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!
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!?
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.
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.
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!
