GEORGE TOWN, Aug 15 — Art exhibitions are no longer places where people speak in hushed tones and look reverently upon what is on display. 

Several exhibitions at this year’s George Town Festival (GTF) are perfect examples of how far such exhibitions have come.

There are installations that tickle the imagination where videos, sound, light and sculptures “shout out” messages.

There are digital images or eerie projections such as those in Another World in The Dark by Gabriel Pitcher.

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Then there is the fantastical world of hybrid animals as shown in Beastly, a showcase of a special species of colourful animals.

The exhibition is created through the collaborative efforts of Tutti Arts, Australia which is a centre for artists with disabilities and Stepping Stone Centre, a workplace for those with intellectual disabilities.

Beastly is a multi sensory interactive street art project with performances held for three days at the exhibit site while the painted hybrid animals along with nests and props are left as an interactive exhibit for visitors for the rest of the month.

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The exhibition is at Wisma Yeap Chor Ee where several other exhibitions are also held throughout GTF until August 28.

Lee Lee Nam's 'Good Morning Digital' exhibition.
Lee Lee Nam's 'Good Morning Digital' exhibition.

Next to Beastly is the Northern Hemisphere project by Lightforge, a Penang-based visual project team. The team, consisting of artists, engineers and hackers, created a one-of-a-kind 360° immersive visual experience within a geodesic dome structure.

Visitors need only lie down and watch as the “live” performance unfolds before them on the curved interiors of the dome accompanied by music and sounds.

Every weekend, a different performance will be held and this August 20, Raising The Bar X Break Mission will be performed between 3pm and 10pm.

What happens when you digitise classical paintings and Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa?

Find out at South Korean artist Lee Lee-Nam’s Good Morning Digital exhibition where his digitised interpretation of Mona Lisa, Jan Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Korean classical paintings feature exploding bombs and flying spaceships from Star Wars, rocket ships and helicopters.

In one of his works, titled “Cartoon folding screen”, a traditional Asian five fold screen is reproduced in digital form where the classical scene comes alive with cartoon characters and flying helicopters before it undergoes a slow seasonal transformation as it starts snowing, covering the whole landscape in white.

The duration of each work is between six to 12 minutes.

In the next room is the AB+C Charity Arts Exhibition where visitors can do their part for the community while buying paintings and sculptures.

The AB+C Charity Arts Exhibition is one of GTF’s initiatives to raise funds in aid of patients undergoing therapeutic programmes at the paediatric nephrology and oncology department of the Penang General Hospital.

A mesh sculpture of Buddha and unique mixed media works are also prominently featured in Prologue, an exhibition of works by artists from Penang and Gwangju, South Korea.

The Prologue project brings artists from these two hubs together to swap terrain and ideas before coming up with artworks of various forms.

All exhibitions, except for Another World In The Dark, are held at Wisma Yeap Chor Ee from 10am to 6pm daily.

Another World in the Dark is held at Lot 63, next to Hin Bus Depot, between 12pm and 8pm while the outdoor version is held at the Penang Chinese Town Hall between 8pm and 11pm.

Find out more about other exhibitions and upcoming GTF performances at georgetownfestival.com.