It is this act of copying that forms the basis of my experiments into techniques of reproduction.
In one series (‘coarse copy’), I made casts and bricks out of Shanghai plaster, a faux-stone finish made of stone aggregates held together in a cement-binder that results in a rough, speckled texture. As a material introduced by Chinese labourers hired to construct many of Singapore’s classically inspired buildings, Shanghai plaster embodies the material culture of labour histories and transmission. In the work, the bricks are cast patterns of botanical specimens selected from Rimbun Dahan’s native garden, their impressions read against the grain of the textured plaster. The bricks form a pedestal, presented as a pattern book of alternative ornamental motifs, indexing botanical taxonomy alongside Vitruvius’ architectural myth of the column. The coarsened medium of this casting technique challenges the assumption of fidelity, drawing attention to how imposed forms require local hands to make—and remake—them, their labour an act of translation.
In another series (‘carbon copy), I worked with carbon transfer paper to manually copy text. Using a basic black-and-white printer, I printed out copies of Vituvius’ architectural myth, sourced as a low-res scan from the Internet Archive. Enlarged tenfold, the text rendered as pixelated fragments, which I then copied by hand. The letters began to blur into artefacts. This exercise draws from the attitude towards copies and imitation in Eastern art, such as the copying of calligraphy masterpieces, where reproductions are often regarded with equal (or even greater) value than the original.
Across the works, I am interested in how forms shift through processes of transmission. Working with low-res scans, transfer materials and patterning, the project explores the methods of reproduction as both a technical and cultural act. By destabilising familiar artefacts and forms, I examine how monuments are not only inherited but also being rewritten through acts of documentation and replication. Copying thus becomes a way to look at how inherited structures—architectural, botanical, archival—are mediated through the tools, labour and material knowledge of those who remake them.
Filipino visual artist Rommel Joson is in residence at Rimbun Dahan for two months, from June to August 2025.
About the Artist
Rommel Joson is a painter and book illustrator currently teaching drawing, illustration, and print production design at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts where he is also taking his post-graduate studies. His various roles deal with the intersection and interaction of text and image. His art practice draws inspiration and raw material from both historical and contemporary visual communication artifacts such as reading primers, children’s books, encyclopedias, illuminated manuscripts, information graphics, comics, and even print ads.
Part of his process involves creating unreadable glyphs and ciphers that mimic the texture and structure of recognizable books and texts. These invented scripts, combined with imagery from historical and contemporary books, result in hybrid forms—artist’s books and paintings that explore the tension between the familiar and the obscure. By taking the commercial processes of book design and illustration and subverting their function, the resulting objects and artifacts attempt to engage viewers in active decoding.
My work at Rimbun Dahan—composed of paintings, glyphs, and an accordion format artist book—is my exploration of slow, branching, and mythic time through the interplay of text and image. This is the longest I’ve stayed in another country, and the largest block of uninterrupted time to work on my art, away from the demands of other tasks and duties back home. I chose to approach the experience by viewing it through the lens of language and time. During my stay, I noticed many word similarities between Malay and Filipino, no doubt because of the common Austronesian roots. I also observed how my experience of time shifted, not only because of my physical distance from other work concerns, but also the time differences in the rising and setting sun. Suddenly, as I immersed myself in the surrounding flora of the arboretum and deliberately walked into my new surroundings, I experienced a slowing down of subjective time. In Filipino, moving slowly and carefully translates as “dahan-dahan” and serendipitously also translates to “branches” in Malay. Thus, I’ve come to think of my work at Rimbun Dahan under this conceptual umbrella—a meditation on language, place, and time.
During the conceptualization stage, I was initially inspired by the Voynich Manuscript—a medieval codex written in an unreadable script and language and accompanied by plant illustrations. As part of my process, I created a kind of tree alphabet inspired by the arboretum. It has been said that typography is “thought made visible”. And these invented glyphs reveal as much as they conceal, obscuring words while at the same time placing them into forms and shapes that reflect my own subjective experience of the surroundings.
