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Sarawakiana Talk on Bian Lian on 18 Nov

Posted on 16 November 2015

KUCHING: The Sarawakiana Talk of Pustaka Negeri Sarawak is back.This time around, it will be a talk on Bian Lian - The Art of Mask Changing of Chinese Community in Sarawak by Edmond Wong Yik Tze. The talk will be held on Wednesday, 18 November, 2015, at 2.30 pm at the library Auditorium.

Edmond  is one of the performers of Bian Lian and a well-known entertainer with multi skills, including magic tricks, clowning  and singing.He is currently the only mask-changing master who performs in public in Sarawak.

The purpose of this talk is to highlight the uniqueness of the Bian Lian art performance as well as to promote awareness of the beauty of Chinese culture in Sarawak, especially to the younger generation.

Bian Lian is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly coloured costumes and move to quick, dramatic music.

They also wear vividly coloured masks, typically depicting well known characters from the opera, which they change from one face to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand.The skill and speed with which Chinese artists change their beautifully-painted masks habe captured audiences’ imagination for centuries.

Performers gracefully raise their hands, turn their heads and swing their arms, each time boasting a new mask.
The secret of how they manage to change from three to 20 masks during a single performance without anyone realising the trick has fascinated people since it was   first practised during the Qing Dynasty about  300 years ago.

Members of the public are invited to attend this interesting talk. Admission is free. Contact Hayati Sabil or Rozana Octovia at 082-440488 ( State Records Repository ) or email statedepository@sarawak.gov.my for further information.