Open Day

A day of art and artists, in the 14-acre tropical greenery of Rimbun Dahan, 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.

On Sunday 25 August 2024, Rimbun Dahan will be open to the public, sharing new art works by our current resident artists: author Lim Wan Phing (Malaysia), filmmaker Gogularaajan Rajendran (Malaysia), visual artists Naraphat Sakarthornsap (Thailand), Sabiq Hibatulbaqi (Indonesia) and Noelle Varela (Philippines), and interdisciplinary artist Kiều-Anh Nguyễn (Viet Nam).

Free entry. Registration required for garden tour only (see below).

Schedule

9:00am-11:00am: Guided garden 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. Register here: https://forms.gle/C1e1d9jrzyPi57jX6

11:00am-1:30pm: Artists’ studios open to the public. Please visit and have a chat with the artist!

1:30-2:30pm: Lunch break; studios closed. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to enjoy in the garden; please take your rubbish with you.

2:30-6:00pm: Artists’ studios open to the public. Please visit and have a chat with the artist!

4-5:30pm: Sensorial Writing Workshop & Reading, by Lim Wan Phing [more info below].

Travelling Directions

Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb

Use Google Maps to drive to 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.
• 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

Wan Phing Lim was born to Malaysian parents in 1986 in Butterworth, Penang. She lives in Penang and is the fiction editor of NutMag zine. Her first short story collection ‘Two Figures in a Car’ was published by Penguin SEA in 2021. Her second collection, ‘Adorable’ is forthcoming in 2025. 

Naraphat Sakarthornsap is a Bangkok-based artist whose work explores societal inequalities and gender discrimination through the medium of photography and installation. Flowers serve as central motifs in his practice, imbued with profound symbolic meaning. These floral elements function as keys to unlocking the complexities concealed within his work, often reflecting his personal and emotional depths. Naraphat’s early artistic inquiries focused on the ephemeral nature of flowers, mirroring a broader exploration of challenges imposed by the natural world. Over time, this interest evolved into a critique of societal power structures, as expressed through his floral imagery. His work invites viewers to look beyond the superficial beauty of his compositions and to contemplate the deeper messages embedded within them. In doing so, Naraphat’s work resonates with the experiences of many who grapple with societal norms and inequalities.

Gogularaajan Rajendran is a filmmaker based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He focuses on telling stories about Malaysian Indians, blending horror and humor through both provocative and poetic approaches. The short film “Walay Balay”, which he co-directed, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. He received the Krishen Jit Fund for his ongoing project “Araro Ariraro”, documenting the stories of Malaysian Indian plantation workers. Gogu is also currently developing his first fiction feature film, “Kaali: Depth of Darkness”, which received the inaugural mylab FINAS Award and was featured at the 2021 Seapitch Bangkok and the 2022 Film Bazaar Co-Production Market in India.

Sabiq Hibatulbaqi is a visual artist based in Bandung, Indonesia, born in Tasimalaya in 1994. His artistic practice explores the potential of sequential images across diverse mediums, including comic illustration, animation, code-generated art, and installation. Typically, his main themes arise from the mundane, transforming everyday observations and experiences into visual narratives. His recent work focuses on the interplay between logic and aesthetics, seeking to find tension between these two seemingly disparate concepts.

Noelle Varela (b. 1993) is a Filipina visual artist who studied and earned her degree in Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines- Diliman. She mainly works with three-dimensional pieces and continuously constructs contemporary images using sawdust through fl­ora and female imagery to depict female and women experiences, sensuality and societal standings.

Kieu-Anh Nguyen (b. 1997) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Hanoi, Vietnam. She enjoys creating spaces to foster inclusive conversations around underrepresented bodies and narratives, notably about women. Her art practice has foregrounded olfaction as the core line of inquiry to explore memory tracing and care practice, as it has taken the forms of participation and soft sculpture, and often suggests travels between time, spaces, and sensory experiences. Her work has been exhibited in various spaces, including VIVA ExCon, Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Asia Art Archive and documenta fifteen. 

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.

A day of art and artists, in the 14-acre tropical greenery of Rimbun Dahan, 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.