Then I searched for Filipino words and nouns that can evoke double meanings and cultural connotations when paired with images. Words like “kama” (bed), “puso” (heart), and “loob” (literally inside but can also refer to the inner self) have particular resonances during my stay at Rimbun Dahan. These words refer to my experience of bodily rest, Filipino mythical stories about the surrounding flora (such as the banana plant), and the witnessing of the Eid al-Adha sacrifice. I paired these words with surreal images and inscribed the words using the invented alphabet. Through all this, the space of the studio became a place where I attempted to explore my personal experiences of the residency, the mythic connotations of the surrounding flora, and the linguistic similarities between the culture I bring and the space I’ve been transplanted into.
On Sunday 27 July, our resident artists Fauzan Fuad (MSIA), Isabella Ong (SIN), Rommel Joson (PHIL) and Low Pey Sien (MSIA) will be sharing the fruits of their residencies in their open studios.
Angela Hijjas will also give a morning tour of her 14-acre native garden. Works by recent resident artist Gigi Giovanelli(USA) will also be on show in the Underground Gallery.
Entry is free. Registration is required only for the garden tour. BYO picnic, plus walk about our gardens at your leisure, explore our heritage house and the underground gallery.
Register for the Garden Tour: https://forms.gle/C1e1d9jrzyPi57jX6 [Other activities on Open Day do not require registration; just walk in to join!]
9am-11am Garden Tour 11am-6pm Open Studios
Travelling Directions
Address: Rimbun Dahan, Km. 27 Jalan Kuang, Mukim Kuang, Selangor, 48050.
Landmarks: Our front gate is opposite Warung Selera Ria and also next to the start of Lorong Belimbing. Do not enter Lorong Belimbing, please enter the front gate from the main road.
Tips for Visitors
We have parking inside the compound, along the driveway. Just drive in the front gate and park as indicated along the drive.
Bring your own mosquito repellent!
We are sorry, Rimbun Dahan is not a fully wheelchair accessible venue. Wheelchair access is possible to the artists studios and some of the outdoor areas, but not to the underground gallery or the heritage houses.
Wear practical shoes if you are planning to walk around the garden.
Bring an umbrella in case of rain.
No refreshments or water provided. Feel free to bring your own picnic, and enjoy it in the gardens; please clean up all your trash.
No pets, no swimming — thank you for your cooperation.
If you have any questions, please email arts@rimbundahan.org or WhatsApp Bilqis at +6017-3103769.
About the Resident Artists
Born in 1987 in Kuala Lumpur, Fauzan Fuad is a painter and photographer whose artistic vocabulary draws heavily from the worlds of punk, vandalism, skateboarding, and raw urban visuals, blending them with influences from the western Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1950s. His solo exhibitions have appeared at China House in Penang, Zon Tiga in Kuala Lumpur, and Rissim Contemporary in Kuala Lumpur. His work has also been featured in international exhibitions including Gwangju International Art Fair and Espace Commines in Paris, and locally at the Malaysian Art Expo, FINDARS Art Space, White Box at Publika and HOM Art Trans Gallery.
Filipino painter and book illustrator Rommel Joson is currently teaching drawing, illustration, and print production design at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts where he is also taking his post-graduate studies, Rommel’s roles roles deal with the intersection and interaction of text and image. His art practice draws from artifacts such as reading primers, children’s books, encyclopedias, illuminated manuscripts, information graphics, comics, and even print ads. Part of his process involves creating unreadable glyphs and ciphers that mimic the texture and structure of recognizable books and texts.
Isabella Ong (b. 1992) is a Singapore-based artist whose work explores the relationship between data, form and environment. Working across installation, code and text, she examines how ecological, cultural and technical systems are structured and represented. She received her MArch in Design for Performance & Interaction from The Bartlett, UCL, and a BA (Hons) in Architecture from the National University of Singapore. Her practice is shaped by ongoing collaborations across disciplines and communities, engaging with material processes alongside physical computation and generative methods, translating natural phenomena into spatial and visual languages.
