An explanation from the kakiseni team on why we initiated an arts awards for the performing arts is long overdue. The press hasn’t really seen yet what exciting angle it could use to cover it and art practitioners themselves, although delighted to get a bit more attention, are generally still not sure what type of animal they have in front of them.

Well, the main reason why we decided to organise an arts awards was that we wanted to create an event that would provide an opportunity to show Malaysian performing arts to a wide audience. It could have been an arts festival, but probably naively we thought an arts awards would be easier to organise for a start.

Indeed, as an online publishing company, we find that although we have a decent number of readers (around 1,500 page views a day, and 10,000 different readers a month), we are just not getting beyond the usual suspects –theatre and concert goers-, and that we still face resistance due to the perception that theatre, dance and music are elitist, expensive, not cool, difficult to understand.

Our main objective is to break that perception and show people just how fun, beautiful and cool performing arts can be. It is also a matter of survival: a company like kakiseni focusing on the arts needs to widen its market!

Of course, beyond that, you can find other reasons why we think more people should enjoy the arts, those are the reasons which keep us going in spite of the difficulties in making kakiseni a financially viable operation. The arts are the soul of a nation, all the contradictions, desires and frustrations of a country are expressed there, usually very freely. Of course, some arts companies are much better and cutting edge than others in delivering quality shows, and you have thought provoking shows, and just very entertaining shows, but that is our reviewers’ job to help the public chose the shows they are likely to enjoy.

Also, there is more to entertainment than Starbucks and the latest Hollywood movie. Malaysia is amazing in that it has three of the world’s strongest cultures – Indian, Chinese and Malay - interacting with each other and creating very different and dynamic styles and ideas. It would be a shame if most Malaysians missed out on it.

Of course, the words themselves - “performing arts”- will put off most people. What is it? Sounds like a university subject. So the idea is to create an event that is immediately enjoyable. There will be a promo in shopping malls in December with drummers and performers as an appetiser, then the awards night will have performers and presenters that should make for a lively and fun show. We are hoping that national TVs and radios will catch on so that we can truly reach out to a wide public.

Now, we knew from the outset that organising awards was fraught with pitfalls and they could be heading for a flop just as much as a big success.

We will list the difficulties here so that the problems are in the open, and who knows, you (art practitioners or members of the public) may have suggestions for next year.

First of all, are there enough shows in Malaysia to justify putting them in competition? Here, the answer is a clear “Yes”. Between May and September this year (the first five months the awards have been running), there have been 23 dance shows, over thirty plays and 75 concert.

The second difficulty is: how do you categorise dance, theatre and music? Indeed, there is Western classical dance (although not much in KL), Indian classical dance, contemporary dance, then theatre in BM, Chinese, English and Tamil, with their own codes and traditions. And music has jazz, songer singwriters, classical music (Western, Indian), gamelan (played in a traditional, or a contemporary way) and a lot more…Can you compare them?

One option could have been to have an award just for Indian classical dance, one just for contemporary dance, one just for theatre in English, one just for theatre in Chinese, etc. However the panel of judges (mainly art practitioners themselves and reviewers) felt that it beat the purpose, and that more often than not you couldn’t draw such a clear line. You may find all four languages in a play, and a mixture of influences in dance shows. So they made sure the judging criteria could be used across borders of genres.

The third difficulty was to put together panels of judges that were credible. Indeed it seems that the theatre awards launched by the Straits Times in Singapore suffered the first time it ran from being booed by theatre people who didn’t like the panel. That being said, most theatre people reportedly turned up at the awards night, and the awards is still running.

In the case of the Cameronian Arts Awards, it was of utmost importance that the judges be considered credible by art practitioners. The panels ended up being constituted of mainly art practitioners themselves, and clauses were put in place in the ruling so they do not score shows in which they are involved. While they certainly had the experience and expertise, they are also very busy people, and seeing all the shows has been a strain.

We are hoping that next year we will find a more balanced mix of art practitioners, reviewers with experience, and academics.

In four months will take place the awards ceremony, and the winners of the 17 awards will be announced. But beyond the hype around the award winners, we hope that all performing artists will benefit.

To close, a few words on arts and sponsorship. Corporates have been blamed for not supporting the arts more. Productions can be blamed for not filling in enough seats (and when a very good show draws poor crowds, you have to regret a lack of promotional means) and therefore not making themselves attractive enough to sponsors. It appears like a chicken and egg situation.

However, the arts scene has evolved dramatically in the past six years. Many more people go to see shows now: the quantity of productions at The Actors Studio in Kuala Lumpur alone must have tripled now it has the Actors Studio Bangsar and The Actors Studio Box. The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) fills its 800 seats auditorium at most concerts.

New performers come back after training in Australia, Taiwan, Japan or elsewhere, bringing fresh blood and ideas.

In parallel, there is more sponsorship money going around. Petronas obviously invests a lot in the MPO (which doesn’t benefit local musicians directly, but does indirectly as it helps build audiences and creates a job opportunity for the most talented musicians). Cigarette company Sobranie sponsors the film place that used to be called Filmnet. Heineken’s name is ubiquitous at jazz concerts and at GSC’s international screens. Boh Plantations is covering most of the costs for the performing arts awards. Hence the name Cameronian Arts Awards (it has nothing to with an African country), the tagline for the Cameronian brand is "the art of tea perfected". Consulting firm Accenture keeps a yearly budget for the arts. Many more names could be mentioned.

They usually do it mainly for commercial reasons (with the exception of Petronas that has a strong social agenda) - they believe that the arts offer a good support or environment to project their image. It’s fine that way, it’s the surest guarantee that they will keep on supporting the arts.

As performing arts productions become more professionally run (with better paid performers and back stage people who can then devote more time to the production, better promotion), corporates will find more value in buying whole night performances for their clients, or putting their names behind these productions. If IMG can bring in the musical Cats, at a cost of several million ringgit, and still make it financially viable thanks to ticket sales and sponsorship, there is plenty of hope for Malaysian productions.

It might mean changing the perception – among audiences, but also some government officials and press people - that foreign is better, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating - good productions, well run and promoted have every reason to be commercial successes too. It has happened before!

The media as well as high profile events such as festivals or awards nights all contribute to changing that perception.

In the UK a fifth of the population goes to an arts festival every year, but it is the result of decades (if not centuries) of art education, arts policies and arts practice and tradition. In Malaysia contemporary theatre companies, government art councils and learning institutions have only been around for three decades at the most. Many new traditions are being started now. It’s all very exciting, and everyone has an important role to play.