PENANG INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER ART FESTIVAL (PICAF) 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PENANG INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER ART FESTIVAL (PICAF) 2020
UNVEILS CONTAINER ART INSTALLATION AT BALIK PULAU
Penang, 20 January 2020: THE latest container art installation of the inaugural Penang International Container Art Festival (PICAF) 2020 is unveiled at Balik Pulau to celebrate Penang’s vibrant arts scene from now until the end of May 2020. Penang Chief Minister, YAB Chow Kon Yeow and Penang State EXCO for Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage (PETACH), YB Yeoh Soon Hin preside over the festival’s opening ceremony. Also present at the opening ceremony is Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, YB Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
The container art installation at Balik Pulau is set on the sprawling paddy fields of Kampung Terang, where murals by Sarawakians Leonard Siaw and Jagung as well as Russian artist Marat Danilyan (a.k.a. Morik) are on display. The murals on the container art installation are visual stories of Balik Pulau's quaint lifestyle, the town’s agriculture industries as well as its street-hawker scene.
The much-buzzed-about festival showcases five pop-up container art installations with murals drawn by 12 international and local artists. These container art installations are spread across five locations on the island and the mainland. It is the first festival in Asia to feature urban art on container installations.
Themed 'Penang's Local Identities', the festival aims to engage local and international visitors to experience the diversity of the state through the arts, in line with ‘Experience Penang 2020’ campaign. Each installation depicts Penang’s identities and characteristics to create a sense of belonging amongst the communities as well as visitors.
The container art installations are set against five distinctive backdrops which are the heritage city of George Town, the Jelutong waterfront, the rural heartland of Balik Pulau, the history-rich Butterworth and the modern commercial hub of Batu Kawan.
Other than Balik Pulau, amongst some of the completed container art installations are Prangin Mall in George Town and Aspen Vision City in Batu Kawan. The installation at Prangin Mall features murals by Artist Sasha Korban from Ukraine and Bibichun from Penang while the installation at Aspen Vision City features murals by Canadian artist Emmanuel Jarus and Kuala Lumpur-based artist Caryn Koh.
Karpal Singh Drive is already making waves with the works by Julia Volchkova from Russia and will soon feature a mural by Kuala Lumpur-based artist Kenji Chai. Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw, Penangite Abdulrashade, and Malacca-based artist Andharas are expected to complete their murals over at Dataran Pemuda Merdeka soon.
Throughout the duration of the festival, visitors can participate in a series of arts-related community engagement activities and events including musical performances, busking, arts and cultural workshops, fun walk, local guided tours, Zumba, local celebration programs, urban sketching activities and more.
Details of the Penang International Container Art Festival 2020 are as follows:
PENANG INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER ART FESTIVAL 2020
Set to engage minds and stir souls through visual stories displayed on shipping containers, the inaugural Penang International Container Art Festival features five pop-up container art installations showcased at five different venues throughout the island and the mainland. The free-to-attend festival aims to engage local and international visitors to experience the diversity of the state through the arts, in line with the Experience Penang 2020 campaign.
Date: Now till end of May, 2020
Venues: Prangin Mall (George Town), Karpal Singh Drive (Jelutong), Kampung Terang (Balik Pulau), Dataran Pemuda Merdeka (Butterworth) and Aspen Vision City (Batu Kawan)
LOCATIONS AND ARTISTS
Kampung Terang, Balik Pulau
The collaborative mural titled ‘The Joy of Harvest’ by two Sarawakian artists Leonard Siaw and Jagung highlights the contribution of local farmers in supporting the economy in Balik Pulau and Penang.
Leonard Siaw's artwork pays homage to the hardworking rice farmers of Balik Pulau. Even though modern machinery has slowly replaced manual farming tasks, the rice farmers still practise the traditional method of planting and harvesting rice by hand. They cultivate every stalk of rice plant by hand to ensure the quality of the harvest every season. Jagung’s artwork shows a local durian farmer inspecting the quality of his durians before sending the harvests out to the fruit stalls in town. This is a usual daily routine of the durian farmers in Balik Pulau, where most of the high-quality durians are harvested every season. Durian cultivation is a long time trade in Balik Pulau, a business passed down from one generation to the next.