Low Pey Sien (b. 1991) is a Malaysian cultural worker from Kuantan, Pahang. With a background in architecture, she mainly works in photography, film, and graphic media, lately actively exploring themes on body, shame and identity. Her recent video works include video art “Wani-Onna” (2024), dance documentary ”Movement: We Are Bodies” (2022), dance film “La La Li Ta Tang Pong” (2020), video art “Keroncong Kuala Lumpur II” (2017), and video art ”Invisible Old Klang Road” (2016). When she is not creating, she freelances as curator, producer, and graphic designer, mainly working with her friends, to bring their creative works into this world.
Gigi Giovanelli is a sculptor based in New York City. She studied Fine Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is currently pursuing a BFA in Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design. Her practice centers on sculpture as a form of storytelling, grounded in material sensitivity and emotional resonance. Rooted in her upbringing in North Carolina, Gigi’s work reflects a lifelong physical and emotional closeness to nature. Gigi was in residence at Rimbun Dahan in June 2025; her works will be displayed in the Underground Gallery at Rimbun Dahan on Open Day.
About Rimbun Dahan
Rimbun Dahan is the home of Malaysian architect Hijjas Kasturi and his wife Angela. Set on fourteen acres outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the compound of Rimbun Dahan is a centre for developing traditional and contemporary art forms. It features buildings designed by Hijjas Kasturi, as well as two early 20th century traditional Malay houses from Perak and Penang, in an indigenous Southeast Asian garden environment which has recently been awarded arboretum status. Rimbun Dahan is private property, and is only open to the public on Open Days.
Malaysian visual artist Fauzan Fuad undertook a 3-month residency at Rimbun Dahan under the Southeast Asian Arts Residency, from May to July 2025.
About the Artist
Fauzan Fuad (b. 1987, Kuala Lumpur) is a painter and photographer whose work bridges the raw aesthetics of urban culture with the experimental ethos of Abstract Expressionism. He began his artistic journey in 2012 as an assistant to renowned artist Yusof Ismail (Yusof Gajah) at Universiti Malaya, a formative experience that lasted one and a half years. Since then, he has committed himself fully to a path of self-discovery as a full-time artist.
Fauzan’s artistic vocabulary draws heavily from the worlds of punk, vandalism, skateboarding, and raw urban visuals, blending them with influences from the western Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1950s. This synthesis results in works that are bold, unfiltered, and deeply rooted in contemporary subcultures. He debuted his first solo exhibition at China House, Penang, in 2018. This was followed by his solo photography exhibition, “44”, at Zon Tiga, Kuala Lumpur, in 2020. Most recently, in 2024, he held his third solo show, titled “POV”, at Rissim Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, he has been invited to participate in his debut artist residency program, “SUNYI,” organized by Balai Seni Negara Langkawi, towards the end of the year. Fauzan’s work has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions both locally and internationally. Highlights include the Gwangju International Art Fair (by Hin Bus Depot Gallery), Gwangju, South Korea (2020); SH/FT: Contemporary Visual Art organized by CENDANA at White Box MAPKL@ Publika, Kuala Lumpur (2019); “Cannot Be Bo(a)rded” at Espace Commines, Paris, France (2017); Malaysian Art Expo 2015 (represented by A2 Gallery); “CONSTANT PRESENT” organized by FINDARS at FINDARS Art Space, Kuala Lumpur (2021); and the Malaysia Emerging Artist Award 2022 Exhibition by CIMB Foundation & HOM Art Trans Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
As of 2025, Fauzan continues to live and work in Kuala Lumpur, pushing the boundaries of his creative practice while remaining deeply engaged with the cultural landscapes that inspire him.
Artist Statement
When I arrived on May 1st, 2025, I came with a clear intention: to experiment within my artistic practice—whether through photography, painting, or idea-based work drawn from the experiences of this residency. I wasn’t sure how the site would influence me or what emotions it might stir, but I arrived with an open mind.
One of the first idea-based works that emerged was a performance piece. Something about this place demanded that the work take that form—it had to be performance, and it had to be documented. This piece also became part of my ongoing experimentation with mark-making. It will be my first foray into performance as a medium, and I will be collaborating with an artist I met during my previous residency.
Another early development was a photographic installation, inspired by one of the first images I captured with my phone on the day I arrived, as well as the studio space provided for experimentation. That initial visual response became a point of reflection, helping me to reconsider and refine my own visual language and perspective.
