Malaysian artist Wong Ming Hao is undertaking a 3-month residency at Rimbun Dahan at the end of 2023, experimenting with the possibilities of his paint-skin collages with inspiration from human relationships with nature.
About the Artist
Wong Ming Hao, born in 1988 in Malaysia, is a talented artist whose passion for art led him to pursue a Diploma in Fine Art from Dasein Academy of Art in 2010. His international presence includes participating in renowned art fairs like “Art For All: Art Gala by Art Expo Malaysia” and “Art Moments Jakarta Online” with G13 Gallery. Wong Ming Hao has also showcased his exceptional skills in solo exhibitions such as “Unreal Reality” at HOM Art Trans in 2020. His artworks have been featured in various group exhibitions, including “Between Spaces” and “S.O.P.” at G13 Gallery and “Pure Painting 2” at Maybank.
His diverse talents have been recognized and awarded multiple times, including the Gold Award at the UOB Painting of the Year 2020 and Jury Choice at Bakat Muda Sezaman 2019. Wong Ming Hao also had the honor of being selected for the A-RES residency program at HOM Art Trans in 2018, further solidifying his position as a rising star in the art world. With an impressive portfolio of achievements and experiences, Wong Ming Hao continues to leave an indelible mark on the contemporary art scene.
Ming Hao is currently extending figurative painting to human relationships with nature. Inspired by colours, textures, insects, and other elements of his surroundings at Rimbun Dahan, he continues to explore the possibilities of the acrylic paint-skin collage. He’s experimenting with form and outcome by overlapping, cutting, weaving, compressing, scrapping, collaging. By constructing and deconstructing, there will be lots of unpredictable results in these works. Some of the works will be exhibited in a coming group exhibition this year. Others are planned to be showcased in a 2024 exhibition, the second solo of his artistic career.
A day of art and artists, in the 14-acre tropical greenery of Rimbun Dahan, 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.
On Sunday 26 November 2023, Rimbun Dahan will be open to the public to view works in progress by our current resident artists Wild Dot (Singapore), Marionne Contreras (Philippines), Sigrid Gayangos (Philippines), Wong Ming Hao (Malaysia), Sreynoch Khun & Ny Lai (Cambodia), Annabell Ng (Malaysia) and Alyssa Powell-Ascura (Australia).
Free entry. Registration required for garden tour only (see below).
Schedule
9:00am-11:00am: Guided tour of our 14-acre native Southeast Asian arboretum and garden at Rimbun Dahan by Angela Hijjas. Meet at the front gate. Slots are limited, and registrations are required for the garden tour. Please register here: https://forms.gle/dQuNBHd7gNeXJffL9
11:00am-2:00pm: Visual artists’ studios and screening room open to the public. Please visit the studios and have a chat with the artists. Some works are available for sale.
2:00-3:00pm: Studios and screening room closed for lunch break. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to enjoy in the garden; please clean up your own trash.
3:00-6:00pm: Visual artists’ studios and screening room open to the public.
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 wheelchair accessible venue.
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 Artists
Annabell Ng, a Malaysian-born artist, developed a strong bond with her father over their shared interest in plants, sparking her fascination with edible plants from a young age. Despite her passion for creative arts and music, she fell in love with the piano at 5 and dedicated herself to mastering it, earning a bachelor’s degree in classical music. However, her journey took an unexpected turn when she enrolled in the Fine Arts course at the Malaysia Institute of Art. There, she found inspiration leading her to develop a unique symbolic language in her art using natural materials. With an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Annabell now focuses her art on addressing pressing environmental issues, raising awareness worldwide about the environment’s preservation.
Sigrid Marianne Gayangos was born and raised in Zamboanga City, Philippines. She is the author of Laut: Stories (UP Press), a National Book Award finalist, and Lola Maria’s Candles (Aklat Alamid), a forthcoming bilingual children’s book. In 2021, she was the recipient of the NCCA’s Writers Prize for Fiction, which enabled her to complete a second collection of short stories in Chavacano. She is currently working on self-translating her Chavacano collection, El Vida Encantao (The Enchanted Life), to English. In 2023, she was awarded first prize in the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera National Literary Contest for her poetry collection in Chavacano, Descarga. She teaches at the Department of Humanities in the University of the Philippines Mindanao.
