The National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) of Malaysia has announced the inaugural edition of the Kuala Lumpur Biennale, set to take place across various venues in the Malaysian capital from 1 November to 31 March. The exhibition will present contemporary and modern works organised around five Belas (‘Be Loved’) themes: belas alam (love for nature), belas warisan (love for heritage), belas insan (love for people), belas haiwan (love for animals), and belasungkawa (love for our legendary icons). No details of participating artists are yet available.
There have been concerns raised about the value of such event in a city with severe limitations on freedoms of expression and human rights. In an essay for Arts Equator, Lasalle College of Arts lecturer Sunitha Janamohanan warns against a ‘biennial-as-collage’ and the lack critical discourse (which is a pressing issue in the country), arguing that such a biennial ‘is wasteful and indulgent as a mere feature in the tourism calendar, as a government-backed spectacle that makes no lasting impression nor contributes to real development or advancement for the arts, let alone the people’.
9 June 2017