Midway through the residency, I received a new commission that needed to be completed on-site and within a tight deadline. After fulfilling this, I returned to painting—my primary and most familiar practice. This period gave me valuable time and solitude to reflect on both myself and my work. I found myself reconsidering how I approach painting: pushing and pulling within the process, exploring layering, surface, and the materiality of marks. I allowed intuition and instinct to guide me. Often, the environment inspired me in subtle, unconscious ways. The color palette and visual moods in my work shifted, reflecting the surroundings I was immersed in.
Four of the paintings developed during this time are now part of a group exhibition, OUTSIDE-IN, at Galeri Sasha, the gallery that represents me. This show had already been confirmed just before I began the residency.
Beyond the studio, I kept up with my regular physical routine—swimming, running, and, for the first time, trying tennis, which I was introduced to here. These physical activities also became a form of mental grounding, offering balance throughout the creative process.
As I reflect on my time here, I feel deeply grateful—for the space, the solitude, the challenges, and the discoveries. This residency offered me more than just time to work; it gave me a chance to reconnect with my practice, to take creative risks, and to listen closely to my instincts. I leave with new insights, new works, and a renewed sense of direction—both in art and in self.
Fauzan Fuad’s residency at Rimbun Dahan is additionally supported by a grant from Balai Seni Negara.
Emerging contemporary dance choreographers from Southeast Asia were selected to attend a facilitated international choreographic laboratory at the private arts centre of Rimbun Dahan from 4 to 13 July 2025.
The 14 chosen choreographers lived, worked and explored together, with guidance from our facilitator, Malaysian choreographer and artistic director Prof. Joseph Gonzales.
The program consisted of 7 work days with 2 days of excursions to arts spaces or recreational spaces in Kuala Lumpur. Work days in the Dance Studio at Rimbun Dahan consisted of sessions exploring choreographic methods, analysis and movement techniques led by Prof. Gonzales and by the participants themselves.
Other activities included live performance viewing, informal socializing and discussions, and networking events. The program concluded on Sunday 13 July, with a studio showing to share the creative process and artistic development from the Choreolab with the Malaysian dance community and the wider public.
The participants are selected through an open call application process. Selected participants must support their own travel costs/airfare to Kuala Lumpur. The project provides local transport, meals, accommodation and access to all activities during the Choreolab.
SEA Choreolab 2025 Participants
++ Wong Shan Tie (Malaysia) ++ Tai Chun Wai (Malaysia) ++ Nadhirah Rahmat (Malaysia) ++ Ronieth Dayao (Philippines) ++ Jared Jonathan Luna (Philippines) ++ Robert ‘Giveway’ Diosanta (Philippines) ++ Sekar Tri Kusuma (Indonesia) ++ Laila Putri Wartawati (Indonesia) ++ Mekratingrum Hapsari (Indonesia) ++ Krisna Satya (Indonesia) ++ ‘Golf’ Thanupon Yindee (Thailand) ++ ‘Neo’ Nguyen Huyn Nhu (Vietnam) ++ Chew Shaw En (Singapore) ++ Neo Ke Xin (Singapore
Project Aims
To support and enable emerging Southeast Asian contemporary dance choreographers to
Adopt new choreographic tools and physical, thematic and conceptual approaches to enrich their artistic practice;
Develop regional networks among their peers and with regional dance institutions, for knowledge sharing, future artistic collaboration and touring;
Experience works of art, cultures, places and histories beyond their home, to increase international understanding and to help contextualize their artistic practice.
Work closely with an established choreographer and educator (Prof. Joseph Gonzales), to delve deeper into the choreographic process, and to benefit from his insights, advice and experience.
We hope the participants will have a positive and enjoyable experience at the SEA Choreolab, which will reenergize them and help reaffirm their commitment to their artistic practice. We would like the SEA Choreolab and the networks established here to be an ongoing resource to which the participants may return for inspiration, refreshment, respite and a sense of continual community.
About Prof. Joseph Gonzales, facilitator
Joseph is Director of ASK Dance Company, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His career began in 1982, as a performer with Kuala Lumpur Dance Theatre, St. Moritz Gold Band and The King & I, UK National Tour.
