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Art Heals: Eclectic Ecstatic Community Art Night Returns in Kota Kinabalu

Eclectic Ecstatic, a monthly event that aims to bring together the entire creative community in Kota Kinabalu made its return at El Centro last month for its second installation with the theme of ‘Art Heals’.

One of the event’s main highlight was featuring the award-winning master piece from local naïve artist, Awang Fadilah (Jacqkie is a huge fan!!) and the Sabah Naïve Art Group. 50 over of their artworks which decorated the wall of El Centro added so much colours as well as creating unique visuals towards the event’s space. If you happen to love the artwork, you can purchase them as well because they are available for sale too.
 
On top of that, some of the Sabah’s top local acts came to show their support in which includes alternative-post rock band, Versatile; ukulele group, OrkesAkiuku; sister duo Alice Alive; and Jobless Giraffes featuring Scott Daryl Hadjiril from Diary of Us. There were other acts that took the stage were guitarist from melodic metal band A Million Evil Faces, Aized Emir Kual who performed alongside with singer-songwriter Rozella; as well as Joanna Quintin and Friends. Artist Deanna Maria Elizabeth entertained the guest with some poetry while comedian Harjinder Kler kept the crowd roaring with laughter. Never a dull moment when it's Eclectic Ecstatic. 



 Versatile


 Scott Daryl Hadjiril from Diary of Us             
         
The event also saw international participants including back-by-popular-demand Rae Kissing Fire from the United States who entranced the crowd with a fire dance, and a very special performance by What a Hard Project, a creative duo that hails all the way from Spain and Argentina.


Rae Kissing Fire from United States


What a Hard Project

The main goal of this event was to give locals a platform and safe space of freedom to freely express themselves without any creative boundaries.  

According to the organizers, the theme ‘Art Heals’ was chosen for this installation as they realized the importance of spreading the message that rings deep and true to many people including themselves.

We all know what it feels like to be down or ill and have limited option to turn to for help, but art uplifts us.  All art forms, from beading to painting and drumming to dancing, is a powerful tool to heal all aspects of us, and we would like to use art to support those who need them the most in the near future, but we first need to create awareness and raise funds for that. ” said Devi Kusardy Cox of TACKit."

And as artists especially, there are many barriers which make it a real challenge to create and produce artworks, be it financial, society’s perception and judgment or other personal matters, but when we stay true to our passion and focus on doing what we love, our art is always there to give us strength, pushing us forward.  ‘Art heals’ is an important message and having free community events like this, helps us spread the word.” added RozellaMahjhrin of Contagious.

This is a non-profit community event and the organizers encourage people in the community to contribute in whatever way they can so that they can sustain Eclectic Ecstatic and continue providing a platform for creative individuals to showcase their talent. It’s good to know that the sponsorships for Eclectic Ecstatic are mostly based on trade system.  Hence, Katie King of El Centro provided the space for free and the Sabah naïve art group is giving 30% off profits from sale of artworks. Besides that, there were charitable individuals like Borneo Magic Bead affiliated artist SaijaMarit Wan from Sweden who donated handmade bracelets for sale, and Dstaffwho partially sponsored the sound system.

For more details or information on Eclectic Ecstatic, please visit their official Facebook page at  www.facebook.com/ContagiousCreativeAgency or www.facebook.com/LetsTACKit.

Till the next one! 
 

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