Cover story: The artistic journey of Raja Malek

Of all his many skills and facets, it is stage design that Malek loves doing most. But how did he go from set design for TV commercials in Jakarta to stage design for the biggest theatre shows in Malaysia?

Incidentally, it was one of his early hairdressing clients who played another pivotal role in Malek’s move into stage design. In 1999, Dato’ Zahim Albakri, the award-winning film and television actor and director—who eventually became a very close friend—gave him the opportunity to design the set for a production of the popular Singaporean play Emily on Emerald Hill—his first design for the stage. Despite his lack of experience, Malek embraced the challenge, seized the opportunity, and the rest is history. 

Puteri Gunung Ledang—which forged an enduring collaborative relationship between Malek and the powerhouse actress-producer Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina—was a monumental achievement in the Malaysian theatre scene. Performed at Kuala Lumpur’s Istana Budaya theatre, it went on to collect numerous awards, including for the set, where Malek’s design portrayed the majestic mountains of Bali’s Gunung Agung and Java’s Gunung Merapi.

Jacquelina says: “Chelek [one of Malek’s nicknames] created these temple stupas of Majapahit that ascended from the stage [in the show’s opening scene] … And who [among those who saw the production] could forget the grandeur of the massive and ornate Malacca Palace doors?” 

The mobile stupas used in Puteri Gunung Ledang were not just mere props, but dynamic moving elements that added depth and meaning to the performance. Malek was also one of the firsts in the country to execute a kabuki drop—an effect where suspended drapes are suddenly dropped to reveal what’s behind—for the musical’s migration scene, with the princess’s ship “masterfully crafted by Chelek, ‘sailing’ across the stage. It was breathtaking and so memorable,” says Jacquelina. The stage set was a performance in its own right.

See also: Performing arts 101: What is performance art and how is it different from visual arts or performing arts?
 

Coming up next for Malek is a collaboration with Jacquelina: the inaugural Langkawi Immersif Festival 2024, happening from May to June at the island’s Kampung Buku Event Space. The theme of the festival honours sustainability, the arts and the environment. Malek is leading the creative direction and is committed to creating an immersive art installation of bird sculptures built from repurposed plastic waste. 

A seed of an idea to build bird sculptures—inspired by the backdrop of the 100 million-year-old tropical rainforest—sent him down a research rabbit hole that eventually led to a fortuitous discovery of fascinating bird folklore and to the book The Conference of the Birds by Iranian American poet Sholeh Wolpe, a modern translation of the epic Persian poem by the 12th-century Sufi poet Attar. It tells the story of birds on a quest to find their true ruler, the Simurgh, a tale that symbolises the human journey towards enlightenment and spiritual awakening. 

For the installation presentation, Malek envisions arranging the sculptures on tree branches to create a cage-like structure. Mirrors will be strategically placed on the floor to reflect the sculptures above, creating an even more visually captivating effect. In addition, there will be representations of swans and “other birds that do not perch on trees”, adding another dimension to the work. This approach is in harmony with the Langkawi Immersif Festival’s objective of promoting balance between mankind and nature through creative expression and sustainable practices. And there’s no better person sitting at the intersection between sustainability and artistic creativity than Malek. 

Malek says that he uses about 40 to 60 used soft-drink plastic bottles to make one bird. The decision to use plastic waste stems from Malek’s long-standing love and instinct for upcycling. When he couldn’t afford a designer denim jacket in the Eighties, he achieved the desired look by taking matters into his own hands, opting to buy a second-hand one which he cropped and altered himself. Little did he know that this simple act of alteration would become a significant passion. At one point in the 1980s, his knack for creating unique pieces caught the attention of a fashion boutique owner in Singapore who placed an order for 12 custom-made pairs of jeans. “In the Eighties, it was called alteration; you know, it wasn’t upcycling then.” 

But his commitment to giving an item a second life doesn’t stop at fashion; it is a consistent thread in all aspects of his work and life, thanks to his deep-seated environmental consciousness and desire to put his own stamp on creations.

Zahim says, “Chelek will make things with his own hands whenever he has the opportunity, rather than purchase them, or rely on others to make them. Each piece is a unique work of art with Chelek’s inimitable handmade style to it.” 

Ivan Heng, founder and artistic director of Wild Rice, who has collaborated with Malek on several projects, says Malek’s work is “ingenious, thought-provoking and sensational, but at the same time, handmade and human”. For example, he was the mastermind behind the impressive props used during the opening and closing ceremonies of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010 in Singapore, featuring a Phoenix barge which bore the Olympic flame, and the six-metre tall “Monster” made out of recyclable materials. 

Without any formal training in set design, Malek’s creative process relies on his use of mental imagery and physical models instead of intricate drawings. Preparing Puteri Gunung Ledang, for example, was a baptism of fire in the technicalities of stage design. He says, “I had to go and study the whole stage system of Istana Budaya—which has the most sophisticated stage [in the country].” 

Says Zahim: “Although not formally trained, Chelek is self-taught and infinitely creative. He will come up with the craziest and most bizarre ideas ... and he will surprise you by creating costumes and sets so perfect for the production that you can’t imagine the show looking any other way!” For Zahim’s 1999 production of Emily on Emerald Hill, Malek envisioned an all-white museum gallery with Emily as the sole pop of colour in her vibrant kebayas and gowns. To achieve this, he used metres of white muslin bandages and packaging twine to wrap the space and props. “He is still as creative now as he was then ... in fact probably more so now,” Zahim adds.

Heng affectionately remembers working with Malek on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly for Singapore Lyric Opera (2008), which Heng directed—“Fun fact: I bought Chelek his first scale ruler. Up to this point in his journey [as a set designer], Chelek would draw and measure everything by hand, and depend on his technicians or contractors to scale up his set. But the set for the vast Esplanade theatre [was] enormous and required precise measurements, and suffice to say, he needed a scale ruler. We remember this fondly as a milestone in our collaboration.”

Another long-time collaborator is director Ida Nerina, who says, “Chelek gives so much of himself and creative ideas and gets as excited as you may be about it. And then he just dives in, grabs it and runs with it—and good luck racing after him after that!”

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Malek shares some of the secrets to his ingenuity. For a start, even without formal training, he insists it is crucial to learn the technical aspect of design. “If you’re into fashion, at least you need to learn how to cut [and] how to sew.” He also stresses the importance of collaboration, as the creative field is not a solitary endeavour. “You need to understand and read the director’s mind very well to translate it, and it has to be a collaboration. You can’t work by yourself. Sometimes, for me, I ask directors to tell me stories or tell me the synopsis of the story and what they think about it. And while I’m listening, I find key words. It could be, say, ‘roses’; it could be anything, and I can deconstruct it, and that’s how the research begins.”

He also likes a well-crafted brief, which he says serves as the foundation for the entire design process, as storytelling lays down the groundwork for design exploration.

“When I read [a brief or script], I will start doing a brain map from the key words. Or sometimes in a story if that word [or theme] appears more than four or five times … that’s the most obvious key word. The rest is all about how we translate the brief.”

And finally, he says, “My last ingredient is research—research is important. And to remain true to the story, you gotta tell the truth.” 

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