Illustration
Kuala Lumpur Illustration Fair 2023
When Kuala Lumpur Illustration Fair (KLIF) popped up on my Instagram feed, I was so excited that Malaysia is finally introducing a platform like this for illustrators to meet and show their work! I was pretty nervous applying to be one of the exhibitors as I have never done this kind of event before. Even though I participated in a few pop-ups in KL but the space proposed was bigger and I was slightly intimidated by this. Nevertheless, I took the challenge because why not!
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When the day came that I received the acceptance, I was pretty shocked but extremely stressed as to how am I going to go about it!
What should I exhibit? How big is the space exactly? What kind of atmosphere am I going with for my space? Where am I located? Who are my booth neighbours? Suddenly, I remember my uni days when exhibiting my architecture projects for potential companies to hire me. My mind reminded me that I actually did this before, but now it's my illustration instead!?
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A sketch was proposed during the submission phase and I did a rough idea stating that the illustrations will be placed in themes and they are positioned in a random manner, which looks something like this!
In the end, some ideas carried through and some were changed as we only got the dimensions of space a few weeks later after the acceptance email. Also, a little sketch below to show how I plan the space during site visit.
My boyfriend and I also made an A-frame rack together to hang my scarf design! It's designed to be detachable and easy to transport!
A lot of things happened during those 3 days. I met so many people and connected with artists I only know online! It was like a huge meetup and I think the best part is I get to really see the people behind the work and the work itself since nowadays everything is so digital.
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There are also students and potential collaborators coming in as well and the crowd is very varied! I think I talked so much until I lost all my energy that I needed to go to the toilet to rest haha. No doubt I am extremely grateful for the event but this was a scale that I was not prepared for haha.
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To be honest, I am already looking forward to the next one and am super excited to see how will the illustration industry grow! Till next time!
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