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Cuisine in Melaka

MELAKA ART FESTIVAL FROM 27 TO 29 NOVEMBER 2015

MELAKA ART PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL IS BACK!

Seventh Instalment Features Over 35 Global Artists to Enliven the Historic City of Melaka

The world’s largest and only site-specific art and performance festival on a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Melaka Art and Performance Festival (MAPFest), returns to Melaka for its seventh instalment from 27 to 29 November 2015. More than 35 local and international artists will muster around the vicinity of St. Paul’s Hill and transform the heritage city into a piece of art. The 3-day festival is a free and accessible event for all.

“MAPFest is a platform created for the artists. We saw tremendous growth in interest towards the arts and performing arts industry within the region over the years. We strongly believe that MAPFest will continue to pave the way in nurturing and cultivating artists for the country and the world,” said Andrew Ching, founder and producer of MAPFest.

Over the years, the festival has attracted tens of thousands of foreign and local festival-goers to the historical site.  This year, artists from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, France, Poland, Singapore and Russia collaborates to present international quality performances from various practices of arts including dance, performing art, visual arts installation, film and music.

Andrew added that over the years, MAPFest grew into a world-renowned brand amongst the global art community. “The festival was nominated and won multiple awards by various local and international bodies. Our achievements today would not be possible without the continuous and restless support from our artists, partners and fans.”

MAPFest 2015 keeps it fresh with specialty components such as Cerita Pendik (Short Works) Visual Arts Installation, film screening as well as forums and workshops. Other highlights include collaborative performance – ‘Eulogy for The Living’, MAPPING programme, fine and contemporary arts display at local galleries around Melaka City, and a Children’s Art Festival at SMK Canossa Convent Malacca.

“The festival remains free for all and this gives the artists a freer range of expression. This was what made the festival unique. Artists freely collaborate, learn and experiment in the fundamental creative spirit. We have contemporary dancers, musicians, visual and new media artists alongside shamans from rural Java. We voice stories of transformations, rites of passages and concerns of the inner conscience. We have highly accomplished artist to work with young and emerging from all social-economic and cultural backgrounds. The profundity of themes and artistic relationships have grown, given birth to many further collaborations, networks and exchanges,” said Tony Yap, Creative Director of MAPFest.

He added that the festival is hard to fund but the wealth is beyond the entertainment and industry of spectaculars. “This is the message we get from the artists and audiences, and this is what kept us going.”

MAPFest 2015 is directed by Tony Yap in his capacity as Festival Creative Director. He was one of the principle performers with IRAA Theatre from 1989 to 1996, and has worked extensively in Australia and internationally, including the Agamemnon Festival, Colline Torinese in Italy and The Trojan Woman at the Vienna International Art Festival. As the founding Artistic Director of Mixed Company (now the Tony Yap Company) in 1993, he has made a commitment to the exploration and creation of an individual dance theatre language that is informed by psy-physical research, Asian Shamanistic Trance Dance, Butoh Voice and Visual Design.

MAPFest 2015 is produced by Arts Performance Festival Melaka Sdn Bhd, initiated by E-Plus Entertainment Productions, and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Visit Malaysia Year 2015, Jabatan Warisan Negara, Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah (MBMB), Bandar Warisan Malaysia, Tony Yap Company, Perbadanan Muzium Melaka (PERZIM), the Australian High Commission, the Kedutaan Besar Republik Indonesia, the Embassy of France, Alliance Français de Kuala Lumpur, Estadia by Hatten, Institut Français and iM4U (Official Volunteer Platform).

For more information and updates about MAPFest 2015, please visit:

Website                         : www.melakafestival.com

Facebook                      : Melaka Art Performance Festival

Instagram                      : mapfest

Categories
Tourism Malaysia

Citrawarna 2015

Keeping up with the theme of culture, nature and future, the Citrawarna 2015 festival brings Dataran Merdeka to life with the best of Malaysian tourism and cultural elements. It is without fail that this festival, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, draws the locals and tourists closer to celebrate Malaysia as a melting pot of culture. Already in its 16th installment, this year’s festival is helmed by the award-winning producer and actress, Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina. With a name that needs no introduction, you can’t help but expect a brilliantly-put show.

