By Tan Choon Wei 

KUALA LUMPUR, 1 DEC – Two art projects by students from Han Chiang University College (HCUC)  were selected among the final entries for a major art exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. 

The 2022 iNYALA exhibition, stylised as iNYALA Beyond Light, is a light-art exhibition held between 26 November and 25 December 2022 in Fahrenheit 88, Bukit Bintang. It was organised by Selangor-based advertising agency Helio Media, in collaboration with Filamen, a Malaysian new media art community specialising in projection mapping. 

Students present their artworks to visiting guests.

iNYALA, created in 2019, aims to promote the emergence of new media art, an art genre popularised in the 1970s encompassing artworks combined with technological elements such as computer graphics, digital art, and 3D printing. Its first exhibition was held in November 2019 as the first interactive light-art exhibition in Malaysia.

This year’s iteration of the event is centred around the theme of Sustainable Development Goals, a collection of 17 objectives published by the United Nations in 2015 to promote “peace and prosperity for the people and the planet”. 

The exhibits were selected through a submission-based competition prior to the exhibition. These submissions were requested in August in tertiary institutions and art academies throughout Malaysia. The selected finalists, along with artworks from invited artists, were displayed with LED cubes and were accompanied by sound recordings to enhance the artistic experiences.

Left to right back row: P’ng Soak Nee, Yeap Quah Chin Xuan, Rachel Khoo, Khor Yong Aun, Benjamin Lam
Left to right front row: Tan Sun Ying, Tan Han Yang, Jason Seik Ping Sheng

SACAD disciples among the finalists

Among the 16 finalists, two were submitted by nine students from HCUC’s School of Applied Creative Arts and Design (SACAD). The two projects, namely Artistic Gang, and Undefined Production, were created with the inspiration of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The students spent a month creating these artworks with the assistance of three briefing sessions and workshops from the organisers. It was intended to introduce the method of presentation for their artworks.

Following their artworks’ inclusion as finalists, a college delegation of 7 students, under the leadership of SACAD lecturer Mr. Benjamin Lam, attended the inauguration of the main exhibition on 1 December in Kuala Lumpur. 

Mr. Benjamin stated that HCUC’s involvement in iNYALA 2022, being one of two institutions from Penang who had qualified for the finals (the other being Universiti Sains Malaysia), provided SACAD and HCUC valuable exposure and recognition in Kuala Lumpur. 

“From my point of view, it’s definitely a new and creative way to showcase digital artworks (using LED cubes) as opposed to only projecting them on screen or tv…a good experience and learning curve for the students as they develop their concept and technical skill in new media design and learn from their shortcomings,” said Mr. Benjamin. 

Further information

• Artistic Gang

1. 1. 1. Produced under the theme of Zero Hunger (SDG Goal 2)
      2. Created by P’ng Soak Nee, Tan Sun Ying, and Yeap Quah Chin Xuan from SACAD’s Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Multimedia

• Undefined Production

1. 1. Produced under the theme of Good health and well being (SDG Goal 3)
   2. Created by Jason Seik Ping Sheng, Tan Han Yang, Rachel Khoo Rui Xin, Khor Yong Aun, Eugene Yip Tic Chun, and Daniel Tan Wee Cheng from SACAD’s Diploma in Multimedia Communication Design
2. Members of the SACAD delegation to Kuala Lumpur:

Mr. Benjamin Lam (SACAD lecturer and advisor), P’ng Soak Nee, Yeap Quah Chin Xuan, Tan Sun Ying, Tan Han Yang, Khor Yong Aun, Rachel Khoo, and Jason Seik. 

Student members from Undefined Production.

Group photo with other artists.