Championing visual art in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By A&M

CIMB Artober Art & Soul, an art fair in its second iteration, will take place from 6 to 8 October, alongside CIMB Artober Fashion Week. These two programmes are taking place simultaneously at MITEC, Kuala Lumpur, and are open to the public, with free admission. CIMB Artober Art & Soul forms part of CIMB Artober, a three-month campaign by the bank to champion visual art, which takes place from 1 October to 31 December 2023.

Most of the participating galleries are based in Malaysia. Returning galleries are A+ Works of Art, Artas Art Gallery, Core Design Gallery, G13 Gallery, La Galerie du Monde, Rissim Contemporary, Suma Orientalis Fine Art, TAKSU, and ZHAN Art | Space. New entrants are Art+ Contemporary, Centexs Commercial Sarawak, Galeri Puteh, Public Art Alliance, Qing Gallery, SARENG, Segaris Art Centre, Wei-Ling Gallery, Yayasan Hasanah. And from the Philippines, The Drawing Room is also taking part.

The fair has doubled its participating galleries from last year, and gallerists expect it to grow from strength to strength. “We believe it is important to support CIMB’s initiatives to promote art in Malaysia.” says Joshua Lim, Director, A+ Works of Art. “CIMB has been open to suggestions about improving CIMB Artober and its art fair, Art & Soul.”

The fair has its sights set to expand beyond Malaysia. “Initially the whole thing was a Malaysia-centric affair,” elaborates Joshua. He shares that at least 15 gallerists from Indonesia are expected to visit, to see if they may take part in the future. “I hope CIMB Art & Soul continues to engage the region and becomes a major regional art fair. This will strengthen Malaysian art and the local art market.”

Phornphop Sittiruk, ‘The Image of Disappear’, 2017. Image courtesy of A+ Works of Art.

A+ Works of Art will in this vein show not only works from Malaysian artists, but from the region, in alignment with the gallery’s programming. Among the artists whose works will be presented in its booth are Amin Taasha, Arie Dyanto, Danot, Gan Chin Lee, Izat Arif, Phornphop Sittiruk, Phuan Thai Meng, Nadiah Bamadhaj, Trịnh Cẩm Nhi, Vertical Submarine, Yee I-Lann, in a deliberately Southeast Asian showcase.

Choy Chun Wei, ‘Humans: Fictional Workshop’, 2023, mixed media on jute canvas, 120cm x 120cm. Image courtesy of Wei-Ling Gallery.

Wei-Ling Gallery is a Malaysian gallery joining the fair for the first time. “We feel the fair is beginning to gain some traction,” says Director Lim Wei-Ling. “We like boutique fairs as they provide a deeper experience for audiences. CIMB Artober is headed in the right direction by moving the venue for the fair to MITEC. In view of all of the above we are hoping it will be a good first outing for us!” The gallery will present the works of Cheong Kiet Cheng, Chen Wei Meng, Chin Kong Yee, Choy Chun Wei, Hamidi Hadi, Norma Abbas, Sean Lean and Yau Bee Ling.

Chong Kiet Cheng, ‘Nirvana II’, 2023, mixed media on canvas, 154cm x 226cm. Image courtesy of Wei-Ling Gallery.

CIMB Artober Fashion Week 2023 will take place at the same time, with 12 participants from Malaysia and Indonesia holding four fashion shows over the four days of the fair. They are Ash Majid of Langkawi, ETHEREAL by Amni Hareez Sarjanisham, Anuar Faizal, Athan Siahaan, CARRO, Ezuwan Ismail, Daliey Fazdly, House of Hasto, Me2We X Dato’ Zainal Abidin, Pink Jambu, Radzuan Radziwill and ZUUSAHA. And from Indonesia, there are Athan Siahaan and House of Hasto. There will also be a Pahang Pavilion, which will showcase heritage textiles belonging to Her Majesty Queen Azizah of Malaysia.

For more information about CIMB Artober Art & Soul, look out for our next story on the fair, which will highlight more artworks that participating galleries will be presenting. In the meantime, you can read more information here on the dedicated microsite.

This article is presented in partnership with CIMB Artober.

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