DiverseCity pledges to showcase Asia's melting pot of culture

KUALA LUMPUR: "DiverseCity 2015" promises to showcase a magnificent array of genuine and authentic Asian art and cultural performances.
Festival director Datin Sunita Rajakumar said the inaugural arts festival to be held from Sept 1 to Oct 4 aims to celebrate the melting pot of culture in this country by showcasing it through the arts platform.
"DiverseCity will showcase the local powerhouse in performing arts where five major performances such as comedy, music, traditional, dance, literature and visual arts would be showcased.
"I would strongly encourage everyone to visit as many performances as possible as this festival will only showcase the best in Malaysia and regional talent in Kuala Lumpur," Sunita said during the opening ceremony of DiverseCity 2015 held at Pavilion shopping complex here.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor also attended the event.
Sunita said the event, which will be held in various venues, will feature artistes from 26 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Japan, Korea, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
According to the DiverseCity comedy curator Harith Iskandar, the Kuala Lumpur International Comedy (KLIC2015) Festival will feature comic acts from the United States, Paul Ogata and Tom Rhodes, as well as other talented local and regional comics.
With the emergence of KLIC 2015, Harith hopes that Kuala Lumpur will become a comic hub in this region.
"There are many comic festivals throughout the world, but theres none in Asia, so why not Kuala Lumpur as a starting point?" he said.
"Kuala Lumpur is probably the greatest city in Asia as it has the capabilities to show its diverse Asian values," Harith said.
Music curator Micheal Veerapen said DiverseCity would be a great platform for independent musicians to showcase their talents as well.
"There is just so much Malaysian music talent in the country and the exposure afforded by an international event such as this will serve to expose such talent to the international market.
"With more than 170 musicians slated to perform across various venues, September would be a month packed 'live music' of talented musicians," Micheal said.
The dance portion of the festival will be curated by national dance icon Datuk Ramli Ibrahim who has commissioned eleven ground-breaking new dance theater productions which will showcase some scintillating choreography which would incorporate new trends in contemporary modern and traditional dance genres.

For more information, visit www.diversecity.my