He holds a PhD in Dance and a Bachelor of Science (University Malaya), Master of Arts Choreography (Middlesex University), Master of Buddhist Studies (HKU), Master of Arts Cultural Management (CUHK), and diplomas in Ballet, Modern Dance and Performing Arts from London, England.
Joseph served as the Head of Academic Studies/MFA at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) from 2016 to 2024, and as Dean of Dance, National Academy for Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA) in Malaysia from 1998 to 2015.
He has created 50 works, 4 musicals, and 3 full-length contemporary dances for the stage, notably including Crossing Borders, Tabula Rasa, 3 Faces, Seru and Becoming King. He was awarded the Kakiseni BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for Best Production 2010, Best Choreographer 2015, Crosscultural Champion 2007, and Gamechanger 2019.
His passions are education and creating works that explore identity, traditions and reflect contemporary society.
“Being postgraduate leader [at HKAPA] was a huge learning experience for me … And regarding practice research, I realized that that’s the kind of person I am, really, because I do a lot of research that then evolves into some kind of a stage work and presentation. I learned that I am good at guiding the students to understand what they are trying to discover for themselves and not impose my kind of perspective or my own aesthetics at all. I enjoy the process and really encouraging them to discover what they want to make work about. I really want to spend time … imparting this knowledge and this skill.” — Joseph Gonzales in conversation with Bilqis Hijjas.
SEA Choreolab 2025 is a project by
In partnership with
With support from the Insentif Seni grant of Jabatan Kebudayaan & Kesenian Negara Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur.
Indonesian visual artist Banny Jayanata spent a month in residence at Rimbun Dahan in April 2025, culminating with a solo show “The Garden Bites Back” at The Back Room gallery in Kuala Lumpur in May 2025.
About the Artist
Banny Jayanata (b. 1983, Surabaya, Indonesia; lives and works in Sidoarjo, Indonesia) received his Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication and Design from the Petra Christian University, Surabaya, Indonesia, in 2007 and his Master’s Degree in Visual Arts from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta, in 2014.
Jayanata’s paintings explore the existential human condition, enclosing distorted characters in a melancholic tableau of impasto brushstrokes. This interest in the weight of life’s transience is translated primarily through movement in what he describes as a “living image”; his subjects are often caught in moments of profound inner turmoil or meet in violent collisions with other bodies. Jayanata’s overarching interest in the interplay between beauty and decay simultaneously infuses his painting with a sense of inevitable decay, where beauty is juxtaposed with the harsh reality of its fragility. In this decay, Jayanata finds deeper meaning, reaching for beauty as a kind of redemption and purpose in the face of life’s inevitable transience. In his paintings, Jayanata captures the essence of what it means to be human—fragile, beautiful, and inexorably bound to the passage of time.
Jayanata has participated in a number of exhibitions throughout his artistic career. His solo exhibitions are Black and Blue Mood at Museum dan Tanah Liat, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2018) and LUKA at Independent Art Management, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2014). Selected group exhibitions include Onsen Confidential: The Final at Mujin-to Production, Tokyo, Japan (2024), Basel Social Club in Basel, Switzerland (2023); murmur at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2023); Identitas yang Hidup at Museum dan Tanah Liat, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2021); Merayakan Optimisme, Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2019); Virtual Territories at Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2013); Works on Paper #2 at Aswara Heritage Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2013); and DEKA – EXI(S) at Biennale Jogja at Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2013).
About the Residency
Issues of anthropocene with its contradictions is my main concern, reminding me the importance of coexistence living between nature and human. Being aware of the complexity of environmental issues, the artist’s works may only give suggestions. I too am not giving any solutions on the issue.
During my residency in Rimbun Dahan I’d rather feel gratitude towards the opportunity I have to explore such a beautiful and natural place, yet which has so many challenging moments, like thunderstorms. Also there are moments of nice warming sunrises or beautiful sunsets near the pond, and birdsong in the mornings. I follow the rhythms of living which is very similar with nature’s dynamics.
