Header image from Life Circuit – Headshot 2.0 by Ulrich Lau.
The Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video and Music (KLEX) festival returns this year for its 8th edition with another stimulating and stacked lineup of international performances and screenings. If you’re not familiar with KLEX, it’s a festival that “aims to serve as a platform to introduce contemporary experimental cinema and music from the region and worldwide to the Malaysian audience and to cultivate understanding, learning and exchange among local and international experimental art communities.”
This year’s programmes, which run from November 24 to 26, are taking place at RAW Art Space (formerly known as FINDARS) and Checkmate Creative. This year’s programmes include the now-traditional KLEX Open Programmes; five guest programmes from Germany, Japan, Singapore and South Korea; as well as three nights of music and audio-visual performances. There will be three Open Programmes this year, showing a total 30 experimental short films from across the globe, including a new film by Azharr Rudin (The Amber Sexalogy, Punggok Rindukan Bulan) titled Anonymous Spirits. The guest programmes will feature work from Max Hatter (Germany), Shinkan Tamaki (Japan), works from Korean artist-academicians curated by Choi Jonghan, Eric Lee Loong (Singapore), and another selection of Singaporean work curated by Jeremy Sharma.
This year’s music and audio-visual performances are as international as ever, with names such as Jameson Feakes &; Josten Myburgh (Australia), Brian O’Reilly (USA/Singapore), Duoture (France/USA/Singapore) featuring Cecile Chagnaud & Dirk Stromberg, Max Hattler (Germany), Max Riefer (Germany/Malaysia), Monteith McCollum (USA), Shinkan Tamaki (Japan), Sound of the Mountain (Canada), Will Guthrie (Australia), Theo Nugraha (Indonesia), Tenggara Trio (Indonesia/Malaysia/Singapore), Toh Hun Ping/Dharma (Singapore), and Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore). Local heroes Yong Yandsen, Sudarshan Chandra Kumar, Kok Siew-wai, Mark Lazar and new noise hero Mampos also feature.
KLEX 2017 takes place from November 24 to November 26. Checkmate Creative is located at 4th Floor, No. 6, Jalan Panggong. RAW Art Space is located at 4th Floor, No. 8, Jalan Panggong. Entry prices vary for the programmes; artists’ lectures are free, video screenings are RM10 (public) or RM8 (student), while the music and audio-visual performances are RM25 (public) or RM20 (student). Check out the Facebook event pages for the KLEX Open Programmes, KLEX International Guest Programmes, as well as the KLEX Music & Audio-Visual Programmes.
