This year’s edition of SIIAF set place bigger and better. Tourism Selangor held the pride to exclusively welcome almost 130 Indigenous people from 10 domestic and international tribes! All of them were specially-invited from their home states and countries for SIIAF 2019.
Selangor Indigenous Arts Festival 2019 showcased the rich and diverse cultures of Malaysia’s Indigenous tribes through cultural dance performances performed by the Mah Meri and Temuan tribes from Selangor, Semai tribe from Perak, Seletar tribe from Johor, and the Borneo Sabah and Sarawak tribe. One of the most unforgettable performances was by the Mah Meri tribe with their amazing Masked Dance performance.
What was more compelling, international indigenous tribes from Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, and South Korea were specially-invited from their origin countries, enabling city-dwellers to learn and have a closer look on their customs, cultures, traditional attires, artwork pieces, crafts and languages, and watch them perform live.
Every year, Tourism Selangor takes the initiative to elevate the Indigenous Arts through a dedicated platform that connects city-dwellers with the Indigenous tribes from Malaysia and overseas, bringing the former up-close-and-personal to the way of lives of the latter.
SIIAF is one of the initiatives to elevate and preserve pure gems of the Selangor State, the Indigenous people, who are still practising their unique traditional cultures and customs, despite the fact that modern technology has taken its toll on the society. SIIAF 2019 was right-up-the-alley in establishing the State of Selangor as a preferred tourist destination with one of its core strengths in cultural tourism, focusing on the diverse cultures and the arts. The glorious annual event is no stranger to foreign media, as its uniqueness in cultural focus entices global attention, which provides exposure to Selangor’s hidden gems in particular.
The motley two-day event was carried out in conjunction with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People which falls in August each year. Impressively, this year marked the fifth edition of the annual event. In efforts of bringing more hype to the SIAAF 2019, Recreational Orang Asal Run (ROAR) 2019 made its first debut on August 4th at the same venue. The 5km fun run received quite an overwhelming response with over 600 participants for its first installation. The figure is set to show a steady increment if the fun run continues to become an added feature to SIIAF in many years to come.
Both events trailed down to the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 Campaign organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, on which a special section was set-up for the visitors to obtain information on the campaign and its arranged activities.
Visitors of the event were seen taking pictures at the special set-up of the Indigenous Handicraft and the Indigenous Traditional Villages, for that perfect Instagram post. What was more interesting, Tourism Selangor added the fifth house of the Pribumi tribe at the venue, and these houses remain to stay. The four existing houses represent the previous editions of SIIAF respectively; which one house was built and added for each year. One interesting fact- these houses were built to copy the exact design the respective tribe owns at their village.
On top of that, visitors of SIIAF 2019 were seen having the time of their lives by participating in the amazing traditional Kerchang Games Puzzle. Special indigenous traditional weaving, blowpipe demonstration and communal cooking were among the activities that attracted the visitors’ attention.
Some of them went extra miles by signing up for the Jungle School Lesson conducted by Raman Bahtuin, a retired Semai gentleman which provided them with a first-hand lesson on using the blowpipes, weaving a shelter using bertam leaves, and solving several bamboo puzzles. Meanwhile, visitors with passion in arts enjoyed exclusive sketching workshop hosted by Shaq Koyok, a contemporary artist from the Indigenous Temuan tribe. These workshops brought by LokaLocal took duration of two hours on both days of the event.
Visitors were also able to indulge in a vast selection of traditional cuisines of domestic and international indigenous tribes at the Traditional Indigenous Food Exhibition, brought by Malaysia Orang Asli Development Association (MOADA). On top of that, a Food Truck Zone, Selangor Fruit Valley and Fama Fruit Fiesta were a delight to visitors with a more hipsterized appetite and love for fruits. After all of the food intake, a large number of visitors were seen taking free Health Screening Tests offered by Columbia Asia.
Among other attractions at SIIAF 201i include a Photo Gallery Exhibition: Thousand Faces Of The Indigenous which featured photographs of the Indigenous people in Malaysia and the world. Art lovers and collectors seemed to enjoy taking a stroll down the Borneo Street Market set-up by Sabah Sarawak KL Heritage Association for hand-made indigenous crafts such as beautiful paintings, women’s accessories, and clothing.
SIIAF 2019 was an attraction not only to adults but also to families with children. On top of exposing our diverse cultures to the young generation, the little ones were joyous meeting Captain Quack and Lady Quack Mascots- a special appearance by Sunway Lagoon.
Both children and women with interest in beauty pageants did not miss the chance to engage in a meet-and-greet session with the winners of Miss Cosmopolitan World from Korea, New Zealand, Indonesia and Russia; while those with artsy and keen eyes took part in special Photography competition. The competition which featured two categories; Instagram and Professional, offered cash prizes to the winners!
SIIAF 2019 in giving pride and global exposure to the Indigenous Arts; was perfect for the public who wished to explore the uniqueness of the Indigenous cultures without having to trail down rural places. Hence, it is not surprising that the event draws a large number of visitors during each inception. The previous year alone, it attracted more than 7,000 visitors, and this year’s edition managed to gather 10,000 visitors at National Botanical Park, Shah Alam- of which they were taken on an experience of a lifetime.
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