Wong Ming Hao, born in 1988 in Malaysia, pursued a Diploma in Fine Art from Dasein Academy of Art in 2010. His international presence includes “Art For All: Art Gala by Art Expo Malaysia” and “Art Moments Jakarta Online” with G13 Gallery. His solo exhibitions “Unreal Reality” appeared at HOM Art Trans in 2020, and his artworks have been featured in group exhibitions including “Between Spaces” and “S.O.P.” at G13 Gallery and “Pure Painting 2” at Maybank. He won the Gold Award at the UOB Painting of the Year 2020 and Jury Choice at Bakat Muda Sezaman 2019, and was selected for the A-RES residency program at HOM Art Trans in 2018, further solidifying his position as a rising star in the art world.
Wild Dot is a natural art studio from Singapore started by Shirin Rafie and Liz Liu, who hold backgrounds in illustration and ecology respectively. Through their combined interests, they specialize in artmaking with found pigments and fibers abundant in the spaces they work with, and also sharing their findings through designing playful experiences for other people. Their shared intention is to observe how (art)making can be an accessible way for more people to learn about the plants growing around them, and also deconstructing the material of the everyday object, ultimately working towards reducing their own reliance on mass-commercialized making tools and materials.
Marionne Contreras (b. 1992) is a visual artist based in Manila, Philippines, with a current emphasis on fiber and fabric based works. Her works are diaristic, often with themes of memory, its persistence, its purity, and its vulnerability to tampering, with constant undertones of womanhood, consistently taking the role of the female as narrator; taking visual inspiration from textures and forms found in nature while maintaining an aesthetic that leans towards the synthetic. She has been actively exhibiting in The Philippines. Her most recent one-person exhibition, Poetry has left me, just concluded in Vinyl On Vinyl Gallery, Makati City, Philippines.
Ny&Khun (Ny Lai and Khun Sreynoch) is a Cambodian contemporary art duo whose main form of expression is dance/theatre, combined with photography and painting. They have operated as a duo for 3 years, emerging from a group called New Cambodian Artists (NCA). Their work SnowWhite/Revisited was selected for the Singapore M1 Fringe Festival 2021, and won 2nd prize from the expert jury of the international theater competition from Milan, Italy, in 2021. Early this year, Ny&Khun were invited to be the main artists at the international Angkor Photo Festival 2023, with their photography work series Speaking in Silence. The duo recently won the 1st ZKB Acknowledgment prize at the Zurcher Theater Spectacle Switzerland 2023, with their work Sronoh/SnowWhite.
Alyssa Powell-Ascura is an emerging multi-hyphenated creative. An Asian Australian, Alyssa works across a variety of artistic mediums including writing, visual and conceptual art, immersive installation, traditional and mixed digital media, and moving images. A finalist of the inaugural SA Environment Awards 2023, she was nominated for her environmental advocacy and using her platform as an emerging creative to promote sustainability and inspire young people. Her artistic expression delves into her personal narrative as the grandchild of an Igorot woman, weaving a narrative that explores her ties to Indigenous Philippines, Filipino history, diaspora, and the impact of colonisation.
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.
Author Sigrid Marianne Gayangos from the Philippines is spending her 2-month residency at Rimbun Dahan in late 2023 translating her short stories from Chavacano, and drafting a collection of personal essays.
About the Artist
Sigrid Marianne Gayangos was born and raised in Zamboanga City, Philippines. She is the author of Laut: Stories (UP Press), a National Book Award finalist, and Lola Maria’s Candles (Aklat Alamid), a forthcoming bilingual children’s book. In 2021, she was the recipient of the NCCA’s Writers Prize for Fiction, which enabled her to complete a second collection of short stories in Chavacano. She is currently working on self-translating her Chavacano collection, El Vida Encantao (The Enchanted Life), to English. In 2023, she was awarded first prize in the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera National Literary Contest for her poetry collection in Chavacano, Descarga. She teaches at the Department of Humanities in the University of the Philippines Mindanao.
“I alternate between translating my second short story collection (from Chavacano to English) and drafting sections from what is shaping up to be my third book, which is a collection of personal essays. Inspired by “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, I aim to tell a story that is simultaneously very specific—as a Filipino with at least 7 cultural and linguistic influences growing up, and having had to move from one home to another in Zamboanga as dictated by personal circumstances and political upheavals in the city—and universal, for at its core the project is about a child going through difficult transformations as she maneuvers her way into the broader world.”