On Sunday 30 June 2024, Rimbun Dahan will be open to the public with a special program of events investigating fiction, documentary film and the archive, curated by current Malaysian resident writer William Tham, as well as an installation art project by resident artist Faye Abantao from the Philippines.

Free entry. Registration required for garden tour only (see below).

Schedule

9:00am-11:00am: Guided garden 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. Register here: https://forms.gle/C1e1d9jrzyPi57jX6

11:00am-1:30pm: Faye Abantao’s studio, with her work What Becomes of Memories if There’s No One Around to Remember Them?, will be open to the public. Please visit and have a chat with the artist!

1:30-2:30pm: Lunch break; studios closed. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to enjoy in the garden; please take your rubbish with you.

2:30-6:00pm: Faye Abantao’s studio open to the public. Please visit and have a chat with the artist!

2:30-6:00pm: Imagining historically: Conversations about fiction, film and (informal) archives, curated by William Tham — more info below.

Imagining historically: Conversations about fiction, film and (informal) archives

Why are we continuously compelled to visit and inhabit a historical time and space. What are the ways in which we do so? History plays an outsized role in how we situate ourselves today, whether in Malaysia or abroad, and our programme negotiates these questions through three media: fiction, documentary film, and the archive.

In this Open Day event on 30 June 2024, William Tham, the outgoing writer-in-residence at Rimbun Dahan, will read an excerpt of his new short story, “The Boundaries in Men’s Hearts”, which is set during the visit of Rabindranath Tagore to Southeast Asia in 1927. Rather than attempting to reproduce the past exactly as it was, his story focuses on questions of translation and interpretation through its epistolary format. He then moderates a discussion with Caleb Goh, discusses the appeal of thinking archivally – whether by reconstructing the personal libraries of readers past, drawing insights from the audial contents of gramophone records, or restoring heritage mechanical devices. Finally, he
discusses the making of documentary films with Chan Seong Foong, who reflects upon her involvement in work such as Five Tigers (dir. Victor Chin and Por Heong Hong, featuring the stories of female Parti Rakyat Malaysia activists during the 1960s), as well as the ethics and process of documentary making.

Our casual programme invites you to have a conversation with us and to (re)consider what it means to think historically.To set the mood for these sessions, we will be holding this session in the Rumah Penang, a restored 1920s’ Anglo-Malay house relocated to Rimbun Dahan from George Town, Penang. You are welcome to stay for the full programme or to drop by for specific sessions, as per your preference. The full itinerary is as follows.

• 2.30pm: First screening of Five Tigers. The film will be played on a loop throughout the day.
• 3pm: Event 1 – “Book reading: The Boundaries in Men’s Hearts” by William Tham
• 3.30pm: Event 2 – “Thinking archivally” with Caleb Goh
• 4.00pm: Event 3 – “Reflections on documentary-making” with Chan Seong Foong
• 4.30pm: Teatime and further conversations

Some simple refreshments will be provided – participants are encouraged to bring their own bottles and containers too. Expect plenty of interactions!

Travelling Directions

Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb

Use Google Maps to drive to 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.
• 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

Faye Abantao (b. 1994) is a visual artist from Bacolod City, Philippines. She captures an essence of culmination in her multifaceted art practice. She makes homogenous the panache of creative impulses such as origami, print, digital art, photography, collage and painting. During her two-month residnecy at Rimbun Dahan, Faye explored various printmaking techniques and advanced her project Withering Memories. This ongoing series, which she began in 2020, evolves into its third installation titled What Becomes of Memories if There’s No One Around to Remember Them? This collage-based, wall-bound mural talks about the ephemeral nature of memory and the existential query surrounding its legacy in the absence of witness.

William Tham is currently a writer-in-residence at Rimbun Dahan, the author and editor of several books, as well as an editor-at-large for Wasafiri. His writings have appeared in PR&TA, NANG and The Best of World SF: Volume 2, among others. He also co-edited The Second Link: A Malaysia-Singapore Literary Anthology and has an interest in literary and cultural studies.

