The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s (KLPac) first ever Open Day on the 27th of January was a resounding success, drawing a crowd of approximately five thousand to its premises in the lush 35-acre Sentul Park.

Quite likely the first event of its kind and scale in Malaysia, throngs of theatre goers and, more importantly, non-theatre goers flocked to KLPac to check out the Open Day. Visitors had the opportunity to experience first-hand KLPac’s facilities along with various forms of performing and visual arts through the 60 plus activities planned for the day.

In fact, all the activities were over subscribed, including the performances, workshops, film / documentary screenings and, of course, the guided tours, which were an absolute favourite as visitors had the opportunity to explore areas normally off-limits to the public such as the catwalk and backstage.

On another level, the Open Day showed that the barely 3-year-old KLPac has certainly become the home of the performing arts community in Malaysia. Without hesitation, over 200 arts practitioners across all fields agreed to join hands with KLPac, on a purely voluntary basis, to promote the many facets of arts to the general public. Many have collaborated with KLPac and performed in its space since it opened in May 2005.

Speaking about the extraordinary day, KLPac’s Artistic Director, Joe Hasham said, “It was a great opportunity for the public to get a feel of what we do here at KLPac and what the arts is all about. We’re very fortunate that all the arts practitioners understood what we were trying to do and were happy to help out – none were paid. It’s all about getting people excited about the arts.”

Some of the performing arts groups and artistes that were involved include singer-songwriters Broken Scar, Peter Brown & Markiza, Tony Leo, Otam and Nick Davis; vocal groups / vocalists SIX2EIGHT, Young KL Singers, KL Children’s Choir, Wicked Pitches, Doreen Tang and Shruti Jayashankar; dance groups / dancers Balletbase, Kwang Tung Dance Troupe, Nyoba Kan, Kinetic Dance Studio, Sirocco Dance Secret, Loi Chin Yu, Darlene & Amar and Kayla; musicians The KLPac Sinfonietta, Chung Hwa Orchestra and Ms. Sube; visual artists Au Sow Yee, Victor Chin, Kuen Stephanie, Yvonne Ou Yong and Kelab Shashin Fotografi KL; theatre groups / practitioners The Oral Stage, KL Ensemble, Llewellyn Marsh, Joanna Bessey, Lorna Henderson, Teng Ky-Gan, Johann Lim, Mark Beau de Silva, Helena Foo, Joe Hasham and Dato’ Faridah Merican; filmmakers Juliane Block, Reel Power and Tony Pietra; arts supporters Goethe-Insitut KL and Sentul Park Koi Centre.

With a packed 2008 programme including brand-new initiatives like The Platform, it certainly looks like an exciting year ahead for KLPac and the local arts scene.

Source: The Expat December 2007
This article has been transferred from Expat KL
This artilce has been edited for ExpatGomalaysia.com