Do you have eyes for all things artsy? Well, I’m not much of an artist, but being a writer and a novelist, I consider myself as a creative person, and I do appreciate all things arts, especially beautiful paintings and cultural performances as they can really inspire my writings to a much more creative level. And so, when I heard that Kuala Lumpur City Hall and 12 other partners unite to bring Malaysian arts to the people through the “Art in The City” campaign, showcasing local artists’ masterpiece all over the buildings in Kuala Lumpur, I was absolutely estatic.

In a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Federal Territories and Kuala Lumpur City Hall, CENDANA (Cultural Economy Development Agency) officially launched Art In The City, a stunning outdoor visual display of local arts across Kuala Lumpur that serves as a strategic effort to promote the local arts community in expressing and showcasing their talents, while making art more accessible to the public The Art In The City campaign will feature 14 artworks from legendary and grassroots artists, with their works being showcased prominently at strategic locations with high visibility across the city.

Officiating the launch of Art In The City was Yang Berhormat Tuan Haj i Khalid bin Abd Samad, Minister of Federal Territories, who showed strong support for the development of the local arts and acknowledged that Malaysia is a nation brimming with talent but may currently lack supported avenues and right policies that can contribute in showcasing their potentials.

Art In The City is a 6-month long campaign that showcases 14 artworks from 13 legendary and grassroots artists with the aim to position and recognise Kuala Lumpur as a cultural and creative city. The strategic campaign will be laced with mural paintings, monthly traditional performances roundtable discussions with local artists, art workshops at corporate offices, and a pop-up visual fair as a strategic effort to increase greater awareness of the local arts and culture scene.

Designed to raise greater awareness of the local arts and cultural scene, and to encourage Malaysians to visit art galleries and museums around Kuala Lumpur, Art In The City strives to further propagate the notion of Kuala Lumpur as an upcoming cultural and creative hub. Besides publicly displayed art pieces, Art in the City features a myriad of activities which Malaysians can enjoy including mural paintings, monthly performances in collaboration with PUSAKA, regional mentorship programme with OUR ArtProjects, mejabulat with RogueArt art workshops at corporate offices, and a pop-up visual fair called SHIFT.

The campaign started in January 2018 with a call to local artists to submit works of art that represents Malaysia. Over 1,000 pieces were submitted and they were narrowed down to 30 by a panel of academics as well as arts and culture experts, after which the shortlist was opened for public voting After highly competitive rounds of voting process, Art In The City will feature 10 artworks from Suzi Chua, Brindha Kumar, Samantha Cheah (YueYue), Syamsul Addenno, Nor Aziela binti Ahmad, ART TECH, Natasha Iman, Ahmad Sanuri Zulkefli, Sivabalan Arumugam and Jing Chung. Additionally, the outdoor display will feature 4 artworks from legendary artists such as Dato Mohd Hoessein Enas, Datuk Ibrahim Hussein and Kok Yew Puah, made possible by the National Art Gallery.

For maximum exposure of artwork to reach city dwellers, CENDANA worked together with Kuala Lumpur City Hall in strategising locations of artwork display. This is also made possible with synergised efforts with public and private involved in the effort, namely Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) National Art Gallery Foundation, NSTP, Wariscan, and KL Hop-On Hop-Off.

Amidst the historic Kuala Lumpur iconic buildings, Art In the City brings together the cultural backdrop and stories in our thriving city transforming our landscape into a colourful visual experience as a must-see destination for art lovers. So, should you be visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia soon, keep your eyes peeled and have your camera ready for artworks being showcased on buildings.

For more information of Art in the City, log on to www.cendana.com.my, with official hashtags #CENDANAMalaysia and #ArtInTheCityKL .