Soaking in Arts with Pulau Pinang

The George Town Festival.

Last weekend we took a road trip up north to Penang Island, to catch the George Town Festival (7 June – 7 July), a month-long celebration of art, music, theatre, dance, opera and film to commemorate George Town’s inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage listing on 7 July, 2008. Each year since 2009, GTF transforms George Town Penang into an exciting and unique platform for the arts, heritage and culture. We were also there for the Obscura 2013 Photography Festival which showcased 15 print and slideshow exhibitions in various locations in George Town. It was the last weekend of the festival and we were lucky enough to catch up before it ends even if it was just a Saturday-Sunday trip. Here’s what we managed to experience during the festival.

Victoria Street Project

We were definitely in time for the Victoria Street Project, a one-day festival that celebrates nine-hours of traditional music, classical dances, creative retail designs, arts and craft as well as other cultural programs. We were walking around when we saw the festival beginning in Lebuh Victoria, and continuing to Lebuh Armenian and Jalan Kapitan Keling. We saw a group of dancers performing in the streets and walked a bit more to the food market area where local delights such as the ‘apam manis telur’ and ice cream were found. A few minutes away was a street lined with traditional games and arts for the children. Each corner came with an art activity which made it an exciting exploration.

Heritage Celebrations

I loved how the art performances and activities were a mere walking distance from one another. We were walking along Armenian Streets when we heard the familiar cling clang and drum rolls in one of the temples nearby. We turned in and a beautiful architectural temple stood in the background of a sea of people while an arrangment of tall pillars stood in front of it. We had just missed the lion dance performance and only managed to catch them mingle with the crowd while others took photos with the Malay dancers clad in their traditional costume.

Hand Made Market

In one the temples call Hock Teik Cheng Sin was a sea of stalls selling hand made items since the beginning of the festival. It was such a pretty venue especially in the evening when the lights emanated on the temple grounds. The place was crowded with curious visitors and it was quite hard to manouver into the market. I only managed to see the first few stalls before deciding to leave due to the heavy traffic. Such a shame though because I would have definitely brought one or two things home from this place.

Obscura Phography Festival

The Obscura Photography Festival which was recommended by Dian was one of the highlights of George Town Festival. There was a workshop conducted by well known photographers and she decided to take part in Che Mats’ session. Che Mat is well known for his black & white street photography photos and teaches in our local Multimedia University (MMU). I’ve heard quite a bit of story about this fiery man during his teaching days but surprisingly he was very nice and supportive in teaching the students the art of street photography. At close to midnight, we walked over to Khoo Kongsi Temple to catch the workshop showcase where the participants work were shown to the public and the best ones were mentioned. Sadly, I was a few minutes late in catching Dian’s photos which I’m sure turned out to be a great experience for her. The next day, we walked the streets of George Town and stumbled into a photography exhibition called Traces: Dark Clouds by Ian Teh which explores the industrial land of China’s far flung and improvished provinces such as inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Shaanzi; including the country’s most polluted city, Linfen which was once known as “The Modern Fruit and Flower Town.

I must say the George Town Festival is so far the most surprising arts and cultural festival I’ve been to in Malaysia because of its’ various engagement with the visitors throughout the whole month. The last two days of the festival felt like a week because of the many things that we experienced and explored. I read that not many poeple in Penang knew of the festival but I beg to differ when we were there. Volunteers were walking the streets as information centres for tourists and visitors alike. We even stopped them a few times to ask for directions and on the latest event happenings which happened at every hour. This proved to be extremely helpful as we managed to catch most of the activities that night. A city that is immersed with arts at every nook and corner deserves to be recognized and Penang you absolutely did it! I would return next year and perhaps stay longer to enjoy the exhibitions as well as the workshops if I do take up photography. For now I feel proud knowing that our this state has maintained these heritage buildings and sharing it with the world.