Front Row

Fresh from their performance at Urbanscapes, Ali Johan catches up with the captivating ladies of Black Voices to discuss their style of performance, which follows black oral tradition – an early music form that is based on the ancient folklores and story-telling of Africa and the Diaspora and which has impacted on the development of classical and more recent music genres such as blues and ja...

Renowned Malaysian visual artist Lim Kim Hai has been making waves around the world with his works, and is noted for his distinct artistic language in representing apples. An award-winning painter, his works from the period of 2008-2013 are now being exhibited at 69 Fine Art Gallery, and I find out all about it from artist Kim Hai himself, together with gallery owner Patrice Vallette. See omnystud...

The Young Guns is HOM Art Trans' latest award, which has been created to give recognition to young artists at the top of their game. Set to be held tri-anually, this first installment, titled Nyala, features works by 13 young talents under the age of 33. Here to discuss the mechanics of this new visual arts award system are renowned visual artist Bayu Utomo Radjikin, who is Director of HOM Art Tra...

Anson Wong is one of the world’s most infamous wildlife traffickers, convicted twice of smuggling exotic wildlife across international borders. Working with anti-trafficking groups, Al Jazeera's 101 East went undercover to expose Anson Wong’s Malaysian-based operation – and the officials who allow it. Steve Chao joined us to discuss this undercover investigation. See omnystudio.c...

Featuring 15 photographs of Wayang Kulit performance by Eddin Khoo, the Founder of PUSAKA, the exhibition ‘Storm Clouds – Wayang Kulit in Photography’ seeks to illuminate the Wayang Kulit Siam tradition of Kelantan through the eyes of a long-time chronicler of Kelantanese culture and disciple of Wayang Kulit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In conjunction with the Movember campaign, everyone’s favourite funny doctor Jason Leong teams up with Hong Kong’s Vivek Mahbubani, the Philippines’ GB Labrador and Singapore’s Rishi Budhrani for the first time here in Malaysia, in the comedy show called Get Hard, Stand Up! We find out more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The local singer-songwriter movement, Moonshine is set to celebrate its 8th Anniversary and they are promising a carnival setting for the show with lots of dancing, food, drinks, love and of course, home-grown music and singing. Giving us the low-down are Reza Salleh, the organizer of Moonshine and local singer-songwriters, Melina William and Diandra Arjunaidi. See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

Almost True Stories is The Instant Café Theatre Company's latest New Writing platform to tell stories that are playful yet deeply resonant. Jo Kukathas and Ghafir Akbar share why we need stories and why the penglipur lara is called the dispeller of sorrows and the reliever of anxieties. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This full-length dance drama is based on the pivotal episode of the epic Mahabharata as envisioned by Poet Laureate Bharati written in Tamil. Performed by dancers of ASWARA Dance Company and Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), accompanied by live music from TFA, this marks the first major artistic collaboration between these two leading arts institutions in this country. We find out more from Joseph Gonzal...

Matt Ingeneri plays jazz guitar in the classic style of Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and early George Benson.  A product of Washington D.C.’s famous Hard Bop jazz scene, Matt worked regularly with legendary Blue Note Records house bassist Butch Warren until moving to Malaysia in 2011. We find out what's been keeping him busy music-wise and what he has planned for this Duke Ellington T...

A versatile musician, Teriver Cheung is not just a Jazz guitarist but also part of an active touring Neo-soul/Funk band ‘Nuf Said. We get to know this international touring guitarist, who is currently based in New York City. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A woman wakes up in Janda Baik to find an invisible wall isolating her from the world.  With only a few animals for company, she tries to create a new landscape from what’s left of the old world. Beliefs, boundaries, politics - the production of WALLS asks the audience, "what remains when you are the last person on Earth?" Directed and devised by Hari Azizan and Wong Tay Sy, the duo joi...

Described as a meeting point for exciting research, inspiring workshops, and intriguing performances, we find out about this collaborative project which brings together some of the most promising dance and music artists with a combined total of more than 40 years of experience in improvisation. Artistic & Program Director David Lim and dancer Lee Ren Xin tell us all. See omnystudio.com/listene...

The slaughter of elephants for their ivory tusks has reached crisis proportions, and Malaysia has become a key transit point in the illegal trade of ivory from Africa and China. Dr. Chris Shepherd, the Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and Naftali Honig, the Coordinator of Project for the Application of Fauna (PALF) in the Republic of Congo, give us the lowdown of the situation and...

"There's seven of you here tonight. One of you's the murderer." — Sgt. Trotter Charming audiences for over 60 years, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap is being staged in Kuala Lumpur as part of the production's diamond jubilee celebrations. Castmembers John Faulkner, Sarah Whitlock and Richard Keightley dropped in for a quick chat about the eccentric characters we'll meet at the play. See omny...

Organised by EcoKnights, The 6th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) 2013 is meant to help facilitate in building a nation of ecologically conscious businesses, individuals and communities, through on-ground activities and film screenings on critical environmental issues. We find out what's in store for this sixth edition from Fadly Bakhtiar, the Programme Manager of the KLEFF, and we are also...

“A Dialogue” is a compendium of works by visual artist Rafiee Ghani which took root in 2008/ 2009, the artist's son Hassan the core subject matter of the works. Some dream-like, others stark and bright, each canvas is a revelation of the artist's deepest parts of himself, and we find out all about it from Rafiee himself, together with gallery owner Patrice Valette, owner of  69 Fi...

Mokhtar Samba is a man of rhythm with an extensive history as one of the established musicians in the multicultural music arena. Mokhtar has played alongside prestigious musicians such as Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius, Youssou N’Dour and Carlos Santana among many others. He shares his musical journey thus far with us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Photographer Stefen Chow's clients include The Smithsonian, Time Magazine and The Guardian, but he is perhaps best known for his series "The Poverty Line" which visualizes poverty and what it looks like, by highlighting how much food people can afford to buy when they’re living on the poverty line in a number of countries. He discusses this and the many other varied projects from his colourf...

2 minute solos is a project in the neighborhood from 3 - 6 October 2013. 11 unique solos, each 2 minutes long will be presented simultaneously by 11 different personalities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hollywood celebrity-actress-model Serinda Swan joins Friends to Mankind Youth Ambassadors Apshy Vimal and Aishy Vimal to talk about Dance Effect Concert 2013. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 6th Short and Sweet Festival in Malaysia is a multi-week festival featuring a line up of 10 minutes act across the whole spectrum of genres in the categories of stand-up comedy plus song, musical, dance and theatre. This festival will rin for 6 weeks beginning on 18th September. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drawing inspiration from the many facets of modern life, influenced by Malaysian and other Asian cultures, the music of WVC TRiO +1 cuts across many musical genres and defies any kind of classification. Pianist and group member Tay Cher Siang tells us more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Spirits Play is a world of flux where five post-war personas in a state of limbo gathered at a deserted place to explore a topic that is historically and emotionally rooted but rarely discussed openly: the reflection of World War II in Southeast Asia and Europe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bilhis Hijjas of MyDance Alliance joins Australian choreographer couple Gabriel Comerford and Caitlin Mackenzie to talk about Uncommon Ground, a story of two identities coming together in one place, in a journey through friction, destruction, compromise and progression at Dancebox, 21st September. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.