Gerakbudaya Bookshop - Penang

02/08/2026

STEVE TAN | WORKSHOP | THE ART OF WET PLATE COLLODION PHOTOGRAPHY

A collage of photos from Steve Tan's remarkable workshops on wet plate collodion photography: a hands-on demonstration of this magical process.

Photo credit: Thum Chia Chieh
A George Town Festival event

27/07/2026

WORKSHOPS | STEVE TAN | THE ART OF WET PLATE COLLODION PHOTOGRAPHY

We are delighted to invite you to our unique pair of workshops – The Art of Wet Plate Collodion Photography: Large-format Cameras and Handmade Plates – organised as part of this year’s George Town Festival.

Here are the details of the two workshops for your diary.

Saturday 1 August 2026, 2.00–4.00pm
Sunday 2 August 2026, 2.00–4.00pm

Venue: Hikayat, 226 Lebuh Pantai, 10300 George Town, Penang

Hands-on Participant (paid)
Get hands-on experience and create your own unique wet plate photograph with guidance from the artist. Perfect for anyone who wants to experience the full workshop.

Observer (free)
Attend as an observer enjoy the live demonstration and artist sharing session. Please note that observers will not take part in the hands-on activity.

Register now: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/6750-workshop-the-art-of-wet-plate-collodion-photography-large-format-cameras-and-handmade-plates

Refreshments will be served

➽ The workshop

The hands-on workshop offers a rare opportunity for participants to create a unique photograph of their own. The method involves three main steps—coating the glass plate with light-sensitive silver halide and a collodion solution in a darkroom; taking a photograph by exposing it in a special 8x10-inch camera; and developing and fixing the glass plate while still wet. Entirely handmade and highly sensitive to temperature, the process requires a portable darkroom that will be installed on-site.

Participants will explore the use of chemicals while experimenting with manipulation techniques and exposure timings. It is a nerve-racking yet exciting process, where every plate a gamble—but the reward is the unforgettable experience of holding a photograph created on glass. Each participant will produce their own glass plate photograph by working through every stage of the process, while observers will also have the opportunity to witness this fascinating photographic craft from start to finish.

➽ The facilitator | Steve Tan

Steve Tan is widely regarded as one of Malaysia’s leading practitioners of wet plate photography, having produced an outstanding portfolio of works showcased in this exhibition. He has also played a significant role in reviving interest in the medium through his practice at Magnetic Studios in Ipoh, as well as through his popular workshops. The workshop at Hikayat recreates a studio darkroom, offering participants the opportunity to explore and experience the entire wet plate photography process using Steve Tan’s custom-made camera, darkroom equipment, accessories, and his own collodion solution used in developing the images.

The “Art of Wet Plate Collodion Photography" workshop is presented by Steve Tan, Malaysia’s only professional photographer specialising in the wet plate collodion technique. This photographic process produces images of remarkable depth on glass.

26/07/2026

ARTIST'S TALK AND EXHIBITION | STEVE TAN | COLLODION, SILVER, GLASS

Our first contribution to this year's George Town Festival is a fascinating exhibition, preluded by an artist's talk.

Here are the details for your diary.

➡ Opening and Artist’s Talk: Thursday 30 July 2026, 7.00pm

Your chance to see the artworks and meet the artist. Steve will present an illustrated talk about the wet plate technique and his images.

Free admission
Refreshments will be served

The exhibition will then run until Monday 31 August 2026
Venue: Hikayat, 226 Lebuh Pantai, 10300 George Town, Penang

➡ Collodion, Silver, Glass: Contemporary Wet Plate Photography is an exhibition presented by Steve Tan 陈兴国, Malaysia’s only professional photographer using the wet plate collodion technique. This is a process on glass that produces images of remarkable clarity and depth, with a distinctive ethereal quality. The artworks in this show explore the classic genre of the still life, through a technique that captures dramatic, painterly contrasts and textural details. The attraction of these unique images lies in their ghostly yet detailed aesthetic. Each glass plate image is filled with imperfections. And it is precisely these imperfections – the scratches, hazy patches, blurriness – that offer a sense of magical alchemy. These still lifes capture the sensual beauty of this unique photographic form.