Open Day Activity
On Sunday 26 November 2023, as part of Rimbun Dahan Open Day, Sigrid will give a short talk on her background as a writer. Coming from a long line of fisherfolks who traveled from one island to another in search of better fishing grounds and having lived through several instances of uprooting herself, the idea of home is central to her work. Sigrid will be reading an excerpt from her work-in-progress while in residency, the prelude to her collection of essays entitled “All The Places We Called Home”.
In the following writing workshop, participants will be given a ‘Where I Come From’ template for a poetry prompt. This activity is meant to help participants reflect on the elements that have influenced and defined their identity. Participants are encouraged to use this template as a starting point but are free to adapt and modify it to best express their own experiences and stories. Volunteer readers can then share and read their works. Please bring your own preferred writing materials; basic writing materials will also be provided at the session.
Dear resident artists, we look forward to welcoming you to our home and our community at Rimbun Dahan!
Before you confirm your acceptance of this residency, please ensure you are comfortable with the following terms and conditions.
During the period of your residency, Rimbun Dahan will provide:
Private fan-cooled accommodation, including water and electricity, with a bathroom and kitchen. [In some cases, the kitchen may be shared with 1 other resident artist.] The kitchen is fully equipped with crockery (plates, bowls), cutlery (knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks), utensils (knives, spatulas, graters, cutting boards, can openers, etc.) and equipment, including fridge, stove, rice cooker and toaster.
For visual artists, a private fan-cooled studio, including sink, with water and electricity. For performing artists, the use of the Dance Studio. For writers, unless you specifically require a separate studio, we will provide you with a large writing desk in your accommodation.
A living allowance of MYR1,000 per month, for the two months of your residency. The allowance will be paid in MYR cash upon your arrival at Rimbun Dahan at the beginning of each month.
Access to on-site facilities including clothes washing machine, swimming pool, Taman Sari vegetable garden, tennis court, library, and shared office space (WiFi equipped).
Guidelines for living at Rimbun Dahan before your arrival, and orientation upon arrival to our site, facilities and operations.
Cleaning of your accommodation every 2 weeks. All other cleaning is up to you.
Transport to a local supermarket once a week, if required.
Occasional optional social mixers and excursions to local cultural events with other resident artists.
Occasional optional guided introductions to the heritage buildings, indigenous garden/arboretum, permanent collection of artworks, and the heritage textile collection. Please ask for these if you are interested, or if you have specific curiosities.
For artists coming from beyond Peninsula Malaysia, you are responsible for booking and paying for your flights to Malaysia. Rimbun Dahan will provide the following travel stipend for your second month of residency. This will be paid to you in MYR cash, upon your arrival at Rimbun Dahan for your second month. No travel stipend is provided for your first month of residency. The travel stipend amount is as follows, depending on your country of residence:
MYR600 for Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines or Indonesia (other than Jakarta).
MYR500 for Thailand.
MYR400 for Jakarta.
MYR300 for East Malaysia.
Rimbun Dahan does NOT provide:
Meals or groceries. You can choose to eat at nearby restaurants, or buy your own groceries and cook in your own kitchen.
Art materials or funding for art materials or artistic collaborators. We will provide trips to nearby art material stores.
Transfers between KL International Airport and Rimbun Dahan. This costs MYR85 per trip, so please budget this.
Any other local transport costs.
Travel visas, and any costs for procuring and maintaining travel visas, including short trips out of Malaysia to neighbouring countries.
Airconditioning or WiFi in accommodation or studio spaces.
Our expectations for resident artists:
Resident artists will use the residency to engage in the development of their artistic practice. The resident is NOT required to fulfil the artistic proposal as submitted in the application, although this is preferred.
Rimbun Dahan should be your primary home and full-time work place for the duration of your residency. This includes sleeping here at night, and being here on weekends. Occasional trips into the city are fine.
Malaysian artists should not be carrying on full-time or substantial part-time work (i.e. more than 2 days per week) in the city. Please discuss this with the residency manager if you plan to be away regularly.
Southeast Asian artists are encouraged to travel within Malaysia during their stay, but such trips should not be longer than a few days and should be discussed with the residency manager.
