INTERCITY: URBAN ARTS FOR SOUTH EAST ASIA

VENUE: Galeri Seni Maya
No.12, 1st fl, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DATE: Saturday, 23 September 2006

TIME: 3 PM

An Introduction to META HOUSE, Promotion of Cultural Exchange and International Dialogue

Nico Mesterham, a filmmaker from Berlin based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia will be at Maya Gallery on 23 September 2006, Saturday to introduce META HOUSE (“meta” means “compassion” in Khmer), Cambodia’s first Art & Communication Center and elaborate on the INTERCITY project. Meta House is scheduled to open on 5 January 2007 with an exhibition cum event entitled INTERCITY: URBAN ARTS FOR SOUTH EAST ASIA. Broad ranging creative activities are planned for the opening night and revenue donated to the “Children’s Help Cambodia” Foundation, which is building a children’s village for 96 orphans and vulnerable children in the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

This event will be the start of the first phase (COM.PILING/2007) of a 3-year long project. Within the second phase (COM.MUTING/2008) several SE Asian cities (Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila...) and artists are linked throughout an exchange program and workshops. The third phase (COM.PREHENDING/2009) will result in a catalogue, an interactive DVD and an exhibition in Berlin/Germany.

The three-year project INTERCITY is dedicated to city cultures from Phnom Penh to Berlin – from "New Asia" to “Old Europe", from the glitzy boulevards to the backyards of societies, to the basements and undergrounds and back to the future of our neighbourhoods. How do citizens envisage their living environments and how can they shape them? What skills are needed to survive in a hostile environment? Whose ideas prevail if they are not documented? Can art be a vehicle for social change, or should art be a self-critical discipline that pursues primarily aesthetic ends? What is the relationship between art and mass culture? They are not only encouraging artists, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, photographers, poets, performers or musicians, but also forethinkers, urban planners, architects, politicians, scientists and journalists to contribute something special and unique to the INTERCITY project."

We encourage those interested to attend this talk cum open dialogue to meet with Nico Mesterham and get a better understanding of Meta House’s 3-year plan and how you can be involved. For more info, contact Terry at +6-012 297 2357