For a change, visitors to the famous Old Town food enclave, where Kong Heng, Thean Hup and Concubine Lane are located, had a new activity of interest. Instead of just going for the food, they had a chance to participate in a most memorable event when Ipoh’s public art gallery, Gallery Old Town, hosted a ‘Top Artists, Art Painting Demonstration’.
A total of 16 artists gathered at the gallery from 10am till 3pm sketching and painting using watercolours. Their subject of focus was SeKeping Kong Heng and the surrounding area. Famous artist Khor Seow Hooi, who was one of the twelve artists, coordinated the organising of the event on behalf of Gallery Old Town.
According to Khor, a total of 12 artists were invited to participate in the event. However, on the day itself, another four artists from Taiping showed up upon hearing about it. All the artists are members of four art societies, Malaysian Watercolour Society (MWS), Perak Art Society (PAS), Penang Water Colour Society (PWCS) and Persatuan Seni Negeri Sembilan (PSNS).
When asked what the artists found unique and interesting about Ipoh, Ch’ng KIah Kien from Penang said that the old buildings in Ipoh have a different heritage feeling about them compared to Penang.
Calvin Chua from KL described Ipoh as “having a character of its own, the lifestyle is relaxed and easygoing”, his encounters with locals were always pleasant and friendly and of course the food is always nice.
Khor chipped in, adding that, this was the active group that regularly did outdoor paintings and were ever ready for a get-together. The event that day also saw a lot of young visitors who stopped to view the artists at work. This prompted PAS Chairman Wong Kean Choon to comment that a similar event should be held again to encourage an interest in art.
JAG
