PechaKucha-ing Tonight?

Kuala Lumpur Volume #6
at Urbanattic ,G-46 CapSquare, No.7 Persiaran Capsquare, Off Jalan Ampang, 50100 KL
Presentations start at 20:20







Presenters are 4 international finalists from British Council’s Design Entrepreneurs Award (IYDE):

+ Nathalie Fallaha (Lebanon), graphic designer, vit-e
+ Nancy Chen (Taiwan), web-based graphic designer, CEO of Makeit.com and Managing Director of ESPstyle.com
+ Heath Nash (South Africa), designer and founder of Heath Nash cc
+ Makorn Chaovanich (Thailand) managing director/design director of Cerebrum Design

Joining them are:

+ Benson Saw, product designer and co-founder of Voonwong&Bensonsaw
+ Design Studio BLAM
+ Fauzi Yusoff, creative director of Efozy Design Studio
+ Metalsmithing studio Itchy Hands Works
+ Fahmi Reza, documentary filmmaker, man behind 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka and Revolusi'48
+ Locksin & Birdie, art directors at interactive design studio, IF Interactive

We might see you there! ;o)

Now listening to 'Ambulance LTD'

In New York's most populous borough, Brooklyn, you can't toss a coin without hitting a good musician. "Ambulance LTD" is one of the few bands who are making Brooklyn one of the best music scene in the US, we reckon. Rising out of the New York City indie underground 5 years ago, Ambulance LTD have received international acclaim for their music + live shows.

Line up changes + bankrupt record labels have not hampered this five-piece, who make Bealtes-esque pop.

"Stay Where You Are" by Ambulance LTD


More at http://www.myspace.com/ambulanceltd

Happy Monday!

xoxo

Earth Hour 2009

How are we supporting Earth Hour 2009?

Nope. We're not holding any event to commemorate Earth Hour 2009, not that we don't believe in its plight, we do.

We advocate shoppers to recycle plastic/paper carrier bags + bring their own canvas tote bags. We advocate supporting handmade + locally made products because of the lower carbon footprint of getting the products to you. We believe buying pre loved + vintage reduces the number of fashion items going to the dumpsite. Internet shopping helps too, we believe. We carpool + use the public transport. We refuse plastic bags when we shop + carry the shopping receipts with us, just in case the shop security guard stops us for finding merchandise in our tote bags. :op

We do believe every single one of us need to take action on Global Warming.



This Saturday, 28 March at 8:30 pm, we'll be staying at home with our family + loved ones, switch off the lights for one hour - earth hour, to watch the night sky + spend time with each other. It's more eco friendly that way. :o)

Have a brilliant weekend + take care of yourself + each other.

xoxo

Rainy Day Gibber

Can you guys believe it?

It's coming to one year since we first took the plunge + held the inaugural Bijou Bazaar @ Jeumpa D'ramo. Many called us crazy for having the bazaar in a bungalow instead of at a commercial area. There will be no crowd, people will never come, so they warned. Remember the 4Ps, place is very, very important, so they reminded us.

Zee Avi, or Koko Kaina as she was known then, was one of the few who took the risk with us. We thank her for the trust. Since, she's signed with Brushfire Records, with her debut album out on 19 May 2009 + a US Tour in tow.

You go girl!!!

Recently, someone said to us, Malaysian artistes can never make it abroad, let alone an indie artiste. But totally not her fault, "brand Malaysia" is not that strong yet; it's still associated with inferior quality. And I guess she's not heard of Zee Avi too. Malaysia Boleh! ;o)

Zee Avi by Brushfire Records


Oh, we'll be doing a Bijou Bazaar @ Jeumpa D'ramo soon, to reminisce the good old days. Watch this space!

xoxo

Off the Top of My Head

Of late, I have a serious thing for vintage inspired head bands.

At Bijou Bazaar, Patty Belle is my supplier of pheasant feathers head bands, adorned with crystal embellishments. I've got two sets from her! And I'm still hitting myself for not being fast enough to get the vintage inspired head bands by Indonesian designer, Cindy Valery under her brand EGOIST HARLEQUIN when she was over for Creative Mafia @ YOUTH '09.

Elsewhere, these are my favourites:

ban.do

Tree + Kimball

Handle + Spout

But I bet I wouldn't dare wear the head bands by Handle + Spout in KL. :op

xoxo

"Rock Star Poser" - N.E.R.D

N.E.R.D. was awesome @ Sunburst KL '09!

Happy Monday y'all!

Bulu Bulu Studio Doodles for Sunburst KL '09

It's hard not to love the work by Bulu Bulu Studio + guess what? They'll be with us at Sunburst KL '09. Sunburst KL peeps are giving Bulu Bulu Studio folks two white tarpaulin canvases to work on, so I think they'll probably do a black + white doodle like what they did on the high heels.

Can't wait for their final work to be erected on the grounds!

LomoWall for Sunburst KL '09

LomoKids will be joining us again at Sunburst KL '09 this weekend to build their famous LomoWall. We first worked with them for Creative Mafia @ YOUTH '09. A rather enthusiastic and fun loving lot, it was a great pleasure having them with us that weekend.