The same installation site also features a mural by Russian artist Marat Danilyan (a.k.a. Morik), titled ‘The Sunny Side of Life’. Morik’s artwork is a collage with a mixture of colourful textures, patterns, plants, floors, walls and objects he found on Balik Pulau’s streets. The highlight of the composition is a local street hawker, who is performing his daily routine with a sunny spirit. Morik is amazed by the simple things and ordinary people in Penang’s neighbourhoods who live their lives happily and positively.
Prangin Mall, George Town
‘The Trishaw Rider’ mural highlights the living heritage elements found in the George Town heritage site. Drawn by Ukrainian artist Sasha Korban, it depicts a local trishaw rider who makes a living by ferrying tourists around the heritage city on his trishaw, offering them a memorable touring experience within the heritage site on a vintage transport. Today, trishaw rides or trishaw riders have become a part of the city’s living heritage. In the mural, the trishaw rider stopped by a heritage site and shared the story of a heritage building with his passenger.
The same installation site also features another mural titled ‘Tribute to the late Chuah Thean Teng’. In the mural, Penang-based artist Bibichun pays tribute to the late Chuah Thean Teng - The Father of Batik Art. The mural depicts a Malay lady, inking Batik of her self-portrait milking a toddler, dressed in traditional Kebaya top wrapped with a Batik sarong. The traditional art form of Batik fascinated and inspired Chuah Thean Teng to paint in the style that eventually became his lifelong passion.
Karpal Singh Drive, Jelutong
The ‘Hope for the Future’ mural by Russian artist Julia Volchkova shows a Malay girl playing with her old toy blocks, building up structures of her dream city while looking over the Karpal Singh Drive. Expanding her vision a little further, she sees how George Town simultaneously captures the heritage streetscape and the modernised cityscape. In her mind, she started to imagine how her dream future city would look.
The container art installation at Karpal Singh Drive will soon feature a mural by Kuala Lumpur-based artist Kenji Chai.
Aspen Vision City, Batu Kawan
The ‘Offshore’ mural by Canadian artist Emmanuel Jarus depicts a local fisherman getting ready to fish in the Penang Strait that connects the island and the mainland. As a fisherman, he supplies food sourced from the sea to the people living on the island and the mainland. The mural is an attempt to illustrate how everyone can contribute to and support the society.
The same installation site also features another mural titled ‘Connection’. In the mural, Kuala Lumpur-based artist Caryn Koh depicts her close friend, seating cosily while grasping and looking down on a braided rope. Establishing the connection between containers and across to the unknown—just like the second Penang Bridge that links Batu Kawan on the mainland to Batu Maung on the island—she views the connection with hesitation. Yet the connection lives on, with the hope of what may come.
Dataran Pemuda Merdeka, Butterworth
The container art installation will soon feature murals by Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw, Penangite Abdulrashade, and Malacca-based artist Andharas.
PICAF is organised by Can Can Public Art PLT, co-organised by TLM Event, and endorsed by the Penang State Government. Also, this free-to-attend festival is supported by the Penang State EXCO Office for Tourism, Arts, Culture & Heritage (PETACH) and Penang Global Tourism.
For more information, please follow us on Facebook at Penang International Container Art Festival and on Instagram at picafpenang.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Name : Tan Chor Whye
Designation : CEO
Company : CAN CAN PUBLIC ART PLT
Phone : 0125906539
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About Can Can Public Art PLT
Can Can Public Art PLT was founded as a creative public art-based placemaking project team. Believing art on the streets and public spaces could become a medium connecting people to their living environment (city) through relevant messages painted by artists, Can Can team always strive to mindfully placemake cities or places with relevant art that encourage the public to engage, to discuss, to concern and to be inspired for positive outcomes.