By NG HUI XIN
brats@thestar.com.my

Rhyz Ruslan and Chew Aileen from the Taylors Society of Performing Arts performing a play titled ‘Dancing With The Devil’.

THE SPARTFEST! arts festival, which took place on June 12 to 14 at the Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, was a successful showcase of a variety of different art forms, including visual arts, poetry, theatre and music.

Organised by the Taylor’s Society of Performing Arts (SPART), the festival’s aim was to encourage bold creative expression through the arts.

There was a wide range of performances throughout the three-day event, including one by the Taylor’s University Symphony Orchestra. Poet Bernice Chauly’s creative writing students also performed; as did local artistes Az Samad, Reza Salleh and Jamal Raslan.

For David Chia, co-project manager of SPARTFEST!, the festival was an opportunity for young people to “immerse themselves in artistic expression”.
As an artist himself, he hopes that the event would pave the way for more art-centric activities on campus in the future.
“One of my goals in life has been to bridge the gap between the arts and everything else,” said David, a philosophy major in the Taylor’s American Degree Program. “Back in secondary school, we were taught to distinguish between the Art and the Science streams; but in reality, the beauty of art is everywhere!”

The festival was well attended at every stage, but it was the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Theatre For Young People (T4YP) that drew the largest crowd.

The T4YP cast was made up of students from various universities, and they took over the entire D4 wing at the campus and prepared the content for their performance in just 24 hours! It was staged in seven classrooms as well as a connecting hallway.

“I have never seen a theatre performance like this. Instead of sitting down throughout a full play as usual, I got to walk and follow the actors,” said Brigidta de Souza, a member of the audience.
“This allows the audience to choose which character they would like to follow and understand that particular character better.”

Several local acts performed at SPARTFEST! arts festival at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus.

David admitted that the turnout at the festival was not as good as he had expected it to be, but thankfully, the vendors there were nevertheless very pleased with their sales. Overall, the festival was a pleasant experience for all involved.

Taylor’s School of Communication lecturer Timothy Philip Gan said: “It is a festival to celebrate Malaysian talents and their contributions to the kaleidoscope of beauty and colour inherent in our culture and society.

“We certainly hope that SPARTFEST will leave a legacy of celebration of the arts in the years to come! Vita brevis, ars longa – life is short but art lives forever!”