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.
Author Joel Donato Ching Jacob from the Philippines is a resident author at Rimbun Dahan in July 2023.
Joel Donato Ching Jacob is the novelist who wrote the Scholastic Asian Book Award and Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Award winning novel Wing of the Locust and its sequel Orphan Price. He was awarded Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) in 2021. In the same year, he was a cohort for the Clarion West Summer Writers Workshop. He lives in Bay, Laguna with more dogs than he can manage, plus a cat.
During his residency, Joel is working on the outline for the third and final book in the series.
On Sunday 23 July 2023, current resident artists Rosemainy Buang (Singapore) and Joel Donato Ching Jacob (Philippines) will participate in an Open Day at Rimbun Dahan. See schedule and further info below.
The Rimbun Dahan Underground Gallery will also be open from 9am to 6pm, showing ‘Menagerie’, a selection of works from our Permanent Collection, as well as ekphrastic poetry works by recent resident poet Yee Heng Yeh.
There will be a morning guided tour of our 14-acre site, including a general introduction to the contemporary architecture and our Southeast Asian indigenous garden and arboretum at Rimbun Dahan, as well as the Rumah Uda Manap heritage house.
Free entry, no registration required.
Schedule
9am-11am: Guided tour of Rimbun Dahan, meet in the central plaza. 11am-4:30pm: Rosemainy’s studio open 1.30-2.30pm: Lunch, studios closed, visitors can picnic and walk around gardens 3-4:30pm: Workshop by Joel Donato Ching Jacob in the Underground Gallery 5-6pm: Rosemainy’s closing ritual performance in the Dance Studio
About the Workshop
Joel Donato Ching Jacob, author of the popular young adult novels Wing of the Locust and Orphan Price (published by Scholastic Asia), will explore AI tools that support a writer’s process, from grammar checking to sentence rephrasing, and more.
Joel will also share a work-in-progress amendment to contracts that protects publishers and authors from having their manuscripts fed to an AI Language Model in order to recreate, emulate, or mimic a copyrighted text. This could also be used to protect other forms of art like visual arts, choreography and composition, and even other creations like code.
The workshop is for writers and the general public interested in the application of AI in creative practice. Entry is free.
About the Closing Ritual Performance
Rosemainy Buang, a gamelan musician, educator, composer, and sound artist from Singapore, will weave together a short performance of sound samples she has collected from the gamelan at Rimbun Dahan, around our 14-acre site, as well as in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The performance will take place in the Dance Studio from 5pm, and may be followed by an informal short discussion. Entry is free.
Travelling Directions
Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb Use Google Maps to drive t Rimbun Dahan: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ft5fV9YpGsvciCtU8 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.
Bring your picnic, and enjoy it in the gardens; please clean up all your trash.
No pets, no swimming — thank you for your cooperation.
Rosemainy Buang is a gamelan musician, educator, composer, and sound artist from Singapore. With a decade of training in gamelan, she is dedicated to expanding her creative horizons through collaborative projects with other artists from diverse disciplines. Approaching art-making with a multidisciplinary and experimental attitude, she attempts to question, build upon and expand the limits of traditional soundscapes, philosophies and aesthetics.
Joel Donato Ching Jacob is the novelist who wrote the Scholastic Asian Book Award and Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Award winning novel Wing of the Locust and its sequel Orphan Price. He was awarded Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) in 2021. In the same year, he was a cohort for the Clarion West Summer Writers Workshop. He lives in the Philippines, in Bay, Laguna, with more dogs than he can manage, plus a cat.
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.
Rosemainy Buang is a gamelan musician, educator, composer, and sound artist from Singapore. With a decade of training in gamelan, she is dedicated to expanding her creative horizons through collaborative projects with other artists from diverse disciplines.
Approaching art-making with a multidisciplinary and experimental attitude, she attempts to question, build upon and expand the limits of traditional soundscapes, philosophies and aesthetics.
