Abdul Karim (standing centre), Zuraini (standing fifth left), Snowdan (standing eighth left) and Tan (standing sixth left) pose for a group photo with WAK participants and guests. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Sept 2): What About Kuching (WAK) Festival has the potential to put Sarawak on the world map and boost tourism, says Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
The Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister said the festival, which will be staged from Oct 1 to 31 at exciting venues around the heart of Kuching city, has been the biggest edition by far, featuring 181 unique events, 455 daily events, 59 collaborators with 34 locations that will be activated throughout the month.
“Among the unique events include outdoor movie screening at the Java Pier along the river; music showcases at Kuching’s hotspots; DJ music performance at the Museum Gardens; knitting installations at Padungan and Bishopgate Streets; Immersive Theatre at Think & Tink; Wild About Kuching at the Old Courthouse; Artistically About Kuching & Sproutfest arts and gardening showcase at tHe Spring Shopping Mall, and more.
“The great response is really a testimony to the depth of creativity and zeal we have here in Kuching and Sarawak, and I applaud everyone who will be putting on their respective showcases for us come October,” he said, adding that around 300,000 people are expected to attend the various events.
He said in order for WAK to attain the levels that it aspires to, the festival needs more support and sponsorships from non-governmental organisations and private sector companies.
“My ministry is pleased to provide the seed funding to activate this excellent community initiative but to elevate this movement further requires your partnership and commitment,” he said.
He also said what attracted him to WAK was the involvement of youths in the festival’s many activities.
“It is from here we can see that they have a lot of talent and uniqueness in them and they are so passionate about certain things such as dance or performing arts.
“If we can unleash their talents, it might bring them to greater heights and I can see that the organisers have come up with all these events for the youths to unleash their talents,” he said.
The WAK movement aims to become one of the largest open access festivals in Asia in the years to come. Through such platform, local creatives will be able to aspire to world class standards in their respective genres as they showcase and perform alongside world class foreign acts.
A good network of collaborations with international festivals and creative organisations established through the WAK channels will also open up more opportunities for local talents to stage their mettle at similar festivals overseas.
Printed calendar programmes are available at establishments across the city and regional tourism offices and digital versions are downloadable via the WAK 2022 website at aboutkuching.com
Abdul Karim’s wife Datin Sri Zuraini Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan, and WAK Festival director Donald Tan were among those present at the event.