The Senses

• Only those who are fully vaccinated (having received the second dose of vaccine after 14 days, or after 28 days for single-dose vaccines) are allowed to enter. 
• Only children aged 13 years and above are allowed to enter. 

Sypnosis

There’s no better place to indulge your senses than at “The Senses”. Set to take place at The Habitat Penang Hill’s Curtis Crest alongside George Town Festival 2021, “The Senses” offers an all-round sensorial experience in the one-of-a-kind concert amid Penang’s 130-million-year-old rainforest, 800 metres above sea level. Get ready to be blown away by the hypnotising sounds of bamboo flute, electric guitar, and Indian traditional music by Penang-based ethno-pop duo Buddha Beat. In another segment of the programme, “Nusantrik”, soundscape duo Kicau-Bilau and performing artists Wak Kang and Mislina Mustaffa will translate the diverse culture and tradition of the Nusantara (Malay Archipelago) into an unforgettable performance of sounds, sights and lights. Darmas is set to liven up the show through the band’s creative fusion of traditional Malay rhythms such as joget, zapin and canggung with tribal sounds of kulintangan. Best of all, audiences can take a walk at the renowned tree top walk (which is the highest viewing point in Penang) to take in the breathtaking 360-degree panoramic views of Penang island and beyond.

About the Performing Groups

Buddha Beat

Penang-based Buddha Beat is a duo project by Cheong (Cole) and Krishna (Krish), playing a combination of bamboo flute, electric guitar, Indian traditional music, and occasionally mixing of kalimba and other electronic instruments.

Nusantrik by Kicau-Bilau

Nusantrik” is an improvisational performance of live soundscape and contemporary dance performed by soundscape duo Kicau-Bilau and performing artists Wak Kang and Mislina Mustaffa. Anchored by the soothing sounds of angklung and guitar by Kicau-Bilau and accompanied by a form of contemporary dance by Wak Kang and Mislina Mustaffa, these collaborating artists bring elements of Malay culture to their repertoires in a contemporary context. Just like the music, the body movements respond in spontaneity to the sounds and surroundings. The session is site-specific, impromptu and arbitrary. “Nusantrik” (which is a combination of two Malay words: Nusantara and eksentrik) intends to translate the diverse culture and tradition of the Nusantara (Malay Archipelago) into an unforgettable performance of sounds, sights and light. In a nutshell, it is a showcase of Nusantara’s eccentricity you would not want to miss.

Darmas

Six young musicians formed Darmas, a band propelled by the rhythms derived from traditional Malay classics like joget (a traditional Malay dance from Malacca influenced by the Portuguese colonist dance of Branyo), zapin (a Malay dance in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei) and canggung (Malay dance with Thai influences). The central element in Darmas’ sounds comes from kulintangan, an ancient series of gongs featured in many cultural festivities and traditional ceremonies of major tribes in Sabah, presenting a kaleidoscopic mix of Malaysian eclectic sounds.