About the Residency
A space is attached with a unique soundscape and Rose has been absorbing not only sounds in Rimbun Dahan but also in the bandar where she visits different spaces accompanied with music and the community. Having conversations with people around allows her to understand the cultural aspects that come with a space.
Apart from gathering conversations and allowing herself to reflect upon them, Rose has been collecting sound samples not only from the beautiful gamelan here in Rimbun Dahan, but also from around the 14-acre site.
With all these elements gathered and other available mediums that she brings and has access to, Rose aims to create and put together a narration of sounds for her Open Day — a Closing Ritual before she ends her residency, in the hopes her sounds and her stories with everyone.
Ms. Choulay MECH (b. 1992, Kandal Province) lives and works in Phnom Penh. She is an artist, documentary filmmaker, and freelance journalist. Her passion for the job, particularly on environmental and animal rights issues, and she has a sensitivity toward human-interest storytelling.
She trained in journalism with the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. Her reporting has been published in Southeast Asia Globe, Voice of Democracy and CamboJA News. She also contributed reporting to a 2020 article about Cambodian mental health facilities for the Washington Post. She did a nice feature about the changing lives of fishing communities living on floating villages around the country’s biggest lake and river system, Tonle Sap.
She has a strong background in photography and video production as well; she’s had photo exhibitions and completed one-year extensive training in documentary film production at Bophana Audiovisual Resources Center, directing a short film “My Home” about elephant conservation in Mondulkiri, Cambodia. In 2020, she received an award from Creative Generation 4 Awards. The following year, she got four grants: one from Angkor Photo Festival, the second from Citizen Engaged in Environmental Justice for all (CEEJA), the third from SUMERNET for media – research partnership for environment reporting, and the last one it from the Mekong Data-Journalism Fellowship. In 2023, she was selected as an Angkor Photo Festival fellow.
I see dead leaves drop from the trees every morning at Rimbun Dahan. These dead leaves really attracted my eyes because of their unique and original form, colours and textures. I started to wonder, what can I do to transform this dead leaf into a work of art that could speak about the forest and water?
In the day time, I hear the sound of birds chirping, I see the monkeys eating bananas and sharing food with their babies. Squirrels jump around freely and peacefully because no one would harm them. At night, some non-human friends visit me — butterflies, grasshoppers, bats.
Yet, such an oasis is a rare occurrence in the urban world!
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we can’t eat money – Alanis Obomsawin.
Cambodia used to be covered by lush green forests but now it is overwhelmed by unhealthy development that is impacting the vulnerable people, animals and nature. When we have air we can’t breathe in, fruits we can’t eat, rain that we can’t play in, and water that is undrinkable, sooner and later we will all die. When we lack understanding and knowledge of forest life, it is very hard for us to love and care for the forest. As the Khmer proverb goes “រក្សាទុកព្រៃឈើ អ្នកនឹងមិនខ្វះអុសដុត”, translated as “save the forest and you will not run out of wood fire” — forest is part of the ecosystems that we can’t live without them, but they can live without us. From the beginning to the end, forests are completely useful even when they are dead, they are still useful as nourishment to the earth.
To understand more about human relationship with nature in urbanity, I went to visit the Mah Meri indigenous community to learn about their history and cultural practices. The warm and hospitable Mah Meri indigenous people shared with me generously and brought me to the sea, river and its surrounding mangrove forests which holds great significance to their culture and ritualistic practices. They gifted me with their traditional handicrafts such as crowns, birds and flowers made from wild palm trees unique to their local forest. Along the way from Mah Meri Village to Rimbun Dahan, there are beautiful mountains and green forests alongside tall buildings. Such landscape made me become wishful for Cambodia’s future development, I hope we will be able to develop in a healthy and sustainable way.
Malaysian illustrator Yunroo has joined us for a 1-month residency from April to May. Born into a family that has its roots in the clay industry, she’s currently exploring the artistic side of ceramics; to practice and experiment with different making techniques, understand the characteristics of different types of clay, and experiment with colour pigments and glazes.
