Arts and Culture

The Penang State Museum houses artefacts and cultural exhibits. The present building, which was formerly the Penang Free School, is actually half a building, the other half of the building having been destroyed by aerial bombing during World War II. A bronze cast of Captain Francis Light, used to stand outside the museum building. It has since returned to Fort Cornwallis where it was first unveiled by the colonial administration. A small museum, it has a fine collection of old photographs, maps and historical records charting the growth of Penang from the days of Francis Light. The aerial bombing of cities became a common tactic in World War II. // World War I The first ever aerial bombardment of civilians was on January 19, 1915, in which two German Zeppelins dropped 24 fifty-kilogram high-explosive bombs and ineffective three-kilogram incendiaries on Great Yarmouth, Sheringham, Kings... Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United Kingdom United States and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000... A photograph (often just called a photo) is an image (or a representation of that on e. ... MAPS could refer to: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Mail Abuse Prevention System Multi-jurisdictional Automated Preclearance System This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The Penang State Art Gallery and the Pinang Gallery showcase the works of local artists. A newer gallery, the USM ABN-Amro Arts and Cultural Centre, located at Beach Street, has recently been established to promote art awareness among Penang citizens.

The Universiti Sains Malaysia Museum and Gallery possesses a large ethnographic and performing arts section with a special exhibition on wayang kulit. The art gallery features works by Malaysian artists. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is a public university with a main campus in Penang, Malaysia. ... Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphe = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... The performing arts include theater, motion pictures, drama, comedy, music, dance, opera, magic and the marching arts, such as brass bands, etc. ... Wayang is the Indonesian term for puppet, and the term refers to any and all of the numerous varieties of puppetry found in the archipelago. ...

Penang has a relatively active arts scene. The Penang State Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Pessoc) is a government-supported youth orchestra and choir. The Penang Symphony Orchestra is another amateur orchestra. Other groups include the Penang State Huayue Orchestra (a Chinese instrumental orchestra), ProArt Chinese Orchestra, the Fingerprints choir, and many other school-based musical groups. The Penang State Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Pessoc) is an amateur orchestra and choral group in Penang, Malaysia. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ...

The Actors’ Studio Greenhall performs stage plays from time to time.

Penang hosts the annual Penang-YTL Arts Festival in December, with theatrical performances, contemporary and traditional dances, art and photography exhibitions, as well as concerts of classical and modern music. The programmes are drawn up by the Penang Arts Council every year and are partly sponsored by the YTL Group of Companies, a corporate patron of the arts scene in Malaysia.

Penang is also home to the indigenous boria, a fading art form with singing and dancing once popular among the local Malay community.

Lion dance is an ancient art form brought from China by early Chinese immigrants, and over time has evolved into a distinctive Malaysian style. The earliest record of lion dancing in Malaysia was the official registration of a Penang lion dance troupe back in 1903 but it is indisputable that the Chinese community had been practising it long before then. The Chinese place special significance to this dazzling form of art, associating it good luck, power, strength, majesty and happiness [1]. Today lion dance remains actively performed especially during Chinese New Year and also during the opening of new businesses. Costumed southern lion dancer in action at a Chinese New Year celebration Lion dance (Traditional Chinese: 舞獅; pinyin: wǔshī) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic the lions movements in a lion costume. ... Overseas Chinese (華僑 in pinyin: huáqiáo, or 華胞 huábāo, or 僑胞 qiáobāo) are ethnic Chinese people who live outside of the China. ... Chinese New Year decoration in Londons Chinatown Hand-painted Chinese New Years poetry pasted on the sides of doors leading to peoples homes, Lijiang, Yunnan, China. ...

