Adiguru Cendana Programme honours masters of traditional arts

THE Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana – part of MyCreative Ventures), and cultural organisation Pusaka signed an MoU to mark the initial point of collaboration to work together in enhancing sustainability, visibility and preservation of the traditional arts masters or those who are experienced and committed practitioners of the traditional arts in Malaysia.

The collaboration will see both parties implementing the inaugural Adiguru Cendana Programme which is one of the components in the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM)  Malaysian Creative Industries Stimulus Package (Prisma). The event is witnessed by the Chairman of MyCreative Ventures, Tan Sri Noor Azmi Mat Said.

The Adiguru Cendana Programme aims to sustain the development and encourage continuity of traditional art forms of Malaysia, heighten awareness, encourage transfer of knowledge and documentation work, as well as create partnerships with the selected masters or those who champion the traditional arts.

The programme will focus to support those working in specialised areas that includes oral traditions, music, dance, theatre, storytelling, visual arts and craft.  

“We are extremely pleased to see this joint collaboration come to fruition to ensure services and  planning coverage include our rural creative practitioners too. We hope it will be a long lasting  partnership to demonstrate our commitment to the traditional and rural creative communities in Malaysia. The effort is part of MyCreative Venture’s vision in growing Malaysia’s Orange Economy which is in line with the Shared Prosperity Vision in revitalising the economy post Covid-19 pandemic,” Tan Sri Noor Azmi Mat Said said. 

Adiguru Cendana has started a nationwide call for applications and nominations beginning April 8 for persons who possess an exceptionally high degree of knowledge and skills required for the  practice and transmission of traditional arts forms.

The applications and nominations will be evaluated by a selection committee of experts from relevant fields of culture and the arts.

Applications and Nominations for the Adiguru Cendana Programme are now open. Deadline: May 6. 

Successful masters will be notified in June 2021 and programmes will start from mid-July onwards utilising a grant of up to RM30,000 over the period of 12 months. 

“As a public funded cultural economy setup, and as part of the arts communities, we must continue to recognise the past, present and the future contributions of our Adigurus and those who champion the traditional arts from generation to generation, to Malaysia. This collaboration with Pusaka will help ensure the effort is undertaken in a respectful, informed, culturally relevant and inclusive way,” said Founding CEO Cendana, Izan Satrina Mohd Sallehuddin.

Founder-Director of Pusaka, Eddin Khoo, welcomed the partnership with Cendana, emphasising  the urgency of safeguarding traditional arts in local communities. “The traditional arts of Malaysia are living repositories of deep knowledge, worldviews, aesthetic concepts, and the collective memory of our people. They encapsulate the creative ‘semangat’ (spirit) of our communities, and reflect the processes of cultural confluence that have shaped all aspects of Malaysian life,” he said. “We need to acknowledge the mastery and genius of our traditional arts communities, and agencies like Cendana should be facilitators of this genius.” 

The Adiguru Cendana Programme will subsequently also feature a ‘Contemporary and Traditional Immersive Programme Residency’ component, which will later invite applications from the wider  creative practitioners to engage in a week-long immersive residency with a master from the Adiguru Cendana Programme.

Nurturing meaningful creative collaborations between traditional and the wider creative industries, these immersive experiences encourage a deeper appreciation of traditional arts among the wider public and can open new avenues for creative exploration and cultural development. 

For further information on the Adiguru Cendana Programme, please visit the Open Call for Applications and Nomination and Terms of Reference website link here:  https://www.cendana.com.my/opportunities/our-funding-programmes/adiguru-cendana – The Vibes, April 21, 2021