About the Invited Guests

Chan Seong Foong is a cultural activist involved in social/ documentary film-making. Aside from that, her interests lie in the sociology of religion and educational development. She has worked with international agencies on youth and women’s advocacy, as well as in funding and project management. She has had many years of experience in community organising, particularly with young women workers.

Caleb Goh Hern-Ee was born and raised in Muar, Johore. He is a collector of media in all forms, especially those related to the way of life in old Malaya. His interests range from architecture, fashion history, the development of the local music industry, to the Separation of Singapore and the modern political history of Malaysia. He currently practices law in Kuala Lumpur, where he now lives.

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.

A day of art and artists, in the 14-acre tropical greenery of Rimbun Dahan, 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.

On Sunday 28 April 2024, Rimbun Dahan will be open to the public to view works in progress by our current resident artists Yap Chee Keng (Malaysia), Nadiyah Suyatna (Indonesia) and Syahnan Anuar (Malaysia). Our intern Amirul Arif will also be sharing his collection of traditional Malay woodcarvings.

Free entry. Registration required for garden tour only (see below).

Schedule

9:00am-11:00am: Registration for the garden tour is full; please join us for other activities which do not require registration! Guided garden 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.

11:00am-2:00pm: Visual artists’ studios open to the public. Please visit the studios and have a chat with the artists.

2:00-3:00pm: Lunch break; studios closed. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to enjoy in the garden; please take your rubbish with you.

3:00-6:00pm: Visual artists’ studios open to the public.

Travelling Directions

Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb

Use Google Maps to drive to 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.
• 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 Participants

Yap Chee Keng, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he obtained an Associate Degree in Interior Architecture and Diploma in Visual Arts from New Era College, Malaysia. His further study in Taiwan earned him a Bachelor Degree from Tunghai University and a Master Degree from the Fine Arts Department of National Taipei University of the Arts. Highly awarded both in Malaysia and Taiwan, Chee Keng’s work uses the carpenter’s ink marker to create a diverse color space, while reflecting on the impact of technological advancements on traditional artisan’s work.

Nadiyah Suyatna is a comic artist/illustrator born and raised in the outskirts of Jakarta who draws inspirations from everyday life. Besides Smoldering, she has been working on another comic project about a fishing community in North Jakarta, in collaboration with Marco del Gallo. Their short comic Blessing of the Sea was featured in the anthology DENCity: Stories of Crowds & Cities as a part of the DenCity research project at Durham University’s Department of Geography. Her works can be seen at nadiyahsuyatna.com or instagram.com/nadiyahsuyatna.

Syahnan Anuar (b. 1992, Kelantan) is a visual artist and founder of Bogus Merchandise. He works primarily in the medium of silkscreen across different surfaces. His works explore the personal and political tensions in his lived experience as a Malay-Muslim male in 21st-century Malaysia. He is currently working on his upcoming solo exhibition. You can check his work on Instagram @kerjasanan.

Amirul Arif is a Diploma student in Landscape Horticulture currently undertaking an internship in Rimbun Dahan. This Open Day, Amirul will be showcasing his collection of craft items associated with the mythos of the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, including regalia and instruments of daily life. Carvings of monochromatic wood are characterised by the use of techniques and motifs with a long history and are now highly prized. Other materials like leaves, bones, metals, and silk have also receive refined treatment in the hands of accomplished artisans, and will be exhibited on Sunday.

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.

UPDATE: GARDEN TOUR IS CANCELLED, OPEN DAY CONTINUES

We have just had a freak storm at Rimbun Dahan and lost a significant number of trees. The driveway is blocked in several places, and access is challenging.

The Garden Tour tomorrow morning is CANCELLED.

All other Open Day activities will continue on a slightly smaller and hopefully more intimate scale.

If you would like to join us, please drive up Lorong Belimbing and enter through the side gate. From there, you can walk to the heritage houses at the back of the property. Parking along the driveway inside will be limited, however, so Grab or carpooling is encouraged!

A day of art and artists, in the 14-acre tropical greenery of Rimbun Dahan, 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.