Festivals and Carnivals

The Penang Buddhist Association on Anson Road, built in 1925

Chingay is a Penang festival which is held every year as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations and also during the birthdays of Chinese deities. Its history stretched back to 1880. At the turn of the century, Penang became famous for its "Giant Flags Procession". Flag bearers carry and balance giant flag poles (some 10m high) on their shoulders, chins and foreheads then tossing them to the next bearers. Chingay later spread to other states and Singapore. A Chingay Parade performer The Chingay Parade (Chinese: 妆艺大游行; pinyin: ) is an annual street parade held in Singapore as part of Chinese New Year festivities. ... Chinese New Year decoration in Londons Chinatown Hand-painted Chinese New Years poetry pasted on the sides of doors leading to peoples homes, Lijiang, Yunnan, China. ... 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Penang hosts the annual Penang International Dragon Boat Festival. Established in 1979, this event attracts competitors from as far as the United States, Japan, South Africa and the Netherlands. Dragon boat races can trace their roots back to ancient China and have been going on in Penang waters since 1934 [2]. The current festival is held at the Teluk Bahang Dam. This page refers to the year 1979. ... A dragon boat (Chinese: 龍舟, 龍船; Simplified Chinese: 龙舟, 龙船, Mandarin Pinyin: lóng zhōu, lóng chuán) is a very long and narrow human powered boat used in the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing, which may also be known as dragonboating. ... China is the worlds oldest continuous major civilization, with written records dating back about 3,500 years and with 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization. ... Teluk Bahang is a town in Penang, Malaysia. ...

Pesta Pulau Pinang is a lively and colourful carnival held every year in December. The festivity includes open air concerts, variety shows, food bazaars, fun fairs, exhibitions, pet shows, a beauty pageant and many more. A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition between people, based largely, though not always entirely, on the beauty of their physical appearance. ...

Thaipusam is an annual religious event celebrated by Hindus to commemorate the victory of Lord Murugan over the demons. It falls on a full moon day on the Tamil tenth month of Thai. Devotees and penitents can seen bearing kavadis, and piercing their bodies with hooks and spears without seeming to cause any pain or harm as an act of faith and atonement. The centre of the celebration takes place at the Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple at Waterfall Road where the chariot procession ends. Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... Kartikeya(extreme right) in Durga Puja In Hinduism, Kārttikeya (also Skanda, Subrahmanya, Kumara, Arumugan, Shanmugan, Murugan, Guha, Saravana, Swaminatha, Velan, Velavan, Senthil) is a god born out of a magical spark created by Shiva. ... The Hindu calendar used in Vedic times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar. ...

As in other places with a substantial population of Chinese people, Chinese New Year is a grand affair in Penang, celebrated with firecrackers, lion dance, sumptuous feasts and open houses. It is also an occasion for family reunions, visiting friends and relatives, and gift exchanges. Hari Raya Aidilfitri is a Muslim celebration which comes after one month of fasting during Ramadhan. It is a joyous celebration which brings families together and it is the time to seek forgiveness from one another. The Hindu festival Deepavali, also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Chinese New Year decoration in Londons Chinatown Hand-painted Chinese New Years poetry pasted on the sides of doors leading to peoples homes, Lijiang, Yunnan, China. ... See Firecracker (album) for information on the Lisa Loeb album. ... The Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر) marks the end of Ramadan. ... Ramadan or Ramadhan (Arabic: رمضان ) is the ninth month of the Islamic year. ... Diwali taking place in a rural area Dīpãvali (also transliterated Deepavali; Sanskrit: row of lights) or Diwãli (contracted spelling) is the Hindu festival of lights, held on the final day of the Vikram calendar, one type of a Hindu calendar that is followed by North Indians. ...

The Hungry Ghost Festival (Phor Tor) is celebrated on a grand scale by the Penang Chinese. The Chinese believe that on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell would open and that the dead souls would be free to roam amongst the living. The Chinese would placate the 'hungry ghosts' by burning incense, making food offerings and performing Chinese opera on makeshift stages. At the end of the month-long festival, a giant effigy of the King of Hell is burned. Throughout the month, it is ill-advised to travel, go out at night, swim or wed. This article is about the Chinese Ghost Festival. ... 19th century Chinese opera Chinese opera costumes Chinese opera is a popular form of drama in China. ...

See also

• Penang
• Malaysia