Notes for Malaysian Creative Professionals
Building Digital Experiences for the Arts & Culture,
and the Creative Economy in Malaysia.
Promoting The Malaysian Indian Arts & Culture
A letter seeking for patrons
"Patronage is the support, encouragement, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another.
In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists such as musicians, painters, and sculptors."
Dear Friends,
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I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing to you asking for a favour. I trust you are reading this because you have already have seen & heard about the “Banana Leaf” art exhibition that ran last year, held in conjunction with Deepavali in GMBB Mall. The exhibition ran for 3 weeks and received overwhelming feedback from audience and the local media.
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I believe the exhibition made a real impact in our Tamil community and created strong points for conversation among Malaysians.
Unfortunately, the finances didn’t come through.
The proposal for funding was sent out and agreed upon, however it was pulled back was the event was over. The funder had trouble justifying the investment internally. Download the project proposal here.
It was heart-breaking for me.
I had literally stopped all other projects that was giving me an income to be able to concentrate on pulling this event together.
I am aware - I could have done so many things differently. Truth is, I was overwhelmed. And my priority was to get the show out. Sharmilla Ganesan eloquently puts it into words why was this show so very important for us, especially in today's situation with Malaysia striving to build its national identity.
Since the last elections, it is imperative that we continue to improve the cultural dialogue among Malaysians and increase the level of cultural awareness in Malaysia.
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The Malaysian Indian community needs to feel at home in their motherland. We need the
space, to remind ourselves on the beauty of our Indian culture. We need to build a creative
sector that reflects this rich and inspiring diversity of Malaysia.
But I'm not patient enough to wait for some politician or big cultural icon to do this. I chose to lead.
And of course, that came with a cost. A financial cost.
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I'm aware I will not getting paid for my hours put in, but I’m in debt, owning people who have given me a credit note to be able to get the event out on time.
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The truth is, the corporates don’t think that the Indian audience has any commercial value. And the government won’t fund an exhibition like this, because I’m speaking about “sensitive” racial issues.
The only way I can continue creating strong shows like this is if you lend me a hand.
I’m seeking for donations at any amount to be able to cover for:
Bulk of the cost is the frames for GoodKids Art Exhibit. I have been voluntarily conducting bi-weekly classes with boys aged 7-17 in Sivananda Ashram since 2018. The curriculum is based on developing their intrinsic sense of drawing and expression, while encouraging art appreciation. A year later, students are showing radical changes in expressing their ideas, emotions and ultimately their identity.
I wanted to surprise the children. They didn’t know that their works will be exhibited, let alone alongside notable Malaysian Indian artist. It was worth the cost lah, I have to say that. The boys self-confidence have sky-rocketed since that show. Feels like I have to keep up with them now.
I want to continue making this sort of impact on a grass-root level. But I also really need your help to be able to continue. This budget does not include other cost such as transportation fee, parking, food for volunteers and the time I have taken to pull the show together. I have been receiving plenty of compliments that this was an important show, but I prefer to be debt-free instead.
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If you wish to donate, please fill up your details in this excel sheet. Make your transfers to
Thavarupani a/p Subramaniam
Maybank Current Account MBB 5621 5141 7825
Any excess to the amount will be snowballed to future projects. I'll be releasing updates for my next attempt: Thaipusam Takeover that will be dealing with trash issues during the festive.
Thanking you in advance for taking your time to read this.