Giant Leap Forward by Anurendra Jegadeva
YOU ARE INVITED TO REIMAGINE THE FUTURE OF MALAYSIA
We want to create conditions to guide an expansive vision of the future for Malaysia. This perspective will include a deeper engagement with science, technology and the various arts of literature, philosophy, film and music.
By reimagining and manifesting better alternatives for Malaysia’s future, we are freed from our everyday assumptions about what is possible.
We can then imagine pathways forward which enable us to embrace bolder visions and hopeful possibilities for Malaysia’s future.
Creativity and the arts can reflect and influence society, playing a big role in changing the way we communicate, absorb information and take action. The creative arts and activism are actively empowering social change to create a deeper engagement on social issues, which can positively impact society and create vibrant local communities and economies.
Creativity helps us explore shared values and spark imagination, innovation and advancement for our communities. Too often, however, creativity and the arts are undervalued as a catalyst for creating just and sustainable communities. We live in a world where it is increasingly important to tackle pressing social issues. There is no better time to empower Malaysians to take stock and use their artistic and creative skills to create works that create conversations, raise public consciousness, ignite the human spirit and question what it means to live with humanity.
Project Future Malaysia draws inspiration from the speculative fiction genre in the literary world and the term ‘Afrofuturism’, defined as a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore elements of black history and culture. This project explores and addresses the themes and concerns of Malaysians by envisioning and re-imagining possible futures for the nation.
”Depictions of tomorrow can have powerful, concrete effects on the world today.
Excerpt from Ialenti, V., 2021, The Art of Pondering Earth’s Distant Future, Scientific American
Yet pondering distant future Earths can also help us take a step back from our everyday lives—enriching our imaginations by transporting our minds to different places and times. Corporate coaches have recommended taking breaks from our familiar thinking patterns to experience the world in new ways and overcome mental blocks. Cognitive scientists have shown how creativity can be sparked by perceiving “something one has not seen before (but that was probably always there).”
Putting aside a few minutes each day for long-termist, planetary imagination can enrich us with greater mental dexterity in navigating between multiple, interacting timescales. This can cultivate more longsighted empathy for landscapes, people, and other organisms across decades, centuries, and millennia. As the global ecological crisis takes hold, embracing planetary empathy will prove essential to our collective survival.”
Broken by the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation needs new, imaginative ideas and creative solutions to reinvigorate the soul of the nation.
Project Future Malaysia invites Malaysians* anywhere in the world to look at our thriving future with different lenses while reimagining pathways to recovery.
At the heart of this project is a liberal dose of positivity and forward-thinking; celebrating the uniqueness of our multicultural, multifaceted society and country.
Creative examples on futuring or alternate Malaysia:
- What does a sustainable Malaysia look like in the next 100 years?
- Where will Malaysia’s future food source come from?
- How equitable and inclusive will the future be for Malaysians of all colours and creeds?
- What would Malaysia be like if we were still ruled by the British empire? What if the nation never received independence? What would Malaysia be like if we were never invaded?
- How would Malaysia have evolved if the May 13 incident never happened?
- What would the future look like in Malaysia if no logging ever took place?
- What will Malaysians’ relationship with technology look like in the future? What are the implications for society?
*Note: The term ‘Malaysian’ denotes citizenship of the country; however, we also accept submissions from Malaysian Permanent Residents and refugees/asylum seekers who are currently residing in Malaysia.
HERE ARE TWO WAYS YOU CAN PARTICIPATE
The first component is an expression of interest to commission 10 Malaysian Writers, Artists and Creatives anywhere in the world to create new works in any art form that engages, inspires and starts conversations, and can be shared widely.
The 10 applicants will be paid a commission fee of RM850 and their submission featured on Project Future Malaysia’s website and social media platforms.
These works will need to respond to three themes:
- Human rights, democracy and the rule of law, including preventing sexual violence in conflict, reducing modern slavery, media freedom and promoting female education.
- Climate change, environment and sustainability, including threats to endangered species.
- International relations and politics, including deepening relationships between states and peoples.
IMPORTANT DATES
- Deadline for submission:
20 October 2021 - Successful applicants will be notified by:
10 November 2021 - Work must be completed by:
20 December 2021
The second component is open to Malaysians anywhere in the world to share imaginative ideas and creative solutions to reimagine possible futures for Malaysia of up to 250 words or less.
The top 10 submissions would receive an RM150 Grab gift card and their submission featured on Project Future Malaysia’s website and social media platforms.
IMPORTANT DATES
- Deadline for submission:
30 December 2021 - Successful applicants will be notified by:
5 January 2022
WHAT ABOUT OTHER NATIVE MALAYSIAN LANGUAGES?
Submissions are accepted in English and Malay, however, if you would like to submit in Chinese, Tamil or other native Malaysian languages, please email info@projectfuturemalaysia.com
If you would like to apply in a different way that is more accessible to you, please email info@projectfuturemalaysia.com
FIND OUT MORE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Project Future Malaysia would like to thank Anurendra Jegadeva for the usage of his artwork, Giant Leap Forward, for this project. Anurendra is a Malaysia-born, Melbourne-based visual artist whose works is centred on breaking through political, religious and economic barriers. A figurative artist and writer with a deep social consciousness, his work is in trying to understand the immediate world he lives in, in searching for the `truths’ he depicts in his work.
Giant Leap Forward by Anurendra Jegadeva
Oil on canvas
91.5 cm x 168.5, 2009
Collection of Dipak Kaur & Arjit Singh
“Giant Leap Forward is inspired by a tourism postcard that was made during Tunku Abdul Rahman’s prime ministership. It was hilariously random as it featured a pair of Hong Kong movie stars, with the man hugging a woman against the backdrop of a newly-built Parliament House. More seriously, Giant Leap Forward was painted at the start of the lie that was ‘1Malaysia’ and the seeding of the 1MDB scandal. It also coincided with the water tank bursting on the roof and the main chambers at the Parliament House closing due to water damage. It felt prophetic in the light of the state of the union at the time. The girl in the baju kurung on the swing is my young daughter, sadly oblivious or helpless in the face of her Malaysian future. It reflected a moment of acceptance that the country was once again at the edge of something perilous – kind of our playing the violin moment while the nation burnt down. Little did we know that it was just a tiny ember compared to the shit show bin fire we are facing today.”
Anurendra Jegadeva, 28 August 2021
Bahasa Malaysia translation provided by Aroe Ajoeni
Chinese translation provided by Chaw Teck Leong
Tamil translation provided by Priteeb and Kumerainthiren
Website developed by Tan Su Ann
HELP US ADVANCE THE CONVERSATION & GROW THIS PROJECT
Project Future Malaysia wants to create conditions to guide an expansive vision of the future for Malaysia. This perspective will include a deeper engagement with science, technology and the various arts of literature, philosophy, film and music. By re-imagining and manifesting better alternatives for Malaysia’s future, we are freed from our everyday assumptions about what is possible. We can then imagine pathways forward which enable us to embrace bolder visions and hopeful possibilities for Malaysia’s future. If you resonate with the vision of this project, we invite you to grow and support this project via collaborations and conversations.
As a not-for-profit venture, we welcome values-aligned funders, partners and collaborators including suggestions of programming, improvements or corrections on this website and project.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright of artworks and text remain with their copyright owners. Please reference Project Future Malaysia and the copyright owner(s) if you are using any images or information from this website.
PROJECT SUPPORTER:
Project Future Malaysia 