Resident artists are expected to participate in 1 scheduled Open Day during their residency. Open Days invite the public to visit the studios of the artists to meet the artists and experience the art works being developed. On Open Days, the artist is expected to be on site and available to share in discussions about their art with visitors. The format can be discussed with the residency manager, and depends on the genre of the artists: for example, performing artists may offer a workshop or studio performance, writers may give readings. An Open Day is NOT guaranteed, however. Other than Open Day, the residency does not offer any kind of exhibition or performance production.
Visual artists are expected to leave 1 artwork that has been made at Rimbun Dahan for our Permanent Collection. Selection can be decided by the artist, or the artist may invite the residency manager to discuss the selection of the work. If you are planning to make only one single work during the course of your residency, then you should discuss this requirement in advance with the residency manager.
You are welcome to use your residency to create work for future exhibitions, performances, publications, etc outside Rimbun Dahan. Resident artists are expected to acknowledge the Rimbun Dahan Residency as a source of support when work created here features significantly in the first instance in any exhibition, performance, publication or other dissemination to the public. Please request the Rimbun Dahan logo to include in any collateral. Thank you!
An Important Note About Malaysian Immigration, for Non-Malaysians
Non-Malaysian resident artists are responsible for their own immigration/visa status. We do not provide work visas for resident artists. ASEAN passport holders are usually given a Short Term Social Pass (this is a tourist pass, not a work visa) by Malaysian Immigration automatically on entry, which usually lasts only 30 days. Myanmar passport-holders may be required to apply for a tourist visa.
Your two months of residency at Rimbun Dahan are separated by at least 1 month, in which you are expected to return home, or travel to another country. So far, Malaysian Immigration has granted a second 30 days of stay for our ASEAN guests under these terms without difficulty. However, please be aware that Malaysian Immigration is unpredictable, and may refuse entry for the second 30 days without reason. They may also decide to allow you entrance, but give you less than 30 days to stay in Malaysia.
Other than issuing a letter of support for you to show to Immigration when you arrive, we have no capacity to affect their decision. If Immigration refuses to allow entry for the second month of your residency, we will support the remainder of your residency as much as we can. For example, by shifting your residency to another date, enabling you to carry out an Open Day remotely, or storing your personal luggage and art materials until you can collect them or arrange their transfer. Please understand that this very seldom happens, but it is always a risk.
Cancellations, and Other Issues
The full term of a Southeast Asian Arts Residency in 2026 is 2 months (60 days).
If you choose to cancel your residency at Rimbun Dahan before you arrive for your first month, please let us know as soon as possible, so we can use our resources to support other artists.
If you choose to cancel your second month of residency, you may do so. However, your residency will be counted as incomplete, you will not be involved in an Open Day, and you will not be included in our archive of former resident artists.
If personal circumstances disrupt the plans for your residency — for example, due to illness or misfortune to yourself or your family, or unforeseen opportunities arising — we will try to accommodate your changes as much as possible. If we can, we will shift your residency to dates that are possible for you. However, please be aware that our resources are limited and our accommodation schedule is busy; we may not be able to offer you many alternatives.
Acceptance of Terms
These terms will be laid out in a Letter of Offer, which we will send to you once we have fixed the dates of your residency next year. Your signature on the Letter of Offer will indicate your acceptance of these terms.
If you have any questions or concerns about the terms & conditions of this residency, please do not hesitate to discuss this with the residency manager by email at arts@rimbundahan.org, before you sign the Letter of Offer.
𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗱, resident artist at Rimbun Dahan in 2023, presents his solo exhibition of photorealist paintings, 𝙄𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨, in the Underground Gallery at Rimbun Dahan from 15 October to 5 November 2023.
𝙄𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨 is the central event in a proposed trilogy of exhibitions by Amar Shahid. What started as an exploration in photographic materiality is now evolving into the dismantling of the picture plane, towards photo-abstraction. The selection of images are bordering on disfiguration and the eventual abandonment of pure representation. The abstractions are intentional and highly calculated, however, rather than conforming to the free-form expression of the postmodernist – though the image may be vague, in definition it is still very much a photorealist approach. This coincides with the artist’s personal negotiation on the permissibility of image reproduction according to his faith.
