As we await the Penang Art District to take on physical form, let’s take a look at how other nearby countries are running theirs.
By Tho Mun Yi
The vision for Penang Art District is to house the single largest combination of art galleries, exhibition spaces, studios, art supplies store and bookshops, and other carefully curated retail and F&B outlets in Malaysia within a 100,000-sq ft build-up space. This creative environment will also allow mini campuses of art and design colleges, dance and music schools, arts and crafts workshops, and cultural museums to thrive.
Art districts are spots specially dedicated to the teaching, developing, and showcasing of the arts. Hosting workshops, talks and seminars play an important role in nurturing a community that is appreciative of the arts and sees its cultural importance.
Production facilities and rehearsal studios housed at a central location will also aid in the development of the arts, giving artists accessibility to resources and encouraging collaborations. Lastly, an art district’s galleries, halls, and auditoriums provide platforms for showcasing artistic creations to the public.
Here are four art districts in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China contributing to the arts within their own capacity.
Buried in history and largely forgotten, the abandoned warehouse was given a new life when a group of persistent Kaohsiung artists decided to inject some creativity into the area. The rebirth of Pier-2 Art Center serves as a spot where locals and tourists converge to appreciate creative expressions in both fine and public art.
In 2006, the Kaohsiung City Bureau of Cultural Affairs took over the Pier-2 Art Center, starting a series of exhibitions and festivals. Today, all kinds of art activities are held intermittently at the district.
Wanting to spark collaborations and produce Kaohsiung-inspired art, the Pier-2 Artist in Residence (PAIR) puts out an open call every year, inviting international artists to create work that expresses Kaohsiung’s local culture, geographic environment, cultural landscape, social conditions, and other issues.
Dubbed the “Creative Hub of Taipei” the park has positioned itself as a centre to inspire and nurture creativity and innovation. Activities include film shootings, press conferences, extended or short-term exhibitions, award ceremonies, symposiums, seminars, fashion shows, and much more.
By collaborating with foreign countries to showcase their arts internationally, the Taiwanese are on a mission to promote their culture to a global audience. A recent example was their 2018 series of programmes titled Isle to Isle, done in collaboration with Penang’s own George Town Festival.
PMQ wants to act as a stage for Hong Kong create-preneurs to showcase their work. Currently, the not-for-profit social enterprise hosts over 100 design studio shops and pop-up stores. There is a multi-purpose hall, courtyard, and marketplace serving as platforms for people to engage with creative experiences, products, and services.
By clustering top create-preneurs together alongside retail and food and beverage outlets in a refurbished heritage building, PMQ aims to attract high-quality retail traffic both locally and internationally. One of its success stories is Loom Loop, a fashion brand that got its start at PMQ and went on to be featured at New York Fashion Week.
An industrial graveyard turned art complex, 798 Art District is one of the largest spots dedicated to contemporary arts in China. With Maoist slogans still on its walls, the refurbished factories and warehouses form a gritty landscape despite being populated by many visitors (800 million in 2018, to be exact) who flock to its galleries, museums, restaurants and shopping outlets.
The art district has a varied pool of galleries ranging from ones that are Danish-run to ones that are focused on North Korean artists. It also acted as host to the first ever Beijing Art Summit in March 2019, attracting delegates from around the world. Co-founder of 798 Art District, Wang Yanling said that one of the summit’s aims was to “establish a cultural dialogue between the East and West”.
Once unveiled, will Penang Art District’s built space join the ranks of these other art districts? In the meantime, the team’s efforts are focused on providing capacity building to the many practitioners that make up the whole ecosystem of Penang’s growing art scene.
Tho Mun Yi is a computer graduate who used to work a technical writing job. Standing at the safety shores of her job, she looked out one day at the uncharted seas of creative writing. In 2018, she left the security of her job and built her first website which has been serving as her fishing net while she navigates the seas of creative writing.