Taiwan To Host A Riotous Exhibition On Malaysian Punk

By Lara Kramer  •  01 Aug 2025 in Music

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Malaysia’s punk underground isn’t just screaming in sweaty basements anymore.

It’s shaking walls abroad, landing right in the heart of Taipei with an exhibition that tears the lid off our snarling subculture.

Titled Restless Moon: Sounds from the Malaysian Punk Underground, the show rallies some of the most stubbornly passionate voices from Malaysia’s underground: Joe Kidd, the keeper of The Ricecooker Archives; Man Beranak from the iconic venue Rumah Api; folk punk firestarter Azmyl Yunor; raw-edged band No Good; filmmaker Azam Sa‘ad; and artist Poodien who’s never shied away from provocation. Taiwan’s own Suck Glue Boys join the rebellion to lend local grit.

The exhibition opened on 21 June at TheCube Project Space, pulling in a full house to hear Malaysia’s godfather of punk and historian Joe Kidd deliver Excavating the Underground Roar: A History of Malaysia’s Punk Generation. His talk dug through years of basement gigs, riotous flyers, and the quiet bravery of kids who built something real out of nothing.

The show keeps its doors open until 7 September 2025, giving Taipei’s punks and the punk-curious plenty of time to walk through our chaotic backstory.

As if that wasn’t enough noise, Azmyl Yunor is wrapping his Taiwan Tour 2025 with a lecture-performance at the exhibition on 9 August. His set, titled The Ethical Troubadour: How to Keep it Real while Navigating through ‘moral panics’ and ‘yellow cultures’ in Malaysia, promises sharp stories, raw songs, and reflections on what it means to stay genuine in a place that’s often allergic to difference.

His tour starts earlier in Taichung on 2 August.

The brains behind it all, Taiwan-based Malaysian researcher Beh Hoong Ling, curated this show not just to show off loud guitars and zines. It’s a deeper look at cultural contradictions, small acts of defiance, and the stubborn spirit that shaped Malaysia’s underground, told through archives, visual art, video works, and workshops that pull you into the scene rather than just letting you look at it from outside.

Funny thing is, punk rock still stomps its boots loud in Malaysia, yet hardly anyone at home really knows where it came from. The irony is the Taiwanese might leave this show knowing more about our roots than we do.

If you find yourself in Taipei, go see what’s been hiding under our noses all along.

Details:
Exhibition title: Restless Moon: Sounds from the Malaysian Punk Underground
Dates: 21 June 2025 to 7 September 2025
Venue: TheCube Project Space
Address: 100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District, Alley 1, Lane 136, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd, 13號2樓
Event link: Facebook Event

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