With her background in illustration, she wishes to combine her practice with ceramics, and create pottery pieces that not only look and feel contemporary, but also reflect the character of her works, which is strikingly colourful and always with a dash of humour.
About the Artist
Yunroo is an illustrator from Batu Pahat, Malaysia. Drawing inspiration from her Chinese Malaysian identity and the local culture, she infuses her creations with vibrant charm and playful humour. She enjoys exploring different mediums and materials and finds joy in seeing her illustrations come to life in various forms.
Yunroo views art as a powerful medium to connect with people, and is dedicated to sharing her passion with others. She has organised and curated art festivals and events, and has taught at a local art college to help others experience the joy of making and appreciating art.
Yee Heng Yeh is a writer, and Mandarin-to-English translator. His poetry has been featured in The KITA! Podcast, adda, Malaysian Millennial Voices, Strange Horizons, NutMag, A Wasteland of Malaysian Poetry in English, Apparition Lit, Antithesis Journal, and was shortlisted in the Malaysian Poetry Writing Competition 2021. His translations of poetry have appeared in Mantis and Nashville Review. He also writes plays and occasionally short fiction. You can find him on Twitter @HengYeh42. https://twitter.com/HengYeh42 https://www.facebook.com/yee.hengyeh
About the Residency
During his residency, Heng Yeh has been working on a series of ekphrastic poems—poems written in response to artworks. Though ekphrastic poetry typically focuses on describing a work in detail, Heng Yeh is also interested in the process of art making itself and the role of the artist, exploring the common threads that drive creation. These poems therefore engage in dialogue with the forms and practices of the works in Rimbun Dahan’s gallery, as well as of the other resident artists.
Heng Yeh is also writing poems in response to the wildlife he has encountered during his residency. These poems uncover links between human and non-human perspectives to question the urban notion of Nature as an “Other”. So far, his subjects include mosquitoes, macaques, snails, and the resident cats and dogs.
Current resident visual artists Choulay Mech (Cambodia), Yee Heng Yeh (Malaysia) and Yunroo (Malaysia) will display the works they have made during their residency in their studios.
The Rimbun Dahan Underground Gallery will also be open, showing ‘Menagerie’, a selection of works from our Permanent Collection.
Bilqis Hijjas will give a morning guided tour of our 14-acre site, including a general introduction to the contemporary architecture and our Southeast Asian indigenous garden and arboretum at Rimbun Dahan, as well as the Rumah Uda Manap heritage house.
Free entry, no registration required.
Schedule
9am-11am: Guided tour of Rimbun Dahan, meet in the central plaza. 11am: Live performance by Api Husien in collaboration with Choulay Mech, and video screening by Choulay Mech 11:30am-2pm: Yunroo Tan & Choulay Mech studios open 2-3pm: Lunch, studios closed, visitors can picnic and walk around gardens 3-4:30pm: Workshop by Yee Heng Yeh in the Underground Gallery 3-6pm: Yunroo Tan & Choulay Mech studios open
About the Poetry Workshop
Penang-based poet Yee Heng Yeh will lead a workshop on ekphrastic poetry—poems written in response to artworks. Though ekphrastic poetry typically focuses on describing a work in detail, Heng Yeh will discuss his interest in the process of art making itself and the role of the artist, exploring the common threads that drive creation. Workshop participants will be encouraged to engage in dialogue with the forms and practices of the works in Rimbun Dahan’s gallery, culminating in a simple writing exercise. No registration required, just turn up in the Underground Gallery at 3pm. Writing implements will be provided.
Travelling Directions
Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb Use Google Maps to drive t Rimbun Dahan: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ft5fV9YpGsvciCtU8 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 anywhere along the drive.
Bring your own mosquito repellent!
