KOTA KINABALU: Those interested in the arts and culture of Sabah are welcome to visit the Aramaiti Art Fest at the Aruba Cafe in Tanjung Aru.
Among the many things which would be available to the public are busking, batik painting, temporary henna tattoo making, caricature drawing, stone painting and copper carving.
According to art consultant, Khalid Shamsuddin Arshad, the event would start at a small scale to see what they could achieve in the future.
“Next time, it would be more systematic. We will be doing this every weekend, as Tanjung Aru is one of the best places to see the sunset,” said the Kuala Lumpur native when interviewed.
Khalid also stated that as it was a tourist spot, there was the opportunity to do a lot of things, further adding that he was very happy with the outcome of the event.
He told reporters that he was looking for support and was planning to propose the idea to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment as he believes that such an event would help increase tourism in Sabah.
Meanwhile, William Cheng, who is the organizer for Aruba, said that they were aiming to create an “Arts and Cultural Street” and the event will continue tomorrow and every weekend.
“People can bring family members here; their children can enjoy the beach and join in painting as this is a very educational program,” William said.
He also added that more local products would be brought to the event.
Professor Datuk Dr Ghazally Ismail, vice chancellor of the University College Sabah Foundation told reporters when interviewed that he was very proud to see how creative Sabahans were.
“It is the multicultural background which Sabahans are born into that leads to such level of creativity,” he said here yesterday.
He further added that the creative industry which is worth billions, should be supported so that young and new artisans could be given hope, while informing the organizers that other colleges and universities should be invited, saying that the event was not exclusive to one party.