The experience of living both in a natural environment and an urban city like Kuala Lumpur gave me rich nuances and inspiration to make some works. For example, a work titled ‘branches and concrete’, the last work I made in this residency, is an attempt to depict the antagonistic impression in the relationship between urban and natural life.
About the Exhibition
From 16 May to 1 June 2025, the works Banny Jayanata made at Rimbun Dahan are on display in a solo exhibition at The Back Room, Zhongshan Building, Kuala Lumpur. Go to The Back Room website for more information about the exhibition, and to read the exhibition essay by Ong Kar Jin.
Special exhibitors Tapii Coffee and Dreamy Forest Handmade Soap, with refreshments and otter-themed gifts available to purchase..
An exhibition of visual artworks related to otters and their wetland homes, including an exclusive view of 4 bronze sculptures by Datin Waveney Jenkins from the 1980s.
“Create in Nature” art workshop for adults, a full-day immersive experience brought to you by Joanna Cheryann and Art of Wellness.
Bring-your-own picnic and enjoy it in the gardens at any time!
The following activities are fully subscribed, and are now closed:
[Please note: Wild otters are extremely shy, and encountering them at Rimbun Dahan during World Otter Day is highly unlikely. But we hope to introduce you to many other animals and plants, as well as exciting artwork and fun activities, in the otters’ habitat.]
Visiting Rimbun Dahan
Time to visit: 11am to 5pm Date to visit: Sunday, 25 May 2025 Address: Rimbun Dahan, Km. 27 Jalan Kuang, Mukim Kuang, Selangor 48050
Landmarks: Our front gate is opposite Warung Selera Ria and also next to the start of Lorong Belimbing. Do not enter Lorong Belimbing, please enter the Rimbun Dahan front gate from the main road.
We have parking inside the compound, along the driveway. Just drive in the front gate and park as indicated along the drive.
Bring your own mosquito repellent, an umbrella in case of rain, and practical shoes if you are planning to walk around the garden.
We are sorry, Rimbun Dahan is not a fully wheelchair accessible venue.
Feel free to bring your own picnic, and enjoy it in the gardens; please clean up all your trash. Coffee and light refreshments will also be available to purchase from Tapii Coffee.
No pets, no swimming — thank you for your cooperation.
Talks by Otter Experts
Drop in to the Underground Gallery for short entertaining talks about otters, where there’s always something new to learn about these fascinating creatures:
Entry is free and no registration is required for the Expert Talks in the Underground Gallery.
Otter Film World Premiere
World Otter Day 2025 at Rimbun Dahan is excited to host the world premiere of a short film about Malaysian otters, presented by Layar Liar, at 3pm in the Underground Gallery at Rimbun Dahan.
Layar Liar Malaysia is a resource bank of films: a platform of knowledge easily accessible to all Malaysians, especially school teachers and children, to create awareness about Malaysia’s rich natural heritage. Their aim is to create a love for our animals and the forests and to inspire young Malaysians to protect them. The films are available for free via the Layar Liar website, and on social media.
Layar Liar is a project of Nuvista Media, and produced by filmmaker couple Lara Ariffin and Harun Rahman.
Special Exhibitors
We are delighted to welcome our two special exhibitors for World Otter Day. Come and check out their booths from 11am to 5pm in the Loggia above the Underground Gallery at Rimbun Dahan, to purchase a picnic or some handmade otter-themed gifts:
Dreamy Forest Handmade Soap from Johor will be bringing their unique soaps, packaged in a special design that highlights the endangered Hairy-Nosed Otter, Malaysia’s most precious but little-known otter species. https://www.facebook.com/dreamyforesthandmadesoap
The Underground Gallery at Rimbun Dahan is currently showing a selection of works from the Rimbun Dahan Permanent Collection related to otters and their wetland homes. Most of the works have been produced by resident artists at Rimbun Dahan, during our residency program that has been running since 1994.
The exhibition also includes an exclusive viewing of 4 bronze sculptures by Datin Waveney Jenkins from the 1980s — an otter family reuniting after 40 years!
