KOTA KINABALU: The State Cultural Board will be hosting a bigger Folk Art Exhibition (FAE) in conjunction with the Sabah International Folklore Festival (SIFF) this year.
The Festival however will be missing its other main component, namely the International Folklore Dance Competition.
Performances from foreign folklore dance troupes, in addition to competing local teams, has always been the main attraction in the annual festival but the organizer will have to put it on hold this time around due to ongoing upgrading works at the Penampang Cultural Centre.
To make up for the shortcoming, the organizer will make the FAE as exciting as it can be and treat locals and visitors to a week-long arts exhibition and cultural songs and music performances.
This will be the fourth installment of the FAE since its inclusion as a major event in the SIFF, and for the first time this year it will highlight various works such as paintings, photography, bead weaving, pottery, calligraphy as well as music brought especially from Japan.
The exhibition themed, Understanding Eastern Culture, will be held from June 25 to 30 at the Sabah Art Gallery (SAG) building located near the National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN) Complex at Mile 2 Jalan Penampang.
Entrance to the exhibition is free.
Sabah Cultural Board chairman Datuk Wences Angang said they would be using the JKKN building as the main venue this year, and therefore could not accommodate a larger number of performers as the main auditorium could only seat 650 persons.
SIFF 2013 will however still have its usual local folk dance competition or ‘Tugu Budaya’, on June 26 and 27, involving nine primary and 10 secondary schools from Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
One international group from Indonesia will also be joining the event under the secondary school category.
The Festival will also have its International Folk Song and Music Competition on June 25, although only two international groups have confirmed their participation so far.
They are Xian Conservatory Folk Quintet from China and Ranranga Dance Academy from Sri Lanka.
Including the seven Malaysian troupes, the organizer said they were expecting a total of 10 teams to compete in the the event.
“We will welcome the arrival of international participation from Sri Lanka, Korea, Indonesia and Brunei and nationwide participating groups from June 22,” said Wences during a press conference to announce the event yesterday.
He said next year the event would return to the Penampang venue and the international folklore dance competition would resume as usual.
Tickets for the competitions can be bought in advance from the State Cultural Board office at Wisma Budaya or acquired at the entrance of JKKN auditorium before the event.
Another usual side event, Sabah Traditional Food and Handicraft Exhibition will also be held, from June 25 to 27, in front of the JKKN building.
On the expected reception, the Board’s general manager Datuk Rosmadi Datu Sulai said they estimated a turnout of about 3,000 attendance throughout the whole event.
SIFF was first held in 2001, with the aim to promote Sabah as a unique destination for cultural tourism.
Last year the event attracted 18 international troupes for its international folklore dance competition.