milestones
PUSAKA is the premier organisation working in cultural revitalisation and documentation in Malaysia. In the 17 years since our establishment, we have made important strides in furthering our goals, working closely with both local and international partners. PUSAKA’s milestones include:
2017/2018
Curators and producers, Music of the Islamic World series, in collaboration with the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia. The inaugural concert will feature Iranian kamancheh master Kayhan Kalhor, alongside Kiya and Ziya Tabassian of the Constantinople Ensemble, September 2018. The concert is supported by the Canadian High Commission to Malaysia, Canada Council of the Arts, PNB Perdana Hotel & Suites On The Park.
Music at ILHAM: Tari Asyik performance, in collaboration with ILHAM Gallery, featuring Jalinan Seni Tanah Merah from Kelantan, 30 June 2018.
Mak Yong Project: Training Local Youth as Ethnographers, supported by the Asia Foundation. 2017-2018.
Supporting partner, From Man to Monk by Mavin Khoo, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London. Premier in November 2018. Mavin Khoo (International solo Bharata Natyam artist, Rehearsal Director to Akram Khan company) invites UK based Spanish choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra (National Dance Award nominee and DX Associate Artist) and dance artist Victor Callens to collaborate on a duet developed through a ‘lived process method’ between the artists.
Kompang Johor Showcase at Kompleks Kraf Johor, supported by IRDA, 28 April 2018
Presented Mah Meri indigenous dancers at the Internationale Tourismus Börse, Berlin, Germany, and the Malaysian Embassy in Berlin as part of the Selangor Cultural Map project, March 2018.
Curator and Producer, Festival Bahasa dan Persuratan Melayu Nusantara 2017, which brought together 160 writers, poets, scholars, publishers, dramatists, performers, filmmakers and masters of oral tradition from the Malay Archipelago.
Tinariwen – Live in KL, presented by PUSAKA. Grammy Award-winning ‘Sahara blues’ world music band’s first concert in Malaysia. November 2017.
Enhancing the Sustainability of the Kompang Johor Tradition, a project to document the older forms of the kompang tradition in Johor, supported by IRDA, 2017-2018.
Cultural Map of Selangor project, supported by the Selangor State Government, documenting the cultural traditions of the Mah Meri, Temuan, and Kompang Jawa.
2016
Selected as curators of the international programme for the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Literary Festival (2016), organised by Perbadanan Kota Buku.
The publishing of the Naratif | Kisah literary journal, sponsored by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, UEM Sunrise Berhad and Iskandar Investment Berhad.
The organisation of the KataKatha – Southeast Asian Conversations on Culture & the Arts, a newly conceived and formative regional initiative in partnership with Maybank Kim Eng, supported by Maybank Foundation.
Malam Wayang (2016), organised by ThinkCity and DBKL, in partnership with PUSAKA and LabDNA, sponsored by Citi Foundation.
2015
Invited as the keynote speaker for the International Ramlila Conference 2015, held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in Delhi.
Selected to be the traditional-genre curators for the inaugural DiverseCity: Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival, in September 2015. PUSAKA's programme featured performances by the Alim Qasimov Ensemble of Azerbaijan, Mehr and Sher Ali Qawwali Ensemble of Pakistan, Shwe Man Thabin Dance Theatre of Myanmar, Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre from Vietnam, and Tarian Saman by Sanggar Rempelis Muda of Aceh.
Invited to present a Kuda Kepang performance as part of Medini Live! – an arts festival at Medini Mall, Nusajaya, Iskandar, Johor in June 2015.
Invited by Arts Midwest to present Wayang Kulit of Kelantan on a month-long residency tour of the United States in 2015, as part of their programme for intercultural understanding, Caravan serai: A place where cultures meet.
2014
‘Jangan Bakar Akar’ – a night of traditional storytelling featuring Awang Betil, Tarik Selampit and Wayang Kulit, as part of Art in the Park at Lake Gardens in October 2014.
Curated and coordinated 21 traditional performances from all over Malaysia for our highly-acclaimed traditional genre component of Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival 2014.
Invited to be part of the V&A Project for the closing of the George Town Festival 2014, with a Kuda Kepang performance from Johor.
PUSAKA Founder-Director, Eddin Khoo, invited to open the LILA PRISM Lecture on August 5th in New Delhi, delivering a talk entitled ‘Puppetry as a Paradigm of Continuity’.
Curated and coordinated PUSAKA Evenings at Publika in 2014 and 2015, a monthly series to bring authentic cultural traditions from all over Malaysia to an urban audience.
Presented an Ulek Mayang performance from Terengganu at the Tapestry of Sacred Music 2014, at Esplanade - Theatres by the Bay, Singapore, as well as a public lecture by PUSAKA Founder, Eddin Khoo, on the traditional arts of East Coast Malaysia
2012 / 2013
‘Storm Clouds’ exhibition of Wayang Kulit photography by Eddin Khoo, at Interpr8 Gallery, Publika, November and December 2013.
The Inaugural PUSAKA Annual Lecture on Cultural Life was delivered in 2013 by the eminent Indonesian poet and essayist, Goenawan Mohamad. The Inaugural PUSAKA Lecture was held in conjunction with the Inaugural PUSAKA Abdullah Ibrahim Award for Cultural Preservation, supported by the Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara. The Guest of Honour for the PUSAKA Lecture and Award was DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah, the Regent of Perak (now Sultan of Perak) and his consort, Tuanku Zara Salim.
One of 14 organisations globally to secure the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation grant in 2003 for the transmission of the Manora tradition to the next generation, and again in 2012, to document the Hikayat Seri Rama of the Wayang Kulit tradition. With both these grants, PUSAKA successfully sought to revitalise the traditions of Manora and Wayang Kulit within their respective communities. Knowledge of the Manora and Wayang Kulit has now been passed down to a successive generation of performers through both projects.