Tiles of George Town | A Contemporary Take

Clay Craft Exhibition

Through exploration of contemporary techniques and materials, Su Ling Teoh of Either / Or Design recreates what was once familiar with a modern twist, offering original designs reminiscent of our cultural heritage.

The exhibition reveals some of the key stages of this highly advanced technique, allowing the audience to see the actual shape and form of the tile designs from the early stages through to completion. It also shows the unsuccessful part of the process, though what is shown is merely a tiny fraction of the actual challenge this art form poses.

Biography

Either / Or Design is an artisanal jewellery brand founded in 2019, which encapsulates the true meaning of slow fashion. Su Ling Teoh, the founder and designer-maker behind this Malaysian brand, has brought a new definition of handmade jewellery, by presenting the Malaysian heritage in the form of modern jewellery design. Through exploration of contemporary techniques, Su Ling handcrafts each piece of jewellery with specialised materials including jewellery-grade polymer clay and Czech glass.

Born and raised in Penang, the founder’s love for her hometown has led her to create Either / Or Design’s signature collection, “Heritage”, inspired by the traditional Peranakan tiles found in George Town. Although a one-woman show, Either / Or Design strives to promote appreciation and preservation of the heritage of Penang through original creations that highlight the beauty of this UNESCO World Heritage City.

Either / Or Design was selected by Penang Global Tourism, the State Government’s organisation, as the local artisan in their July 2021 edition of Penang Artisan Feature. She was also selected as one of the collaborating artists for George Town Festival 2021. Her unique designs have gained the attention of the mainstream media including The Star, Options by The Edge Malaysia, Guang Ming Daily, Penang Art District, and The Expat Magazine.

Biographies

Ling Tang
Director

Tang is a theatre director, actor, playwright, producer, and curator. She received a Bachelor of Art at the Beijing Central Academy of Drama. She graduated from Ecole Philippe Gaulier and Laboratory of Movement Study in the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, France.

Tang’s works span the fields of theatre, film and television. Her directed pieces were staged in the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Tianjin Cultural Centre Grand Theatre and Shanghai Grand Theatre. In 2017, she directed Dong Di Yin (動地吟) 2017: Gari, Tari…Lari, a collaboration with Malaysian poets. Recently, she performed in Palaces《十殿》, a major touring production produced by Taiwanese theatre group, Our Theatre, on commission by the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), National Theater & Concert Hall and the National Taichung Theater.

In 2015, Tang founded Now Theatre (鬧劇場) with the sponsorship of National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN).

 

Stephen Teoh
Stage Designer

Graduated from the Faculty of Painting in Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Italy, Teoh is involved in various set designs. His cross-disciplinary collaborations include installation and live painting in “Leave Me Alone Butoh Performance” (2006) and “Butoh Jam” (2009) where he worked closely with experimental musicians, lighting designers, and Butoh performers.

 

Ling Goh
Executive Producer | Performer | Puppetry Instructor

Goh is the director of Penang’s Teochew Puppet and Opera House and a fourth generation Teochew iron-rod master puppeteer. She masters the intricacies of iron-rod puppet manipulation and the nuances of each prominent archetype in Teochew opera. She is adept in opera singing and is proficient in various opera instruments, such as drums and the dulcimer. She once studied the art of opera with prestigious artists, such as learning opera body movement from Lin Wen Yu from Shantou Xiqu School and vocal music from Wang Shao Yu. She is also an apprentice to Yao Xuan Qiu, the Chinese national top performer of Teochew opera and the recipient of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Award of China. In 2009, she established Kim Giak Low Choon, a live-size Teochew opera troupe, drawing together over thirty local, Thai and mainland Chinese performers and musicians. The troupe disbanded in 2013. To mark the end of the disbandment, the troupe staged a mesmerising two-night opera performance in PenangPAC. In 2014, Goh founded Teochew Puppet and Opera House. In recent years, she has been actively participating in art festivals in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, and China, devoting herself to promoting Teochew puppet and opera around the world.

 

FAZZ
Music Director | Live Performance

Formed in 2011, FAZZ consists of members yonlynn (vocal), RGB (bass), Grace (keyboard/piano), Aabid (saxophone/clarinet) and Ayam Sorga (drums). Despite being frequently identified as a jazz band, FAZZ focuses on the delivery of swing with other influences, such as electronic, pop, and rock. Showmanship and storytelling has also been FAZZ’s signature style on stage, for the band is heavily influenced by a theatrical narrative. FAZZ also had touring experiences locally and abroad, covering cities such as Seoul, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo, Singapore, and more.

 

Abdul Shakir
Projection Mapping

Abdul Shakir is a multidisciplinary multimedia artist and the co-founder of Filamen, Malaysia’s renowned new media art collective which focuses on projection mapping, light installation and interactive installation projects. Shakir has worked in post-production and production agencies, and involved in various design-and-art-related projects producing graphic design, motion graphics, projection mapping and interactive installation work. His works have been displayed internationally in China, Hong Kong, Spain, and the USA. Some of his works were shown in LAMPU Festival, Urbanscapes Art Festival, Rainforest in the City, and George Town Festival.

 

Liang Mong-Han (Taiwan)
Puppet Maker

Liang is a puppetry practitioner. She actively works in puppet show productions and creates puppets and masks for theatrical use. In recent years, she established Puppet Workbench Studio with puppeteer Chen Chia-Hao. Through Puppet Workbench Studio, both Liang and Chen combine the experimental elements of contemporary puppet show with the traditional puppet manipulation skills to create puppet shows at tabletop scale.

 

forrest wong
Performer | Puppet Maker | Props Designer & Maker

forrest completed his BA in Sculpture at the ISI Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2018. In 2016, he co-initiated a collaborative art unit called “P(art)Y LAB”. He was one of the finalists of ‘Bakat Muda Sezaman’ organised by the Balai Seni Visual Negara, Malaysia (2019), and in the same year, he participated in the Setouchi Triennale, Japan, with his art project “THANK UFO”. He had his solo exhibition “Pass By” in Malaysia (2018), and his work was featured in the “Collecting Storytelling, Contemporary art from Indonesia” group show at Synesthesia Art Gallery in Brooklyn, New York (2019). forrest hails from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, and currently resides in George Town, Penang.

 

Low Zhi Kai
Performer | Props Designer & Maker

Low has been involved in theatre production since 2012, from being a stagehand and backstage crew to a stage manager. In 2016, he co-founded Plasticity Theatre Troupe. He debuted as a puppeteer in the contemporary shadow puppet show “Plastic City”. He tried his hand at traditional Teochew iron-rod puppetry in the same year. He joined the production “Journey to the West: Gossamer Cave,” produced by Teochew Puppet and Opera House and ZXC Theatre Troupe as a puppeteer. Since then, he learned the technique and culture of traditional puppetry from master puppeteer Ling Goh.

Date:

9 - 24 July 2022

Time:

10.00am - 10.00pm

Venue:

Urbania, Ground Floor Straits Quay

Free-To-Attend

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