Southeast Asian Postcolonialities "Reorientations: The Indian Ocean World" An International and Interdisciplinary Conference.

(From a notice put out by the organisers.)

In line with the objectives of SEAP (Southeast Asian Postcolonialities - an international colloquium hosted by the University of Malaya's Arts and Social Sciences Faculty in 2006) the forthcoming colloquium - Reorientations: The Indian Ocean World - will reaffirm the on-going preoccupation with the location and agency of Southeast Asia within a global imaginary. We will have an art exhibition at the colloquium show-casing the Malaysian artists Latiff Mohidin, Khalil Ibrahim and Chang Fee Ming and the photos of Sultan Ismail. We plan to showcase documentaries on the diasporic Cape Malay and the development of Taarab music with its links to the dhow as metaphor. We will feature fusion dance from Bali and a discourse on dance and movement from the Philippines.

This event is organised by the Dept of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University Malaya

Date: 8am - 6pm, August 11&12th, 2007, Venue: Museum of Asian Art, University of Malaya, Registration Fees: RM 100 for public, RM 50 for students (inclusive of stationery and lunch)

Official website: http://english.um.edu.my/seap/index.htm

Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves: A devised play about the dreams, aspirations, challenges and hopes of people living with HIV/AIDS. This highly charged and much talked about drama first played to a sell out audience at Actors Studio, Bangsar last year. Now it's back with newly devised scenes and a whole new theatrical experience for its audience.

This new staging is a mobile performance experience and so is limited to only 50 participants per show. For inquiries and tickets: Food Foundry: Block B Happy Mansion Jalan 17/13 PJ Tel: Siew Ling / 012 330 5805 Cloudbreak Studio: P2-2 Plaza Damas Jalan Sri Hartamas 1 KL Tel : Jade / 012 330 2600

4 true stories come to you live and direct - all written and performed by people living with HIV/AIDS.

Venue: Dram Projects Studio, Block B, Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13, Petaling Jaya

Time/Date: 8pm / Friday / 29 June '07, 3pm & 8pm / Saturday / 30 June '07, 3pm & 8pm / Sunday / 1 July '07 (Matinee shows are prioritized for school children & students. Groups are encouraged to book in advance)

Tickets by donation: RM30 (Adults), RM10 (Students, senior citizens)

This is a Community Theatre Initiative by Cloudbreak, All proceeds from these performances will support ongoing Art Therapy Projects at Welcome Community Home.

1st July 2007 update

As part of the Not that Balai Arts Festival 2007, Fallen Leaves will be staged at:

1. 67 Tempenis Satu at 8.30 pm on 25th July 2007 , and
2. Central Market Annexe at 8.30 pm on 3rd August 2007.

Catch it if you have not already done so. It is an eye opener. The performances are all by the inmates of Welcome Home who have never acted before, and some of the delivery is better than certain stuff you see on far more expensive productions on our stages.

Salleh ben Joned - readings from Adam's Dream

We all know why he couldn't make it to the book launch during the Kuala LumpurInternational Literary Festival 2007, and we were disappointed though we understood.

Salleh is much better now and will be doing a reading from his latest books Adam's Dream at Silverfish Books, 67-1, Jalan Telawi Tiga, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday 4th of July, 2007 at 5.30pm. So why have it on a Wednesday? Because it is his birthday! Yes, Salleh was born on the 4th of July. (We have, since, changed the date and time of the event to the 7th of July but Salleh's birthday is still in the 4th though.)

Expect to have a good time. Bring your copies of Adam's Dream along for Salleh to sign, or you can get copies at Silverfish, of course.

Adam's Dream is an intensely personal collection of poems, some of which are extremely painful to read. But there are several fun ones too.

KLILF 2007: Camilla Gibb calls Rushdie a mediocre writer

The Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival 2007 has just ended after three days and over thirty different events featuring writers from over ten countries. Holding the events in a shopping mall (this is MallAsia after all) had its plusses and minuses. For one thing it had a warmer (in some instances literally) and easier atmosphere. You could have cappuccino and a giant piece of carrot cake (I didn't see much wine about) while listening to your favourite author, and there was no necessity to sneak off to the nearby mall between sessions for shopping. You were already in one. But on the other hand, some of the mall employees had difficulty understanding why we didn't like their piped-in music played so loud and their industrial fan.

Anyway, from early feedback, it appears to have been an enjoyable experience. There were the obvious crowd pullers. Tash Aw (Malaysia) was without doubt the most popular, with people spilling over, down the staircase at Alexis. Benjamin Zephaniah (Britain) was the other top draw, wowing the young and the old with his infectious streetwise poetry and rhythm. Dina Zaman (Malaysia) got good crowds and interesting questions for both her questions. (One participant got so involved in the discussion that she purportedly stalked Azmi, the moderator, to the parking lot after the session and proceeded to explain to him the difference between the foreskin and the hymen, because she felt her original 'question' on Dina's tongue-in-cheek essay 'Born again Virgins' had not been adequately addressed.) Another well attended session was with Camilla Gibb (Canada) who responded to a question from the floor by saying that she was not afraid of having a fatwa against her for bringing up Muslim issues in Sweetness in the Belly, and adding (quite unnecessarily one would have thought) that the fatwa against Salman Rushdie was "... the best thing that happened to his career ... he is a mediocre writer."

Gasp!

And then there was Antares, who explained carefully and slowly how politicians have evolved from a specie of reptiles ...

Media launch of KLILF 2007

The Kuala Lumpur International Festival 2007KLILF 2007 (KLILF 2007) was officially launched today by Minister of Women, Welfare and Community Development, YB Dato' Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who is also the MP for Lembah Pantai, . The theme for this years event is "THE NATION AT 50."

This year's event will be held in Bangsar Baru, primarily at Bangsar Village from the 28th to 30th of March.

Several international writers and Malaysian writers have confirmed their attendance at the festival including Randa Abdel Fattah and Brian Castro (Australia), Benjamin Zephaniah (Britain), Goenawan Mohamad (Indonesia), Camilla Gibb (Canada), Eda Kriseova (Czech Republic), Elizabeth Smither (New Zealand), Word Forward Slam Poets (Singapore), Simithra Rahubadhe (Sri Lanka) and Tash Aw, Dina Zaman, Salleh ben Joned, Wong Phui Nam, Cecil Rajendra and Antares from Malaysia.

The organiser of the event have decided to extend early bird registration period to March 15th (from March 10th) because we have just printed the fliers andpostcards.

Watch a slidshow of the event here: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/Slide%20Shows/KLILF2007/KLILF.asp

For information of registration and tentative program: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/LitFest.htm