Collaboration Project
Hulu Langat Folk Museum Cafe
Hulu Langat bears a history of 120 years old, it is a community started from tin mining. The local residents were made up of Malays, Chinese and the natives. As it is located at the foothill, the Malayan Communist Guerillas were rather active at that time, and has been listed as a communism black area by the government. In the 1980s, the production of tin mines stopped, causing many young people to leave this area.
Yeoh Lian Heng has been invited to create an interactive installation artwork in the Hulu Langat Community Art Festival, led by Theatrical Director Soon Chun Mei. He proposed a concept to convert a museum into the grassroot format “Hulu Langat Folk Museum Café” and conducted oral history interviews with New Era College Journalism lecturers and students. Subsequently, an abandoned space was soon transformed into a café exhibition area.
Exhibition Date
22nd May – 12th June 2011
Launching Date
22nd May 2011 (10am)
Time
10am – 8pm daily
Venue
73, Hulu Langat Main Road
Organizer
Hulu Langat Batu 14 Community Carnival
Curator
Amy Soon Choon Mee
Oral History Interview
Sayang – Sayang Hulu Langat Newsletter Team
New Era University College (Media Studies Dept)
Installation
Yeoh Lian Heng, Lostgens’ Contemporary Art Space
Acknowledgment
Hulu Langat Batu 14 Villagers
SJK ( C ) Batu 14 Hulu Langat
PIBG SJK ( C ) Batu 14 Hulu Langat
Lee Kim Sin
Folk Museum Cafe
A “timeline” was created on the wall.
The design of Folk Museum Café is simple but practical. Residents of the community can install relevant old items, photos or document files found from their homes on it, according to the time. There are also residents that help to verify the year and people in the photos.
The residents were very curious in a “café” that did not sell tea or coffee. Only later they discovered the old photos, wordings and old items are a combination of their community history.
Folk Museum Café has become a shared space for community residents to gather and discuss collective memory, helping them to recover the sense of belonging in the community.
