Calling all music lovers, movie goers, coffee addicts and if you just want to see more art scenes happening in Ipoh, get ready to clear up your schedule from January 24 to 30 and head to Ipoh Kreative festival where you will be entertained by various underground local bands, keynotes, poetry parties, forums and many more.
The 7-day long festival will run at several locations and Ipoh Echo has the details of them all!
1. Day one: January 24, Sunday
The official opening for Ipoh Kreative will be held at Ipoh’s iconic treasure market, Loken at 9 a.m. where state exco for tourism, arts, culture, communication and multimedia, YB Dato’ Nolee Ashilin binti Mohamed Radzi will officiate at the event. Later at 8pm at Khizanat, Ipoh Avant-Garde special will take place with a forum and show by five performers; Kamal Sabran, Ahmad Norsaiful, Azmil Mokhtar, Mohd Redzuandy and Eric Hausmann, a multi-faceted American musician and composer who began his musical training on violin, cello and trumpet at the tender age of six. Eric has appeared on dozens of albums, soundtracks and has released up to sixteen solo albums.
2. Day two: January 25, Monday
The second day of Ipoh Kreative will witness a discussion at Sepaloh Art Gallery at 5pm, about the ‘Wave of Alternative Book’ and ‘Rabak Writing & Poetry’ by two keynote speakers, Riduan A.Dullah and Mutalib Uthman, CEO for DuBook Press, a local book house that has published many books written by Malaysian authors. One of their recent publications, ‘Terima Kasih Si Babi Hutan’ written by Ismail Ariffin a.k.a Lepat has sold more than fifteen thousand copies during the first month of its launch.
Poetry Party will then take place at the same venue at 8pm where eight poets will be entertaining the audience with their writings and stories. Secure your place and get ready to be mesmerized by Lara Hassan, Jack Malik, Seyn Jukey, Muharos, Meor Hailree, Riduan A.Dullah, Melizarani T. Selva and Fynn Jamal!
3. Day three: January 26, Tuesday
For coffee lovers, make sure you head to Hobo cafe at 5pm for a special exclusive talk entitled, ‘Art of Coffee’ by Faiz Mustapha, the brilliant mind behind Hobo @ Gan Lee Co and who manages his family restaurant, El Negra Deli. Faiz also co-owns Buat Design, a contemporary local design house specializing in interior design, architecture and modern landscaping. The founder of “PeaceBeUponYou”, Ipohite Adam Jalaluddin, will also be conducting a talk about “Pop Art in Design” at 3pm also at Hobo.
Co-founder of My Performing Arts Agency (MYPAA) Brian J. Lowe will also be taking part in Ipoh Kreative this year where together with three other speakers, Azizul Abdul Latif, Amzari Zamri and Abdul Hafidz Adam, will discuss “Sell Creative Ideas” at Gomok, 8pm.
4. Day four: January 27, Wednesday
The perfect day for film and theater goers, the first event of the day, Street Theater – Pok Yek by Rhis Amirul will take place at Kong Heng Square at 4pm. The festival will then continue at Yasmin At Sekeping Kong Heng, where writer cum film director, Junad M Nor will be conducting a workshop session on film, script and directing. Junad’s short film, ‘Odah’ was screened at the Busan International Film Festival and received warm responses from the crowd. Her creative flair in finding humour has landed her to co-found Studio Canpakes; a creative collective that takes on music videos, short films, commercial campaigns and many other projects. Studio Canpakes has an impressive record working with The Venopian Solitude, Tunetalk, The Ministry of Youth and Sports, Kuala Lumpur International Photo Awards, Whimsgirl Design, Stellar Studio, Wardrobe and many more.
The Ipoh Film Festival will then take place at 8pm where five films will be aired exclusively for the festival. Make sure you manage to watch Ipoh Kreative Documentary, Behind The Scene: Jagat, Nadia Mengidam Cili, Poskod Dari Seberang and Aku Bukan Neitzche.
5. Day five: January 28, Thursday
Perakean Daniyal Kadir will be giving a talk entitled “Membedah P.Ramlee” (Dissecting P.Ramlee) at 5pm at Karat Cafe. Daniyal, a history and film geek is also a published writer where his book “Membedah P.Ramlee” was published by DuBook Press. Later at 8pm, at Chokodok Reggae House, four singer-songwriters Anaz, Wira, Amy Ami and Sam Lopez will be performing their songs.
6. Day six: January 29, Friday
Interested in 3D printing? Then Benz’s workshop is definitely a must-go for you. Benz or his full name, Fadzlee Khamis has been working closely in the printing world where he works with two friends and created Shapeshift; providing prototypes, designing materials and module testing. Benz’s workshop will take place at Khizanat at 3pm. Shortly after the workshop, a forum entitled “Local Visual Art on Fire” will be held by five speakers; Nur Hanim Khairuddin, Ajim Juxta, Jojo Yusof, Alex Lee and Amy Amin.
An exclusive show entitled Berlinale Shorts Go Abroad, a collection of international short films will be aired for the audience. Get ready to be charmed and awed with Planet Sigma, Hosanna, Pebbles At Your Door, Shadowland, Dissonance, Snapshot Mon Amour, El Juega Del Escondite, Daewit, Yuyu and Symbolic Threats. These films which have won international awards, are at times controversial, disturbing, testing the limits and created with multi-layers of possibilities. A definite must go.
7. Day seven: January 30, Saturday
The final day of the festival will take place at Insider Satellite Space. At 2pm, keynote speaker, Cee will be talking about ‘Soundlab At The Dusun: Experimental Music Incubator’ followed by Elena Kravchenko on ‘Russian Illustration: Then & Now’. The closing act of this art-loving festival will witness nine different local bands rocking out their music at 3pm. Alternative Music Showcase will be seeing Plague of Happiness, Balok People, Harmacy, Bahajang, Nothing Underneath, Gaina, Space Banjo Circus, The Electric Ape in Stereo and Radiowave performing live for its audience.
With art-packed activities, Ipoh Kreative is a must go for everyone who is keen on exploring the art scene in Ipoh.There is no fee needed for any shows so make sure you go to all of them!
For more information, visit ipohkreative.com or Facebook, Ipoh Kreative and Instagram @ipohkreative for more information. Ipoh Echo, its proud media partner will be doing a live update during the event, so be sure to catch us too!
Ili Aqilah