On Sunday 25 February 2024, Rimbun Dahan will be open to the public to view works in progress by our current resident artists Gardika Gigih (Indonesia), Lucy Zola (Australia), Studio 1914 (Singapore), Hardiwan Prayogo (Indonesia) and Yap Chee Keng (Malaysia).

Free entry. Registration required for garden tour only (see below).

Schedule

9:00am-11:00am: [FULL: REGISTRATION CLOSED] Guided garden 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 — [Registration for the garden tour is now closed. All other Open Day activities are drop-in and do not require registration. During your visit you may walk about the garden at your leisure.]

11:00am-2:00pm: Visual artists’ studios open to the public. Please visit the studios and have a chat with the artists.

2:00-3:00pm: Lunch break; studios closed. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to enjoy in the garden; please take your rubbish with you.

3:00-6:00pm: Visual artists’ studios open to the public.

4:00pm-5:00pm: Book sharing session: Discussion of Syair Jaran Tamasa, published by Buku Fixi for a Jawi-to-Rumi transcription project produced by Dr Mulaika Hijjas. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

5:00pm-5:45pm: Workshop by resident composer Gardika Gigih, introducing his method of sound recording and composition in his studio, followed by an outdoor session of crowd-sourced sound making improvisation, in response to the natural soundscape at Rimbun Dahan. Just drop in, no need to register. Bring your own instrument, if you like! Meet at the Dance Studio.

Travelling Directions

Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb

Use Google Maps to drive to 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.
• 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

Gardika Gigih Pradipta is an Indonesian composer, pianist, and soundscape researcher. After studying composition at the Indonesian Institute of Arts, Gardika’s interest in the intersection of music, society, and culture led him to pursue a Masters Degree in Cultural Anthropology. His works span numerous genres, from concerts to contemporary improvisation, film scoring, and sound ethnography. His debut album Nyala (2017) received widespread acclaim and was named a top album of the year by The Jakarta Post. In 2019 he conducted soundscape research as a fellow of The Japan Foundation Asia Center, and in 2023 he lived in New York for 6 months as an Asian Cultural Council Fellow. Gardika is continuing to develop new compositions and electroacoustic works inspired by his global research.

Hardiwan Prayogo is a film enthusiast from Yogyakarta and a member of the Cinemartani film community. One of the programmers for Bioskop FKY (Yogyakarta Arts Festival), he also worked as a programmer for the Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD), visited Manila as a grantee of the Asia-Europe Foundation and worked as an archivist at the Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA). He was recently selected as one of the participants for the 17th Crack International Art Camp in Kushtia, Bangladesh. His project at Rimbun Dahan invite people to collaboratively narrate their stories about gardens through the archives of texts and photographic works, as an investigation into lifestyle change in contemporary society.

Studio 1914, a Singapore-based art practice led by filmmakers and visual artists, Adzlynn & Hong Hu, explores the intersections of Southeast Asian folktales, ecology, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) art and experiential exhibitions. With moving images as their primary medium, they hope their works contribute to and encourage progressive conversations around navigating identities as Southeast Asians. During their residency at Rimbun Dahan, they noticed parallels between the layouts of forbidden gardens (which were key to their previous work ‘Madu’) and Rimbun Dahan, and wondered what it would be like if they were to imagine and design the scene of the ‘Forbidden Garden’ inspired by Rimbun Dahan.

Lucy Zola is a multi-disciplinary artist and musician from Adelaide, South Australia, who works in sonic art, installation, sculpture, interactive digital art, and photography. Rooted in the discourse of walking, Zola’s creations reflect on the human condition and our interconnection with the environment. Lucy has been studying and undertaking language training, internships and artist residencies abroad on a New Colombo Plan Scholarship for the past year, her journey taking her to South Korea, Malaysia and soon Nepal. This Sunday during Open Day, Lucy will be sharing her multi-disciplinary works exploring the tranquility and unease evoked by the night.