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Starting with a soulful rendition of the national anthem by the students of Enfinity Academy, it sent shivers down my spine. It was heartfelt—it gave me a sense of pride. Citrawarna 2015 was also not short of performances by local artists, an avant-garde fashion show by Malaysia’s famed designers and the acclaimed homegrown musical adaptation of MUD The Musical.

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The production is set against historical events in KL— it was so colourful, vibrant and diverse and captured the essence of Malaysia’s past and present. As anticipated, the show delivers theatrical elements while still integrating an exciting storytelling aspect, where nothing is random.

Beautifully set up against the backdrop of the iconic Dataran Merdeka, it was not hard to navigate the festival grounds. It consists of areas such as the stage, MyFEST Chillax Zone and a jaw-dropping stretch of food truck called #KLFTF (Kuala Lumpur Food Truck Fest) that can go no wrong. Festival goers were spoiled with many choices of food and drinks but my personal favourite was the coconut shake given the refreshing taste on a balmy day. Adjacent to #KLFTF is the colourful lit up trishaws that were also a major crowd puller, which brings us to understanding the preserved heritage still has its identity intact no matter how fast-forward we are today.

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A great number of people showed up and the show went on seamlessly. Tourists, families, groups of friends came and experienced the diverse show and flavours of Malaysia. I personally think that was the whole point of Citrawarna and Tourism Malaysia succeeded in bridging the culture gap at a ceremoniously held event. I look forward to the upcoming Citrawarna in 2016!

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Categories
Tourism Malaysia

ACPR 2015 – KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

ACPR 2015 – KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

The 3rd IAPR Asian Conference on Pattern Recognition (ACPR2015), sponsored by the International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR) and supported by the Malaysian Image Analysis and Machine Intelligence Association (MIAMI) and IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) Malaysia Chapter will be held on November 3-6, 2015, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The First Asian Conference on Pattern Recognition (ACPR2011) was held at Beijing, China; while the second series (ACPR2013) was held at Okinawa, Japan.

ACPR2015 is a high quality, biennial single-track conference, comprising oral presentations and poster sessions (with oral acceptance 10% in the last 2 series; previous years’ ACPR statistics are available here). ACPR aims at providing one major international forum for researchers in pattern recognition and related fields to share their new ideas and achievements. Submissions from other than the Asia-Pacific regions are also highly encouraged.

ACPR2015 solicits high-quality original research for publication in its main conference and co-located workshops. All accepted papers will be included in IEEE Xplore and Indexed by EI. Topics of interest include all aspects of pattern recognition including, but not limited to:

A) Computer Vision and Robot Vision;
B) Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning;
C) Signal Processing (signal, speech, image);
D) Media Processing and Interaction (video, document, medical, biometrics, HCI, VR)

Categories
Tourism Malaysia

Malaysia Fashion Week (MFW)

Malaysia Fashion Week (MFW)

4th – 7th November 2015

Website: http://www.malaysiafashionweek.my/

Venue : MATRADE MECC, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia Fashion Week (MFW) is an international event that gathers Malaysian and international fashion designers and industry players that will be held from   4th – 7th November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur through a series of “ground breaking” fashion shows featuring designers from over 15 countries, a stylish gala event and a trade exhibition called FACIT@INTRADE.

The fashion shows for Spring/Summer 2016 will feature Malaysian designers under the Malaysia Fashion Showcase (MFS) banner, together with Asian designers under the Mercedes-Benz STYLO Asia Fashion Week (MBSAFW) banner. MFS unveils Malaysia’s best of the best collections and it’s a celebration of Malaysia’s fashion for the World. The MBSAFW is a joint collaborative effort between STYLO International and luxury automaker, Mercedes-Benz. MBSAFW will see more than 60 designers from over 15 Asian countries showcase their collection using MFW as its Asian platform. It is a trade fashion event headlined by ASIA for ASIA which portrays a fusion of Malaysian, Asian and Western influences.