The Rimbun Dahan Visual Art Studios are wheelchair accessible, but the guided tour and the Underground Gallery are not, sorry.
Wear practical shoes if you are planning to walk around the garden. Bring an umbrella in case of rain.
Bring your picnic, and enjoy it in the gardens; please clean up all your trash.
Choulay Mech is an artist, documentary filmmaker, and freelance journalist from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Trained in journalism with the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, Choulay’s reporting has been published in Southeast Asia Globe, Voice of Democracy and CamboJA News. She has a strong background in photography and video production; she completed extensive training in documentary film production at Bophana Audiovisual Resources Center, directing a short film “My Home” about elephant conservation in Mondulkiri, Cambodia. She has been awarded by Creative Generation 4 Awards, and received grants from Angkor Photo Festival, Citizen Engaged in Environmental Justice for All, SUMERNET, and the Mekong Data-Journalism Fellowship.
Yee Heng Yeh is a writer, and Mandarin-to-English translator. His poetry has been featured in The KITA! Podcast, adda, Malaysian Millennial Voices, Strange Horizons, NutMag, A Wasteland of Malaysian Poetry in English, Apparition Lit, Antithesis Journal, and was shortlisted in the Malaysian Poetry Writing Competition 2021. His translations of poetry have appeared in Mantis and Nashville Review. He also writes plays and occasionally short fiction. You can find him on Twitter @HengYeh42.
Yunroo is an illustrator from Batu Pahat, Malaysia. Drawing inspiration from her Chinese Malaysian identity and the local culture, she infuses her creations with vibrant charm and playful humour. She enjoys exploring different mediums and materials and finds joy in seeing her illustrations come to life in various forms. Yunroo views art as a powerful medium to connect with people, and is dedicated to sharing her passion with others. She has organised and curated art festivals and events, and has taught at a local art college to help others experience the joy of making and appreciating art.
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.
Fajrina Razak, from Singapore, was in residence at Rimbun Dahan for 6 weeks from mid February to early April 2023.
About the Artist
Fajrina Razak (b.1989) is a Singaporean visual artist, cultural worker, curator and educator.
As a visual artist, her work takes on an analysis-approach practice, using traditional materials and contemporary mediums as conduits for the archival of knowledge and by extension, forming inquiries on historical references related to Nusantara and Southeast Asia. These are entwined with an ongoing interest in issues centred around the dichotomies of ‘secularity and spirituality’ and ‘individuality and collectivity’. Working primarily with batik, her works are also translated across mediums such as image-making, installation and text-based art.
Her projects include hosting a residency programme 405 Art Residency (2020-23) and a curatorial project Between the Living and the Archive (2021). Her works are in the permanent collection of the Singapore Art Museum and private collections. She was the President of Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (APAD, Association of Artists of Various Resources) in the term 2020-22.
During the residency, Fajrina divided her time between pursuing her research interest and art-making.
Fajrina’s research interests focus on (visual) culture as a motivation for understanding multitude forms of knowledge production; these formal and informal knowledge(s) are derived from archives and collections, official and unofficial histories. These interests allowed her to form inquiries on her own art-making practice with traditional mediums and review heritage textiles and cultural objects found in public and private collections.
For her art-making, Fajrina worked on a work-in-progress body creating new abstract motifs depicting flowscapes and bodily movements of spiritual practices and particularly circumambulation, an act of walking around a sacred object that involves human participation. This work is an extension of her installation work ‘after life, reverse rituals’ created in 2020. At the same time, Fajrina recreated the pucuk rebung/tumpal, a motif that has been a recurring image in her past works. The pucuk rebung and tumpal motifs, are commonly found in traditional textiles and interpreted as symbols of divinity, power and knowledge.
Below: exploring the heritage textile collection at Rimbun Dahan with Angela Hijjas. Bottom: visit to the National Textile Museum.
Thanks to Dr Kribanandan G. N. for 2 photos featured on this page.
