A range of culture and arts programs have been programmed by National Department for Culture and Arts, (JKKN), Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia to promote Malaysia's cultures and festivities from June to August 2015.
The “Culture for All” program was recently held in June and is an outreach effort by JKKN to develop Malaysia’s unique arts heritage. Comprising of the Assembly of Malaysia Traditional Martial Arts, the Silat among gurus and trainers all over Malaysia in Johor. Following that was Perak State Drums Festival and finally Dikir Barat (Malay choral singing performance) Premier held in the northern west of Malaysia in Kelantan. These events have enabled to foster understanding and relationship and build rapport among communities as participants and audience to the program.
Also held in June was Iftar@KL, which pays homage to the holy month of Ramadan among the Muslim communities. The breaking fast ceremony was held weekly form 20th June to 12th July 2015 at Merdeka Square of the capital city Kuala Lumpur. It brought in many Malaysians including non-Moslems and tourists to join in. The event is further highlighted by Islamic arts performances and exhibitions.
From the 13-16 August Malaysia will host the Malaysian international Mask Festival. The festival will be participated by eight countries from Sri Lanka, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Italy and Malaysia. It will debut the unique facets of the art of masks in Malaysia. Highlights of the festival will include each country’s cultural performances wearing masks and a Mask Street Parade. Demonstrations, exhibitions and competitions on Mask Painting, Mask Carving, Face Painting and Helmet Painting will be held to complement the Festival.
In October the Aborigines International Arts Festival program 2015 will be held at the Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur. The festival highlights the unique arts and culture of the indigenous natives from New Zealand (Maori) , Australia, Indonesia (Papua New Guinea) , South Africa (Zulu), United States (Native American) and China.