At the inaugural MFW in 2014, 65 designers from 15 countries were featured including Malaysia and other Asian countries such as Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, India, Pakistan and Australia. The collection included Ready-To-Wear, Evening Wear, Bridal, Muslimah and Street Wear.

FACIT@INTRADE is the lifestyle component of MATRADE’s trade initiative, ie: International Trade Malaysia (INTRADE). A successful national and international trade exhibition that has been running for the past 8 years, FACIT@INTRADE is aimed at positioning Malaysia as the region’s number one destination for leading fashion brands, accessories, textiles, cosmetics and personal care. FACIT@INTRADE places Malaysia on the map as the international destination inspired by the latest designs, quality textiles and high-quality fashion accessories.

Categories
Tourism Malaysia

FIM Asia Supermoto Championship 2015

FIM Asia Supermoto Championship 2015

6th November 2015 to 8th November 2015 – Penang

The FIM Asia Supermoto Championship 2015 is one of Asia’s premier motorsports race event that will kick off its 1st round in Malaysia this June. Supermoto racing combines exciting elements of motocross, dirt track and road racing into one dynamic discipline. It features jumps, high-speed straights with both dirt and asphalt surfaces. Tracks and venues can vary considerably whereby it can be held at racing circuits, sports stadiums, on open car parks and on closed-course city streets. Being close to its fans, this unique sport offers pure excitement and adrenaline-filled fun for the spectators.

This year, the championship will feature up to 18 top Asian Supermoto riders mainly from Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia. There will be 2 races held on each day consisting of practice, qualifying and finals for the novice and expert category. Points collected on both days will be tabulated as championship points. At the completion of 6 rounds, the rider with the most points will be declared as the 2015 FIM Asia Supermoto Champion and the country represented will be awarded the 2015 FIM Asia Supermoto Champion- Country.

Malaysia will be represented by two top riders, Hairi Zakaria (2012/13 FIM Asia Supermoto Champion) and Mohd Habibullah Mohd Saleh (2011/12 Malaysian Supermoto Series S1 Champion). Other top Asian riders scheduled to compete are Taiwan’s Lin Chin Pei (2013 Taiwan Supermoto Champion), Japan’s Susumu Mitoma (Japan Moto1 All Star), Thailand’s Trakarn Thangthong (2011 FIM Asia Supermoto Champion) and many others.

Asia Supersports Group Sdn Bhd being the exclusive promoter and license-holder will also feature international and local support events at each of the venues. MotoJamm, an international motorcycle freestyle entertainment show featuring US Professional Stunt Rider Aaron Twite, Spanish Motorcycle Trial Stunter Albert Dos Temps, local Trial Riders from the Pangkolo Riders team, and Bicycle Trial Riders from France Lolo and Franck Vabre will complement the overall event. Happening alongside MotoJamm will be Art of Speed (AOS), Malaysia’s own homegrown OlSkool Kustom Kulture event. Started in 2012, Art of Speed aims to grow and make Malaysia as the hub of convergence to all custom lovers. This year, the organizers kick things up a notch with the AOS Triumph Invitational Bike Build-Off, pitting four of Malaysia’s best builders against each other to produce the best customized Triumph motorcycle. MotoJamm will also be featuring motorcycle related exhibitions, live concerts, and a mini moto showcase.

Venue
Penang

Organizer
Asia Supersports Group Sdn Bhd,
Suite 6.01, Level 6 Heitech Village,
Persiaran Kewajipan USJ 1, 47600
Subang Jaya, Selangor

Website
www.asg.com

Telephone
+603-8024-4044

Email
sathes@asg.my