Category Archives: arts

JB Arts Festival 2016

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Once again the JB Arts Festival is taking place in Johor Bahru.

Performers include Najwa Mahiaddin:

Juno and Hanna:

And as always there will be art events and workshops, including:

The Johor Sketchers will be collecting stories from the people of Jalan Trus, Jalan Pahang, Jalan Dhoby and Jalan Tan Hiok Nee and doing a ‘sketchwalk’, in which they sketch scenes of the city on location, live. Stories will then be exchanged for postcards with sketches of downtown buildings and scenes, and these stories will be displayed on a Story Map Mural inside the Thinkcity Office on Jalan Pahang.

The festival has already started and runs through October 8th.

Related: 10th Annual JB Arts Festival – White Box and Black Box @ Danga City Mall (11th annual arts festival) – 2014 Johor Bahru Arts Festival – 9th Johor Bahru Arts Festival (2012)

White Box and Black Box @ Danga City Mall

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During 11th Annual JB Arts Festival I stopped by the White Box which is on the top floor of Danga City Mall in downtown Johor Bahru. A few weeks later I listened to a talk on backpacking around South America and Europe at the Black Box.

JB sketchers display with drawings

JB sketchers display with some of the participants work. Join in their monthly outings and more activities.

These have become permanent spaces (for the time being anyway). Since the mall has many unrented spots this is a very wise idea; making use of otherwise wasted space and also brining in potential customers for businesses at the mall.

painting of a girl floating in space

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11th Annual Johor Bahru Arts Festival 5 September to 4 October

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The 11th Annual JB Arts Festival is presented by The Johor Society For The Performing Arts. Once again a wide variety of artists will perform, providing many opportunities for fans to enjoy new artists and past favorites.

There are also new additions this year including the white box (The Art Gallery will not only features framed art and installations but will also feature artists at work) and black box presentation spaces at Danga City Mall. These spaces include many workshops for attendees.

See the full schedule of schedule of events. The embedded webcasts in this post showcase some of the performers scheduled for the month long festival.

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Siew San Teng (Tau Pek Kong) Temple and Chinese History Museum, Kuching

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photo of temple doors

The Siew San Teng (Tau Pek Kong) Temple in Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia has retained this spot since 1770. It is across the street from the Kuching river walk (and the small Chinese history museum). The temple itself has been renovated and rebuilt many times.

photo looking toward the river

View of the river from Siew San Teng Temple. The museum is visible on the left of the photo.

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Street Art, Large Mural on Jalan Tan Hiok Nee in Johor Bahru

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Large view of the mural including door

September 2013

A large mural has been taking shape on Jalan Tan Hiok Nee for over a year. The first photo shows it near the beginning, September 2013.

photo of large mural street art

March 2014

Large paintings have also been added along Jalan Tan Hiok Nee near the mural. It is quite a nice addition of street art to the historical JB walk. A new post with photos of those will be added soon. (Update: In turns out it was a temporary display, the paintings are not there now).

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Johor Bahru Chingay Parade

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The Chingay parade is held of the 21st day of the Chinese New year. In 2014 that will be February 20th.

Here are my photos from 2013 Chingay afternoon parade. The afternoon parade starts at 11 AM or so on the previous day – so on February 19th this year) as deity statues from the Old Chinese Temple are carried out to get ready for the evening parade.

Photo of kids playing gongs at the Chingay Parade in Johor Bahru

The biggest parade is the night parade but there is also a parade during the day. The evening parade covers 10 km and starts about 7 PM, I believe; it will finish after midnight.

photo of costume at Chingay Parade, Johor Bahru 2013

The Johor Bahru parade is also called The Parade of the Deities as the Temple deity statues are taken on a journey from the Temple to bless the city with peace, prosperity and harmony (the Chingay parades in Singapore and Penang are non-secular as I understand it).

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Thaipusam Festival, Johor Bahru

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Thaipusam is a Hindu festival dedicated to Lord Murugan (Kartikeya) celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). Murugan is the Hindu god of war and victory. He is the son of the lord Shiva and Parvati; his little brother is Ganesha.

I took the photos in this post last year at the festival downtown (between the Arulmigu Sri Raja Kallamman Hindu Glass Temple and the Arulmigu Thandayuthapani Temple). This year the festival is scheduled for January 17th.

photo of Thaipusam crowd

photo of girl in a red dress

On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.

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10th Annual JB Arts Festival, 6 September to 5 October

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The 10th Annual JB Arts Festival kicks off September 6th and has events through October 5th.

Performances this year include:

AkashA

photo of Angels of the Hill dancers
Angels on the Hill – Angel Art and Dance Studio is an integrated art school equipped with innovative ethnic dancing skills, combining creativity with spirit and dancing principles. Established in April 2001, the school specialises and promotes traditional and cultural dance in Johor Bahru. They will be presenting 12 different dances, featuring 120 students ranging from the age of 3 to 21.

ASWARA – traditional and contemporary dances Malaysian dance company

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