The name Syiok Wasabi was inspired by our belief in international and intercultural exchanges of creative ideas. Syiok Wasabi started with organising arts and cultural events in Malaysia. We organized art workshops for kids, brought Japanese artists and local art students together to participate in George Town Festival 2014, tagged along with Think City to activate heritage side in Little India, a
nd many more. One of our main projects was the Party Lorong, which was held twice a year on selected streets in George Town to promote handmade local and regional arts and crafts. In 2016, we discovered some great art works of people with disabilities and were very impressed. We decided to organize art events for them, with the objective to demonstrate that people with disabilities can do the same like, if not better than, us. We contacted a group of people with disabilities in Japan, who had produced great art pieces and handmade cookies to earn their living. We then organized two WARM HEART art events for them: in Hin Bus Depot Georgetown in 2016 and Publika Kuala Lumpur in 2017. As our passions and interests diversified, we decided to focus on organizing exclusive and customized educational tours to Setouchi Triennale, Japan. Setouchi Triennale, also known as the Setouchi International Art Festival, is a contemporary art festival held on 12 islands and 2 ports in the Seto Inland Sea (Setonaikai). Through art and architecture at Setouchi Triennale, participants join people of all ages from diverse culture and background to collaborate with local people in creating works of art. This allows participants to discover distinct cultures, history and beautiful landscapes in Setouchi region. (For your reference: https://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/)
Through educational tours to Setouchi Triennale, Syiok Wasabi aims:
1) To build strong sense of national and culture identity as a Malaysian for the participants,
2) To strengthen the tie between Penang island and Japanese islands,
3) To exchange ideas and talents and learn from one another to improve the organization of art festival events and volunteer programmes in Penang and Japan, and
4) To introduce cultures, history and beautiful landscapes in Setouchi region to the participants. The educational tours include volunteer programmes and culture exchange activities, as well as some sightseeing. Syiok Wasabi takes care of arrangement for flight, accommodation, volunteer programme registration, insurance and local guide for the participants.