This intermediate step is a preparation for a journey into ultimate abstraction, soon to be ventured by the artist. In this exhibition, Amar also emphasises the powerful potential of symbolism, in the form of ‘familiars’ superimposed upon the images. 𝙄𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨 was conceived entirely during Amar’s 6-month residency at Rimbun Dahan from May to October 2023, which has proved to be fruitful and fertile, paving the way for the conclusion of the trilogy of shows in the near future.
Download the catalogue about the exhibition here: PDF 3MB
For any inquiries regarding reservations, purchases or media, please contact the project manager, Danial Fuad, at +6011 2700 0963.
Visiting Hours
Open to the public on Saturdays & Sundays, no appointment required 10am-5pm Sunday 15 October – Sunday 12 November
Visits on weekdays by appointment only To make an appointment, please email anjangakuan@gmail.com
Getting to the Gallery
Underground Gallery Rimbun Dahan Km. 27 Jalan 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.
Parking is available on site; please enter the front gate and park on the side of the driveway.
About the Artist
𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗱 is a Southeast Asia-based practicing artist, with a specialty in linguistics and multi-disciplinary arts. His current work focuses on the intricacies of socio-linguist history with regards to the Southeast Asian social and cultural sphere. Working both in conventional and experimental media, he aims to reflect on the conflicts of cultures and their ecosystems based on his personal anecdotes on the vernacular and conservative educational background of his Malaysian hometown. This clash in values and doctrines shape his works and writings towards a uniquely Southeast Asian narrative.
Annabell Ng undertook a three-month residency at Rimbun Dahan in 2023, continuing to explore her practice focused on mark-making reminiscent of minute fragments, as well as developing her concepts of mycelium cultivation.
About the Artist
Annabell Ng, a Malaysian-born artist, developed a strong bond with her father over their shared interest in plants, sparking her fascination with edible plants from a young age. Despite her passion for creative arts and music, she fell in love with the piano at 5 and dedicated herself to mastering it, earning a bachelor’s degree in classical music. However, her journey took an unexpected turn when she enrolled in the Fine Arts course at the Malaysia Institute of Art. There, she found inspiration leading her to develop a unique symbolic language in her art using natural materials. With an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Annabell now focuses her art on addressing pressing environmental issues, raising awareness worldwide about the environment’s preservation.
Throughout the residency, my primary objective is to relocate my ongoing artwork to this new studio, allowing me to advance and refine it through fresh encounters with perspectives and reflections in this novel environment. The mark-making methods I’ll employ will encompass a diverse array of forms, reminiscent of minute fragments extracted from various information systems. My approach involves a methodical re-exploration of these fragments, strategically layering them to establish a harmonious rhythm, which will eventually find integration into my paintings, sculptures. Beyond this, I intend to embark on an experimentation journey, further evolving my ongoing mycelium concepts focused on mycofiltration.
Malaysian visual artist Suhaimi Fadzir continued his practice of ‘archipainting’ during a two-month residency at Rimbun Dahan in July and August 2023, creating wall-mounted assemblages from found materials from here and elsewhere.
About the Artist
Suhaimi Fadzir is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice is motivated by his non-traditional research based practice driven by observing our history, culture, nature, context, and the intersections between science, art and architecture.
He studied art and architecture at Washington University, St. Louis, USA. He has won many art and architecture awards and grants, and has exhibited internationally in numerous biennials, solo and group shows, among them, the prestigious 12th, 13th and 14th Venice Biennale (Architecture), Venice, Italy in 2010, 2012 & 2014, Meiji University Museum, Tokyo, Japan in 2011, the Dublin Biennial, Dublin, Ireland alongside Yoko Ono, where he won the Dublin Biennial Award of Excellence in 2012, a two-man show with late renowned photographer Ansel Adams’ works at Schmidt Art Center, Belleville, Illinois, USA in 2010, Art Basel Miami Week, Miami, Florida, USA and a solo show organized by Saatchi Gallery London and M&C Saatchi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2013.
