Production crew and performers of the ‘Jalin’ showcase gather for a group photo: (clockwise, from top left) Jamal, Gwendoline Esther, Shahidah ‘Mochi’, Jack Kin Lim, Umar Azizi (stage manager), and Ariff Nagiuddin (coordinator) who are all from Poets Passport MY; as well as Maclean Patrick, Celine Tiang, Bethany Balan, Angelina Bong – all of whom are from WoK.
KUCHING: Wordsmiths of Kuching (WoK) is teaming up with Kuala Lumpur-based Poets Passport MY (PPMY) to bring the first spoken-word theatre to Kuching, set to be staged at Location X (the old Ting & Ting Supermarket) this Sunday (Oct 6).
With curtain-raising at 8pm, the show ‘Jalin’ is run in conjunction with What About Kuching (WAK) 2019.
‘Jalin’, together with the accompanying workshop to be conducted in the morning, reflect the relationship between Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo by using the 18-point Agreement between then-Malaya and Sarawak in the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63), as its core.
In this respect, director Jamal Raslan hopes that the communities, the poets, the workshop participants and the audience would leave ‘Jalin’ with a renewed sense of understanding of one another, which would inspire further efforts to foster deeper and more meaningful ties between Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.
“Since I first performed in Kuching in 2017, WoK and the city have never failed to be supportive, empathetic and committed, not just to the literary cause but also to community-building. This kindness has fostered a deep attachment within me that has stretched across the South China Sea.
‘Jalin is an effort on my end – someone who has been practising spoken word in Klang Valley since 2010 to create a lasting relationship between the two cities,” he said.
Jamal added that the word ‘Jalin’ was chosen because it means ‘to link, unite, connect, intertwine and weave’ in Malay.s
“I also hope that Jalin woulde introduce spoken-word (genre) to the people of Kuching in a way that would inspire more people to support the efforts of WoK, and grow the writing community in Kuching.”
‘Jalin’ will feature four selected poets from WoK and three from PPMY.
The ‘Jalin’ workshop on the same day, commencing at 10am, is a writing circle that will be exploring, documenting and archiving the issues surrounding the relationship between Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak. It is also open to the public.
The workshop fee is RM40 per adult, and RM30 per student.
Tickets to the ‘Jalin’ showcase go for RM30 per person.
Those interested can sign up for the workshop via https://forms.gle/9E2QqKNr2SdSk2mt9; to book a spot for the showcase, go to https://forms.gle/aydhds3XM2xp9tpw5.
Alternatively, contact WoK via [email protected], or via Facebook and Instagram by searching @wordsmithsofkuching.
Alternatvely, call 016-279 2350 (Angelina) / 012-887 6889 (Laura).
Besides Jalin, WoK is also back with Word of Mouth KCH’s ‘Special Edition III’ with MyWritersFest 19 for the third time at WAK, bringing together poets and storytellers from Kuching and Kuala Lumpur.
This will be held at Le Café Rouge this Oct 4, with the programme to run from 8pm to 10 pm. Admission is free.
WoK is a group of Kuching-based storytellers, performance poets, spoken word artists and those interested in bringing their page to the stage.
Poets Passport MY is a Kuala Lumpur-based poetry community led by Jamal Raslan, a renowned spoken-word artist from Kuala Lumpur who is making his return to WAK for the third year running.
For more information or to download the calendar of events, visit aboutkuching.com.
Programme booklet are also available for free across Kuching.
For updates, find WAK on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter under @aboutkuching.