At Sunburst KL '09, it'll be their first outdoor LomoWall + it'll be their biggest LomoWall @ 30 feet long and 8 feet high.

Am waiting for them to break China's Great LomoWall at the Temple of the Sun in Ritan Park, Beijing, which had 60,000 images collected from over 1,000 lomographers, mounted as mosaics on a 200 meter long and 2 meter high LomoWall. Soon perhaps? ;o)

Bijou Bazaar @ Sunburst KL '09

(Image: www.sunburstkl.com.my)

It's Sunburst KL '09 this Saturday! w00t! w00t!

... and we've been entrusted to pimp the walls at Sunburst KL '09, alongside Adidas graffiti team. Erk! Corporation vs independent, the pressure is up. :op

Anyways, we're going mixed media, marrying a myriad of creative talents within Bijou Bazaar. We'll be featuring them on the blog leading up to Sunburst KL '09, so do watch this space.

If you'd like to inject your creative energy into our wall, do contact Iwan-g @ 019.655.9945 or Wegra @ 012.398.9849, we can still slot a few more in, the theme will be "Party in the Park". If you'd like to picnic with us at Polo Pavilion leading up to the weekend, you're more than welcome to do so, we'll be there from 10 am - 10 pm, Wednesday through Friday. ;o)

Happy Monday, peeps!

Agrikulture + Mawk of BuluBulu Studio

When I first saw Agrikulture's album two years ago in Jakarta, it was the cover design, which had drawn me into buying the CD. Yeah, I know but I was sure happy to listen to their fresh boogie-able tunes, then.

Imagine how excited I was to hear that they are in Sunburst KL '09 line up. w00t! w00t!

Somehow, the work by Miss Mawk of Bulu Bulu Studio pops up in my head everytime I look at Agrikulture's album cover.

We first chanced upon Bulu Bulu Studio at Creative Mafia @ YOUTH '09 and she'll be with us again this weekend at our sister event, ARTrage Lab @ Soho KL. I'm so sitting next to her installation to oogle at her shoes! :op

We leave you with 'Kompor Meledug' cover by Agrikulture

http://www.agrikulture.com/

Tashya's Ink

Remember the third installment of Bijou Bazaar, way back in Jeumpa D'ramo, the installment which attracted the police because you folks had to park your cars on Jalan Maarof itself clogging the whole road, causing masive traffic jam up to the Mid Valley flyover. :op

If you do, then you would have remembered this tiny thing, who was dwarfed by her own guitar even but with big husky voice; Tashya Basir. I reckon her acoustic English songs were her best. We're happy to see Tashya being featured in Issue 12 of Time Out Kuala Lumpur and that she'll be performing at Time Out KL's On the Up this March 18 at No Black Tie.

http://www.myspace.com/tashyabasir

A little bit about her band:

After winning the first Mystarz LG reality show, Tashya formed a 4 peice band Tashya's Ink where "we have side partings, curly hairs and no age limit" she claimed. It started with a plan to have a backing band. Initially, the band was set up with the help of veteran Nakim on bass and soon a reliable guitarist and a level headed, well not so level headed drummer joined the duo. After a long journey of frustration and disappointment they came upon Ayub a reliable drummer and they have not looked back since.

Songs are from the elements of blues, a lil bit of brit pop, a tad of rock & roll and acoustic. "It’s a mixture of many things and if were food, we’d be called lasagna".

Tashya’s Ink has just finish their 3 track single CD + you'd be able to purchase them from our sister event, ARTrage Lab @ Soho KL, next weekend ya'll!

Check out their jam session of 'Mana Hilang'



xoxo

ASTRO Kirana Short Film Awards 2008/09

If you were at Creative Mafia @ YOUTH '09, you would have noticed that right at the back of the main hall, we had a mini film screening featuring a selection of independent short films by our young creative talents. Bijou being Bijou, we had allowed our participants to paint the canvas, they were given the freedom + trust to inject whatever they wanted into the event. It was only after Tangga Group + Filmmakers Anonymous had curated their slots, we found out that most of the short films to be featured were touching on sensitive issues.

Erk! At a mainstream event?! Ah well, all's well that ends well. Lucky the main people were too busy fussing over their corporate sponsors + people from the Ministry. :op

Amongst them was 'Kilaf' by Emelly Saad + 'Qalam' by Hadi Koh, who is also one of them creative people behind Tangga Group. We're happy to know that both short films were in the Top 10 nominees at the recent ASTRO Kirana Short Film Awards 2008/09.

We're proud of them! :o)

(Am so getting an autograph from Hadi at the next ARTrage Lab @ Soho KL. Ngeh! Ngeh! Ngeh!)

Oh yeah ... is Korn really going to be in Sunburst KL this year?

If they are, really, you have to find a way to be there because trust me, their energy will be brilliant! When I was *cough* younger, I was at their Manchester Apollo gig + it was awesome! I was buzzing still the next day, when I was in the exam hall, trying to answer my Macroeconomics paper. :op

I leave you with 'Falling Away From Me' by Korn


xoxo

Wegra @ Bijou Bazaar