In America the use of blackface is cringe-worthy and condemned. In Malaysia it pops up everywhere…but what does it mean?

It’s holiday season. Again! Valentine’s Day is also upon us, but some of us only have love for sci-fi. If you haven’t figured out where to go yet, here are some gaga galactic suggestions from ARTERI.

Pameran Seni Muda / Young Arts di RA Fine Arts Gallery memberi lapangan kepada artis untuk meluahkan isi hati mereka melalui lukisan dan arca.

by Bilqis Hijjas

21 artists presented a series of site-specific performances and art installations in the old part of Melaka around the remains of A Famosa, St Paul’s Church and the river. It proves what a small group of dedicated people with no fanfare and minimal local government support can do.

by Bilqis Hijjas

Hands Percussion has built a reputation for its high impact and high energy shows, with strong production values. This is what makes their most recent offering, Dreams in November, such a departure from the norm. It wasn’t that Hands Percussion failed to deliver, but that it delivered a different show than expected…

by Yin Shao Loong

Recently ARTERI was invited to a screening of Chris Chong Chan Fui’s ‘Karaoke’, the first Malaysian film in 14 years to make it to the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Read on to see what we think of it.

by Yin Shao Loong

A trip to the Hma’ Meri (Mah Meri) orang asli village on Pulau Carey leads to an encounter with their arts, crafts, and land struggles.

by Bilqis Hijjas

Review: Evolving Motion’s Duod

Sometimes it is enough just to revel in the joyousness of two dexterous bodies at play. With Cathy Seago & Rosalind Noctor, there was an element of watching the cavorting of sea lions or dolphins — if dolphins were familiar with fractal theory.

by Yin Shao Loong

Find R2-D2 and C-3PO too cutesy and straight? Like your robots murderous, nasty, and existential? We love killa robots, don’t we? Read on to find out about their origins, influences, and what it all could mean for us. Quick! Before they get us!

by Alex Yong

Personal Effects: 30th May – 14th June 2009 @ RogueArt

Personal Effects is a loose collection of belongings. It explores the many different ways in which we choose to look at objects and the values we impose on them.

oleh Yin Shao Loong

Kebelakangan ini, kita telah menyaksikan pergadohan hangat di laman ini. Tapi untuk mereka yang kurang minat bergadoh ‘seni’, bolehlah anda rilek dengan menonton filem baru Nam Ron dan Brenda Danker – Gadoh. Filem ini tidak dapat ditonton di pawagam awam, cuma di teater HELP sahaja, kerana topiknya menyentuh pergadohan perkauman di sekolah kebangsaan Malaysia.

by Alex Yong

Rock Kaka: Fahmi Reza, Callen Tham, Fairuz Sulaiman, Saiful Razman and Vincent Leong, 27 May – 13 June 2009 @ Valentine Willie Fine Art

Doesn’t kaka mean ‘poop’ in French? Enjoy some scenes from the 27 May opening, and make sure you catch this cool shit show. Guess who was there, looming underfoot, and larger than life?

by Alex Yong

Scratches and Dots: Joe Fleming, 14 May – 11 June 2009 @ Gallerie Taksu

Canadian-born painter/multimedia artist (everyone’s multimedia these days!) Joe Fleming’s solo exhibition at Galeri Taksu. ARTERI hearts painters, even if some of our commentors don’t. (We heart them too, and their bitchiness).

by ARTERI

Do you have a project linking arts, culture and the environment in Asia and Europe? Or know about initiatives that do so? Talk to the Asia Europe Foundation!

by Zahirah Suhaimi

The recent controversy sparked by Chinese film, City of Life and Death by director Lu Chuan, has compelled me to mull over the challenges with establishing a universally accepted perception and use of the freedom of expression. In allowing alternative views and creative opinions, can we ever find a way to manage the precarious balance between censorship and sensitivity?