Amirul Arif is a Diploma student in Landscape Horticulture currently undertaking an internship in Rimbun Dahan. He aspires to be a naturalist specialising on the biogeography of maritime Southeast Asia. Devoting most of his time to studying and exploring upriver, coasts, mountains and jungles of Malay Peninsula, he has planted a plot of land in rural Kelantan with indigenous trees and amassed a collection of anthropological trinkets and scientific specimens to share with the general public. On Open Day, Amirul will be exhibiting butterfly specimens collected in the Malay Peninsula to illustrate the luxuriance of butterfly diversity in this region, their role in the environment and the implications that carries with their dwindling presence.

Dr Mulaika Hijjas is Senior Lecturer in South East Asian Studies at SOAS University of London, where she teaches Malay and Indonesian literature and culture. She is principle investigator of the Leverhulme Trust-funded project ‘Mapping Sumatra’s Manuscript Cultures’ (www.naskahsumatra.org). Syair Jaran Tamasa is a Malay narrative poem telling the story of Jaran Tamasa’s quest to win his beloved, Ken Lamlam Arsa, who is destined to be the concubine of the Majapahit king. Jaran Tamasa kidnaps her using magical powers, but her brother vows revenge. The poem survives in only two manuscripts, both held by the British Library. Unread for over 200 years, it was transcribed from Jawi by volunteers in Malaysia and Singapore, and is now published for the first time. Copies of the book will be available for purchase on Open Day for RM28, or RM60 for 3 (promotional price).

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.

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.

3:00-4:15pm: Writing Workshop by Sigrid Marianne Gayangos (Philippines). Read more about Sigrid and the writing workshop here…

4:30-5:30pm: Dance Studio sharing by Sreynoch Khun and Ny Lai (Cambodia).

Travelling Directions

Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb

Use Google Maps to drive to 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.
• 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.

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.

Travelling Directions

Use Waze to drive to Rimbun Dahan: https://waze.com/ul/hw284q6meb

Use Google Maps to drive to 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.
• 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.

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.
• No pets allowed.

For any questions, please email arts@rimbundahan.org or WhatsApp Bilqis at +6017-3103769.

About the Artists

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.

Current resident visual artists Eunice Sanchez (Philippines), Shwe Wutt Hmon (Myanmar), and Fajrina Razak (Singapore) 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 new selection of works from our Permanent Collection.

Bilqis 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, 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: Visual artist studios open to visitors
2-3pm: Lunch, studios closed, visitors can picnic and walk around gardens
3-6pm: Visual artist studios open to visitors

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.
• No pets allowed.

For any questions, please email arts@rimbundahan.org or WhatsApp Bilqis at +6017-3103769.

About the Artists

EUNICE SANCHEZ engages with themes related to preservation and perception through photography and alternative photographic processes. She recontextualizes the materiality of her medium to demonstrate the demand for history to be re-examined. She has participated in several exhibitions in the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, and UAE, and was selected to participate in Visualizing Histories (2021) and the ASEAN Artists Residency Programme (2022). Sanchez holds a Bachelor’s degree in Photography from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (2018) and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from De La Salle University (2014). Born in 1993 in La Union, Philippines, Sanchez currently lives and works in Manila.

SHWE WUTT HMON (b. 1986) is a Burmese photographer and artist, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Shwe’s works focus on collective histories, familial ties, knots and threads of human relationship and exploring the inner psyche through intimate story telling about people and places close to her heart. She tells personal stories from which she connects and examines broader social aspects; vice versa she works on social documentaries reflecting and drawing from her own position within the issue. Shwe uses photography as her main medium and incorporates archives, videos, texts, poems, paintings and drawings of her own or collaborating with others.

Shwe is the recipient of respected art and photography awards including the Objectifs Documentary Award 2020 (Open Category) and the Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize. Her works have been exhibited internationally in art festivals and spaces such as Aichi Triennale, Singapore International Photography Festival, Photo Australia International Festival of Photography, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and Aichi Arts Center.

FAJRINA RAZAK (b. 1989) is a Singaporean visual artist, curator and educator whose practice concerns the notion of individuality and cultural identities while being driven by the aspects of emotions, traditions and spirituality. Working primarily with batik, her works are also translated across mediums such as image-making, installation and text-based art. Her projects include 405 Art Residency programme (2020-23) and 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.

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.
www.rimbundahan.org