Melaka River Arts Project
Something unheard of took place in Melaka in February: 8 groups of artists and 1 graffiti artist got together to repaint a whole row of historical shophouses along the river in Jalan Kampung Hulu.
Named the Melaka River Art Project (Projekarm), the initiative was conceptualised by the minister of Melaka, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam, who wanted to find a way to beautify the city using art as the centrepiece. Many companies vied for the opportunity to head the project, but the bid finally went to young construction company N-genereight. After the Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah (MBMB) gave the go-ahead, N-genereight roped in avant-garde Art Studio to realise the minister’s vision of enhancing Melaka’s arts and culture scene. Together, these two teams administered the birth of a burgeoning creative scene for this historic city.
The initial idea was to showcase a significant storyline between the past and present, but it was decided instead to utilise images that were more representative of Melaka. Everything was decided within a week, and a commissioned group of established and upcoming artists got to work for almost a month.
Today, Projekarm hopes that the new landmark has created a great impression on Melaka. N-genereight and avant-garde would certainly love to see more projects like these around the city of Melaka as it would attract more active contributions from the art community. Kudos to MBMB for being progressive and daring to do something different. Now, let’s see the same done for the city of KL.
ProjekARM artists
Phobia Klik, www.phbklk04.com
Warna Studio
They Art Studio, www.artthey.com
Pixel Playground, www.myspace.com/pixelplayground09
The Super Sunday, www.thesupersunday.tk
Intuisi
Warna Studio
Silent Of Art Studio (SOAS)
Sanjaya
Phiber Wryte
The Melaka River Art Project took place along Jalan Kampung Hulu, Melaka from 1 to 22 February. To view the whole process, log on to projekarm.blogspot.com.