His art practice has displayed a consistent sculptural quality, and his hybrid term “Archipainting” has been used in reference to his artworks, a concept that he developed in the 1980s which, blends fine art with structural intricacies and special deconstruction of architecture. History, collective memory, personal experience and environment are elements woven together by him into a non-linear story where distinctions between present, past, fiction, imagination, and reality are nullified. His mixed media works, as well as installation and sculpture pieces have included canvases daubed with found objects and covered in unusual textures and materials, or is inspired by, found objects, which he collects extensively while on the fields both locally and abroad. These overlapping points of reference run throughout all his works and his paintings resist easy interpretation, but rather suggest alternative possibilities of seeing. The interaction with the landscape around him is also reflected in his work, which comments astutely on the nature of contemporary society.
“What I’m working on at my residency with Rimbun Dahan is a continuation of what I started in Langkawi in 2018; it is artwork based on the examination of nature, context, surrounding events, and observances of human behavior and their relationships with others.
“By observing and studying intangible elements such as neighbor and family relationships, feelings, smells, listening to sounds of nature, flipping through site debris, taking photographs, checking minerals, insects, local culture, food, artisans, etc., together with incorporating materials found in the neighborhood, I produce the possibility of art in the form of calligraphy, painting, sculpture, assemblage and installation.
“Editing, questioning and experiencing the art process is a part of my practice, my way of marking my stay. It is like a recording of my presence at Rimbun Dahan.”
Thai visual artist Charuwan Noprumpha undertook a 2-month residency at Rimbun Dahan in July and August 2023, combining a daily practice of sketches from what she saw with a personal project exploring drawing and watercolour, depicting the seen and the unseen.
About the Artist
Charuwan Noprumpha lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand. A graduate with a master’s degree from France (École européenne supérieure d’art de Bretagne-site de Quimper) and the Erasmus Exchange Program at Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, Germany (Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe), Charuwan received an award from French Cultural Center, Freiburg, Germany from participating in the festival of La Biennale of Young Contemporary Creation, Mulhouse, France. She was selected to participate in the artist residency at Les ateliers du Plessix-Madeuc, Dinan, France. Charuwan has participated by invitation in exhibitions in many countries such as Belgium, France, Germany and Thailand.
About the Residency
“Upon arriving at Rimbun Dahan, I found the gardens, trees and surroundings here very interesting and worth exploring. I decided to challenge myself by setting a condition to draw every day from what I see and discover from Rimbun Dahan. This is the origin of the project “What an everyday gives”. I also use this task to bring form, colors, shape etc to further develop into works.
“At the same time, I am continuing to develop my personal project which is interested in the perspective of observing people, their behavior – walking, standing, sitting, lying, talking – and clothing. I find these works evoke a feeling of lack, emptiness, void, imperfection and disappearance. From pencil drawings that represent what can be seen, I combine it with watercolors that represent the way I think about what I see. Because sometimes when we look, there will be parts that we see and don’t see at the same time.
“My work begins with impressions of nature and the observation of everyday life and translates them in an abstract way through form, line and color. At the same time, I express myself in a very realistic way. I use several mediums to build and reconstruct sensations. The observations accumulated day after day have influenced my identity and my work – thinking and speaking in a sincere language to share what I see, observe and feel.”
Indonesian multidisciplinary artist Yosep Arizal undertook a 1-month residency at Rimbun Dahan in August-September 2023, exploring the similarities and differences between Malaysia and Indonesia.
About the Artist
Yosep Arizal graduated from Indonesian Institute of The Art in 2016. His practice mostly discusses genders, history, and their friction with religion, tradition, and cultural identities. Yosep concretizes his aesthetic ideas in various media, such as drawing, painting, installation, video, and performance. His work has been shown in both local and international venues, such as PBSR Swaranusa in Museum and Cultural Centre Jayapura Papua (2014), Jogja Biennale in Jogja National Museum (2019), UOB Painting of The Year in National Museum Jakarta (2019), “Clothing As A State of Power” in Cemeti Institute of The Arts and Society Yogyakarta (2020), Babad Lembana #2 in Sumenep Madura (2022), “Queer-Muslim In Conversation” at the University of Melbourne (2022), ArtJog Motif Lamaran in Jogja National Museum (2023).
In 2021 Yosep was selected as one of grantees of the Arts Innovation & Professional Development Program for Performing Arts Residency, Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja, Yogyakarta. In 2022, he was awarded a Seed Award by the Prince Clause Fund, Amsterdam, and was one of the three best young artists who received ArtJog 2023 Young Artist Awards.
