Earlier this month Malaysian-based street artist and designer They held his first ever group show called Kecik-Kecik, a showcase of more than 250 miniature artworks by 29 local artists in his art studio at The Annexe, Central Market.


I got a chance to hang with They at his studio after the opening night. Picked up an Anokayer painting and ended up talking about the show and well, just art in general:

MEI: How did you come up with the concept of Kecik-Kecik?
THEY: If you look at the music scene in Malaysia, there are gigs every week which is why it's really progressing. With visual arts, there isn't a real platfrorm unless you go to art galleries where the environment is always so serious. What I wanted to give these newcomers an environment which they're comfortable in.

M: I noticed how there was a freestyle battle sometime last night. Obviously they've made themselves very comfortable...
T: *laughs* They were just b-boys and MCs who wanted to express themselves so why not, right? I pay a flat rate every month (for rent) so we can do whatever we want.

M: True. So coming from a graff background, is street art the main focus of your show?
T: Not really, we showcase anything that has to do with visual arts. Photography, painting, and obviously graffiti is art too.

M: Can you describe the Malaysian graff scene?
T: Well, it started about9-10 years ago and now there are over 60 writers in KL alone! What you can judge them by is consistency.

M: Is there a distinctive style in the scene?
T: There is a lot of influence from New York graffiti - wild style. But now you really can't say that there's one distinct style because everyone has their own thing. There's a big mash-up of all different styles.

M: Which is evident in the artworks at this group show. So what role does contemporary art - especially street art play in the mainstream Malaysian society?
T: We've come a long way and it's a lot more accepted now than how it was before. I think that if you get out there and really show off your skills then people will recognize it as something positive.

M: Yeah, that's pretty much true for anything, it's always about quality. So any future plans?
T: There are three shows coming up in the next two months - there's Klik-Klik, a photography show on the 20th-27th of January, then there's show for customized hats, tees, shoes in the beginning of February (1st - 8th) and Kecik-Kecik #2.

M: Awesome. Well, thanks so for your time and I guess I'll see you soon!
T: No bigs, see you soon!

So for those of you who didn't get to check out the first show, the pre-calling for the second show has already started and it's bound to hit on the 23rd - 29th of February. Be sure to check it out, or better yet sign up to exhibit your artwork! You can contact They or Bibichun for further details.

So, what are you waiting for? ;)