KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — KataKatha has the ambitious goal of being a regional arts institution in the future, but will begin with a series of “conversations” over the weekend.

The KataKatha initiative, which is backed by Maybank’s investment banking arm Maybank Kim Eng and the Maybank Foundation, will host ten artists from across Southeast Asia in dialogues on their work and the environment of their home countries.

The first session will be held later today, followed by others and culminating in a grand forum with all participants on Sunday.

The programmes will be interspersed with public readings and movie screenings by the artists involved.

Held in collaboration with arts non-governmental organisation Pusaka, KataKatha is curated and art directed by Pusaka founder-director (not forgetting poet, writer, translator, journalist and teacher) Eddin Khoo, who came up with the initial idea for KataKatha 15 months ago.

Khoo said he hopes to see KataKatha develop into a regional arts institution that archives work in consolidating and preserving Asean’s collective cultural identity.

“That is my dream for this platform. Because there is no single kind of centre that not just documents Southeast Asian arts, but document Southeast Asian arts in all of its continuum. From the traditional up to its contemporary,” he said yesterday at the launch of KataKatha at Grand Hyatt Hotel.

“And I hope that in years we can have the imagination to perhaps centralise it in Malaysia because Malaysia has historically always been where ships and people have always passed through.”

Maybank Kim Eng CEO John Chong at the official launch of KataKatha in Kuala Lumpur, on November 12, 2015. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

Maybank Kim Eng CEO John Chong said the organisation viewed KataKatha as a long-term initiative that will grow as the Asean Community coalesces.

“Invest Asean was focused more on economic integration, KataKatha is focused more on bringing the people together,” he said during the launch.

Artists participating at KataKatha include Geonawan Mohamad, Farish A. Noor, Agnes Arellano, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Geraldine Kang, Nadiah Bamadhaj, Avianti Armand, Kanakan Balintagos, Pichet Klunchun and Lai Chee Kien.

The sessions will be held at several venues including ASWARA, Art Printing Works in Bangsar and the KuAsh Theatre in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.