Both workshops had individuals from various professions and backgrounds from creative freelancers, to students to those who are just eager to learn more about art as a whole. 

Participants in the physical workshop were assigned a color, which they had to conceptualize and pair with a certain topic of their choosing, and in the span of a week, with minimal guidance and what they’ve learned in the workshop, they had to come up with an art piece to be presented on the final day which ends with an open discussion session after for feedback and review from working creatives in different fields in the industry as well as the other participants. 

Special thanks to Fashion Designer, Behati Co (Kel Wen), Fashion Designer Anisah Farid, Creative Director, Amani Azlin, Singer / Songwriter Takahara Suiko, Director and Videographer of @shinjiproduction Yazeido Shinji for their time and presence being the panel on the day.

The participants

The topics chosen by the participants spanned from personal experiences and subjects on capitalism, religion, colorism, ageism – eternalism to classism, mental health, and more, from ‘The Revolution Of The Mind’ by Djin Kai, on the nature of ideation and the overwhelming and spontaneous process of the mind, to Zazza Raja Adam’s twist and interpretation on the Puteri Lilin’s folklore which tackled on colorism with values great if adopted into a children’s book. 

Three in particular that still stuck with me through these trying times and through the months was the concept and piece cooked up by Sherry Nair’s  ‘Sein’ on the fatigue of facing recurring negative themes and stigma in one’s surroundings and Sara Kong & Lobach’s, ‘Cari Makan, Cari Makna’ on finding meaning in life and finally, the concept winning the feature, is Caliph Firdaus’s piece, ‘Kasih Terima, Lagi Datang’ which sheds light on the working class struggles. An installation and video art piece.

Caliph Firdaus ( @Laiciboi) – Fashion Student.

The color orange as I see it depicts my time working at ‘SpeedMart’ for my semester break. It made me question the state of mind that I was in a loop during the time.

“Is this what I wanna do for the rest of my life?” 

The title “Kasih Terima, Lagi Datang!” is “Terima Kasih, Datang Lagi!” which in English is “Thank You, Come Again” is a saying cashiers must say to each customer who comes to shop. Regardless of how you’re treated, even if badly it must be said, true to the saying the customer is king.

Constantly dealing with the tireless cycle of being mistreated during the job was draining and debilitating.  

I envisioned the emotions, through the pair of shoes that was before tied to very fond memories, that  I had worn for years to the point of it wearing off which has now lost its meaning since I worked at the SpeedMart, its weariness now associated with the emotion of being worked to the bone.

The state of the shoe is symbolic of the state of mind and being for when I was working at the speed mart, the controlled freedom, mistreatment from not only customers but the higher-ups, and witnessing the struggles of my co-workers trying to get by the days. this all pooled and had been buried all together, every day to nonchalantly respond, ‘Terima kasih, datang lagi.’