In the 1980s, British sculptor Waveney Jenkins made a series of bronze sculptures inspired by the sleek acrobatic shapes, as well as the playful and affectionate nature, of Malaysian otters. The works were sculpted in clay in Kuala Lumpur, before being sent to Meridian Foundry in Peckham, London, where they were cast in bronze. After 40 years of living in Malaysia, Datin Waveney and her husband Datuk Peter Jenkins retired to the Isle of Man, where Datin Waveney lives today. (Waveney was also one of the key figures in Badan Warisan, focused on the conservation and sustainability of East Coast Malay woodcarving and heritage architecture.) Some of the otter sculptures remained in the hands of Malaysian art collectors.
Now, for the first time, four different sculptures from Datin Waveney’s otter series will be brought together: in the Underground Gallery at Rimbun Dahan, in honour of World Otter Day 2025. One of the sculptures belongs to the Rimbun Dahan Permanent Collection. The other three are on generous loan from Datuk Ir. Rosaline Ganendra.
Drop in to World Otter Day this Sunday 25 May, between 11am and 5pm, to view these splendid works.
“Create in Nature” Art Workshop for Adults (9:30am-4:30pm)
Morning: We’ll start outdoors with a guided biodiversity tour, where we’ll understand more about the natural habitat and ecosystem of the wildlife there. As we walk we’ll:
Observe light, shadow, color, and fractal patterns
Sketch, take photos, and start to create a sensory art journal
Deepen our awareness and connection with nature
Afternoon: Moving indoors, we’ll translate our inspirations into creative expressions, whether through drawing, painting, or mixed media. No experience needed, just an open mind! This is a wonderful opportunity to nurture creativity, relax, and reconnect with nature.
Limited spots (max 8 people), so book soon! RM250 per person. Contact Joanna at 012 737 0587 to reserve your spot!
Hear More About World Otter Day – via Podcast from BFM 89.9!
Juliet Jacobs at BFM 89.9 featured World Otter Day at Rimbun Dahan for this week’s Earth Matters program on 22 May 2025. Check out the full interview with Malaysia Otter Network’s Woo Chee Yoong and Rimbun Dahan’s Bilqis Hijjas: https://www.bfm.my/content/podcast/the-otter-side-of-nature
Biodiversity Tour (9am-11am)
[UPDATE 16/5/2025: BIODIVERSITY TOUR IS FULL! Please feel free to drop in to listen to talks, see the exhibition, and have a picnic in the gardens.]
During the biodiversity tour, Rimbun Dahan director Bilqis Hijjas will introduce you to the history of this 14-acre Southeast Asian indigenous arboretum, and its development as reforestation and rewilding project. You will walk around the ponds to view the habitat for otters and other wetland species, admire the giant forest trees, check out the ornamental garden, and other natural highlights. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions, and a general discussion about sustainability and small things we can do to support native wildlife.
The tour is free but slots are limited. Registration is required. [UPDATE 16/5/25: Biodiversity Tour is full and registrations are closed. Please come for other World Otter Day events.]
Children’s Art Workshops (9am-11am, or 2pm-4pm) – FULL
[UPDATE 13/5/25: Children’s Art Workshops are FULL! Please come for other World Otter Day events.]
A delightful learning and crafting experience for curious minds!
On World Otter Day, children aged 5 to 12 are invited to Rimbun Dahan, to engage in guided discussions and artistic storytelling that explore the otter species, their habitat, and the environmental challenges they face.
Kids will also learn about otters through video footage of real-life otters and immerse themselves in dancing and physical movement that mimic otter behaviour, to understand how otters move and interact. Additionally, through creative painting, stamping and cutting activities, kids will be able to craft their own otter figures, reinforcing what they’ve learned in a hands-on, imaginative way.
Celebrate these playful creatures with us through a mix of movement, imagination, and nature discovery!
Option #1: 9am to 11am Option #2: 2pm to 4pm Date: Sunday 25 May Venue: Rimbun Dahan, Km. 27 Jalan Kuang, Kampung Cempedak, Mukim Kuang, Selangor 48050.
Workshops are free but slots are strictly limited. Registration is required. [UPDATE 13/5/25: Children’s Art Workshops are FULL and registrations are closed. Please come for other World Otter Day events.]
