Obscura Festival back in Penang for the fourth year in a row

GEORGE TOWN, Aug 9 — The annual Obscura Festival of Photography is back for the fourth year in a row here starting from next Friday, bringing along with it masterclasses, talks, projection nights, exhibitions and a phonebook show.

The mini-festival, as part of George Town Festival (GTF), will be held across a two-week period with masterclass series featuring five to six days intensive workshops by photographers the likes of Sim Chi Yin, Calin Kruse and Ian Teh along with a photobook masterclass by Teun Van Der Hejiden and Sandra Doeleen.

As for the exhibitions, there are two major curations this year by Australian photographer Ying Ang, themed “Pangaea”, and by festival director Vignes Balasingam.

One of the exhibitions lined up for the festival is “Everyday Africa” which is a showcase of images of daily life in Africa that were selected from the Everyday Africa Instagram project, @everydayafrica, at Cheah Kongsi.

'What News of The Snake That Lost its Heart' by Arko Datto.

This year, the festival will also see the world debut of “What News of the Snake that Lost its Heart in the Fire” by Arko Datto.

The exhibition will be held at 145, Victoria Street and the works were a result of Arko’s participation in the Hotel Penaga Artist Residency programme in George Town.

This year’s Obscura Festival will also see the launch of a mini-film festival, Photography Film Festival (PFF), where photography film screenings are held at Whiteaways Arcade on August 20 at 8pm.

The PFF, curated by artist and cultural entrepreneur Benjamin Füglister, showcases classic films where photography plays an important role and short films that deal experimentally with photography.

One of the exhibits at 'Balkhash' by Ikuru Kuwajima.

The South-east Asian Photography Masterclass Scholarship is also introduced for the first time this year for 12 young photographers from South-east Asia.

The masterclass is a free photography workshop for the native South-east Asians sponsored by Goethe Institute Malaysia and Oestkreuz, Germany.

Most of the exhibitions, talks, workshops and slideshows under Obscura will be held at various locations all around George Town particularly Whiteaways Arcade, Hin Bus Depot Art Centre and China House.

All events, except for the masterclasses and workshops, are open to public free.

Find out more about Obscura at obscurafestival.com and find out more about GTF at www.georgetownfestival.com.

'The One Percent Show' curated by Myles Little.