KUALA LUMPUR: Balai Seni Negara (BSN) has channeled RM2.4 million in aid to 42 local arts activists to organise quality arts programs and activities for the past four years.
National Visual Arts Development Board chairman, Shaik Rizal Sulaiman, said that the aid was channeled through the Arts Aid Fund (TBS) to individual or group artists, according to a news report today.
"Approximately 42 recipients have been given TBS grants with allocations amounting to RM2.4 million since 2020, since the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) following the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The TBS grants depend on the application and under BSN we provide financial assistance of RM100,000 and below," he said after officiating the reopening of BSN Langkawi in Kedah last night.
Also present were BSN director-general Amerrudin Ahmad, his deputy Alizam Hasan, BSN Langkawi director Muhammad Hazrin Abdul Malek @ Moktar, and Tourism Malaysia Langkawi manager, Mohd Fahmi Nordin.
Commenting on the reopening of BSN Langkawi, Shaik Rizal said that the art gallery had been closed for six months previously to carry out upgrading and renovation work to make it more attractive.
"Now BSN Langkawi has various facilities including an art reference centre, multimedia room, mini auditorium, and disabled access facilities suitable for all art lovers to visit," he said.
Shaik Rizal also presented a TBS 2024 grant amounting to RM78,000 to five arts activists from the country, including Abdullah Jones for organising the Kataseni Program in Pahang and Muhammad Juhari Muhammad Said (Goto Akio Painting Exhibition in Japan).
The others were Mohd Najib Ahmad for the 2024 Art Exhibition in Busan, South Korea, Nublee Shamsu Bahar (Lenggong Indah Art Photography Camp, Perak), and Amir Hamzah Al Hafiz Mohd Yunus (Meeting Of Style in the Philippines).
