The venue for the Kelantan Silver Art Exhibition was Carcosa Seri Negara. Closed to the public since 2016 and now reopened as a centre for the exhibition of arts and culture, the mansion on a hill in central Kuala Lumpur remains charming and enveloped by nature on all sides.
One of the country’s most historical colonial buildings, the property actually consists of two structures. The Carcosa was built first in 1896 followed by the Seri Negara in 1913. Many of us may not be aware of the latter’s historical significance, which was once the official guest house for royalty and visiting VVIPs. In the hallway I caught sight of Dato Dr Jimmy Choo looking at the very flag of the Federation of Malaya that was raised on 31 August 1957, now framed and on display. Yes, the independence agreement was signed here!
On the other hand, members of the younger generation will probably recognise the building as the home of the Young family in Hollywood’s groundbreaking blockbuster, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. In fact, we were told that a Singaporean series is currently being filmed at the Carcosa.
KK Tan of the Asian Heritage Museum (AHM), who took over as the building’s manager last year, shared that he was shocked when he first came across its horrendous state. After being abandoned, it had fallen to disrepair and was deteriorating. However, the producers of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ pulled off a massive favour by cleaning it up in the process of shooting. It is the AHM’s aim to turn Carcosa into an Asian peace museum to fight extremism and cultural terrorism, while Seri Negara will be transformed into a centre for arts, culture and nature.
The afternoon high tea I was invited to was in conjunction with the launch of the Kelantan Silver Art Exhibition. Yayasan Hasanah, a foundation of Khazanah National, organised the exhibition in association with Tradisi Busana PR Sdn Bhd and Kraftangan Malaysia.
The foundation’s effort to revive the dying art of Kelantan Silver has captured the attention of two commercial bodies to further enhance their initiative. Nusantara Collection, an online marketer focusing mainly on the US market, will promote and retail the works of the silver artisans via its platform. LORD’s Tailor, Malaysia’s prominent menswear label favoured by the likes of Tun Dr Mahatir Mohamad, Dato Dr Jimmy Choo, and Dato’ Lee Chong Wei, will be producing a collection of accessories made of Kelantan silver in collaboration with the artisans.
Research by Tradisi Busana PR Sdn Bhd with the assistance of Kraftangan Malaysia, found that the silversmiths of Kelantan are on the brink of disappearance owing to a substantial slump in demand. In a bid to bring visibility to the silversmiths as well as increase their market share, Kraftangan pursued innovative programmes to aid their revival.
Yayasan Hasanah has stepped in to support the Kelantan Silver Jewellery Shoe project. The community project involved selected Kota Bharu artisans producing high quality silver jewellery for embellishment on shoes handcrafted by Italian artisans. The project brought together 30 artisans and they are grouped into 5 cohorts with each group mentored by a master craftsman.
The objective is to combine the skills of the world’s best Italian shoemakers with best of Malaysian silver artisans to produce a collection of ‘haute couture’ quality. Each range of shoes is attributed to a particular silversmith who will be designing the matching silver jewellery for the entire range. The initiative is already gaining recognition and has been able to secure a retail space at the Amato Couture Gallery in Dubai.
Besides the launch of the exhibition and a delicious Kelantanese high tea, there was a presentation of the shoes bearing the silver crafts, opera singing and sharing from three NGOs. One NGO I am rather familiar with is PEKA, having met Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, the president of The Association for the Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia, on several occasions. With her was PEKA secretary Rahman Hamid, who is from Kuching.