About the Residency
“The project I am working on in Rimbun Dahan is about my position as an Indonesian, tourist, and artist who is having a chance to work for about four weeks in Malaysia. As an Indonesian, I found there are so many Indonesia-related things here that make me feel “comfortable” while seeing them, and assure myself that I am not far away from home. As a tourist, I realize that even though there are some similarities between Malaysia and Indonesia but we still have a lot of differences that make me feel alienated, surprised, amazed, and even intrigued by so many things in Malaysia. My position as an artist might trick me to a “stealer” state, who can collect particular things I find here as creative and artistic inspiration for my art practice ,and take them away to Indonesia. Then I came up with the idea of exchanging: before I take some things away I should give and leave something to this place that I brought from Indonesia.”
A day of art and artists, in the 14-acre tropical greenery of Rimbun Dahan, 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.
On Sunday 27 August 2023, current resident artists Suhaimi Fadzir (Malaysia), Annabell Ng (Malaysia), Yosep Arizal (Indonesia) and Charuwan Noprumpha (Thailand) will participate in an Open Day at Rimbun Dahan. See schedule and further info below.
Free entry, no registration required.
Schedule
9am-11am: Guided tour of our 14-acre native Southeast Asian arboretum and garden at Rimbun Dahan by Angela Hijjas. Meet at the front gate.
11am-6pm [closed for lunch break 2-3pm]: All artists have open studios — come check out their works and have a chat. Some works are available for sale.
The Rimbun Dahan Underground Gallery will also be open from 9am to 6pm, showing ‘Menagerie’, a selection of works from our Permanent Collection.
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 wheelchair accessible venue.
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 Artists
Charuwan Noprumpha lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand. A graduate with a master’s degree from France (École européenne supérieure d’art de Bretagne-site de Quimper) and the Erasmus Exchange Program at Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, Germany (Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe), Charuwan received an award from French Cultural Center, Freiburg, Germany from participating in the festival of La Biennale of Young Contemporary Creation, Mulhouse, France. She was selected to participate in the artist residency at Les ateliers du Plessix-Madeuc, Dinan, France. Charuwan has participated by invitation in exhibitions in many countries such as Belgium, France, Germany and Thailand.
Annabell Ng, a Malaysian-born artist, developed a strong bond with her father over their shared interest in plants, sparking her fascination with edible plants from a young age. Despite her passion for creative arts and music, she fell in love with the piano at 5 and dedicated herself to mastering it, earning a bachelor’s degree in classical music. However, her journey took an unexpected turn when she enrolled in the Fine Arts course at the Malaysia Institute of Art. There, she found inspiration leading her to develop a unique symbolic language in her art using natural materials. With an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Annabell now focuses her art on addressing pressing environmental issues, raising awareness worldwide about the environment’s preservation.
Suhaimi Fadzir is an interdisciplinary artist motivated by his non-traditional research-based practice driven by observing history, culture, nature, context, and the intersections between science, art and architecture.He studied art and architecture at Washington University, USA. He has won many art and architecture awards and grants, and exhibited in numerous events worldwide, including the Venice Biennale (Architecture) in 2010, 2012 & 2014, Meiji University Museum, Tokyo, in 2011, the Dublin Biennial in 2012, Art Basel Miami Week, and a solo show organized by Saatchi Gallery London and M&C Saatchi, Kuala Lumpur, in 2013.His hybrid term “Archipainting” refers to a concept he developed in the 1980s blending fine art with the structural intricacies and deconstruction of architecture.
Yosep Arizal graduated from Indonesian Institute of The Art in 2016. His practice mostly discusses about gender, history, and its friction with religion, tradition, and cultural identities. Yosep concretizes his aesthetic idea in various media, such as drawing, painting, installation, video, and performance. His work has been shown in local and international venues such as Jogja Biennale (2019), UOB Painting of The Year (2019), Cemeti Institute (2020), Babad Lembana #2 in Sumenep Madura (2022), “Queer Muslims In Conversation” at University of Melbourne (2022), ArtJog Motif Lamaran in Jogja National Museum (2023). In 2021 Yosep was selected for the Arts Innovation & Professional Development Program for Performing Arts Residency, Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja. In 2022 he was awarded a Seed Award from Prince Claus Fund, and the ArtJog Young Artist Awards in 2023.
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.