➡ Steve Tan 陈兴国
Steve Tan is without doubt the leading practitioner of wet plate photography in Malaysia, and has produced an outstanding portfolio of pictures that are showcased during the exhibition. Further, he has singlehandedly helped revive interest in the medium, both through his practice, Magnetic Studios in Ipoh, and his popular workshops. The workshop at Hikayat recreates a studio darkroom, and offers the chance for people to explore and experience the entire process of wet plate photography, making use of Steve Tan’s own custom-made camera, darkroom equipment accessories and his own collodion solution used in the development of the images.

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
04 261 8001 (Gerakbudaya Bookshop @ Hikayat)
E: [email protected]

20/07/2026

KAKI KINO | IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY at 6.00pm

We round off this month's mini-season with Jafar Panahi's superb It Was Just an Accident. The story follows Vahid, a mechanic and former political prisoner who recognises the sound of a prosthetic leg belonging to a customer. Believing this man is his past torturer, Vahid kidnaps him and journeys into the desert with other survivors to determine whether to exact revenge.

Winner, Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival
Winner, Best Film, Sydney Film Festival

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang 1/3

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
04 261 8001 (Gerakbudaya Bookshop @ Hikayat)
E: [email protected]

Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, has a chance encounter with Eghbal, ...

15/07/2026

GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL | THE MALAYSIAN REAL BOOK II: PAST TO PRESENT | MAJESTIC THEATRE | TUESDAY 4–WEDNESDAY 5 AUGUST 2026

For more than a century, ‘real books’ have been the jazz musician’s best friend. Originally, they contained collated lead sheets for a raft of standards from the Great American Songbook. Over the last ten years, the Malaysian jazz scene has been revolutionised in the same way. Thanks to a community-driven project, led by some of the most prominent and dedicated musicians, there is now a unique publication, The Malaysian Real Book, containing hundreds of tunes, the first of its kind in Asia. It is nothing less than a mapping of the popular music history of Malaysia.

The “Malaysian Real Book II: Past to Present” follows on from the first Malaysian Real Book concerts, presented to box office and critical success at GTF 2025. It celebrates the rich and diverse heritage of Malaysian music while also showcasing the work of current composers and songwriters.

The concerts are fronted by three of Malaysia’s best jazz vocalists – the velvety Ida Mariana, the sparkling Janet Lee, and the soulful Yon Lynn – each possessing a deep passion for the Great Malaysian Songbook. Singing traditional standards and contemporary originals from the treasure trove of The Malaysian Real Book – songs in Malay, Chinese and English – their individual and combined styles are innovative and charged by boundless musical joy, all rooted in a distinctly Malaysian jazz sound. Expect soaring vocals and a foot-tapping vibe carried by the rhythms of swing, bebop and soul, and accompanied by the award-winning WVC - Malaysian Jazz Ensemble.

Get your tickets here: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/6338-malaysian-real-book-ii-past-to-present

13/07/2026

KAKI KINO | NO OTHER CHOICE
TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY at 6.00pm | THURSDAY at 6.30pm

We continue our min-season with NO OTHER CHOICE from the great Park Chan-wook. After a devoted, middle-aged paper company manager is unexpectedly laid off, his desperate search for a new job yields no results. Driven to preserve his comfortable lifestyle, he devises a ruthless plan to secure a specific position by eliminating the other highly qualified applicants.

Winner, Best Film, Stockholm Film Festival
Winner, Best Film, Toronto International Film Festival

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang 1/3

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
04 261 8001 (Gerakbudaya Bookshop @ Hikayat)
E: [email protected]

Based on Donald E. Westlake's "The Ax" No Other Choice follows Man-...

03/07/2026

Books@Hikayat | CINTA DAN KEHILANGAN with MALACHI EDWIN VETHAMANI and REGINA IBRAHIM | SATURDAY 4 JULY 2026, 7.00pm

A gentle reminder of the special book launch of Cinta dan Kehilangan, the translation of Malachi Edwin Vethamani's poetry collection, Love and Loss, by the estimable Regina Ibrahim. Edwin has put together an exemplary line-up of readers: Lucille Dass, Mawar Marzuki, Yee Heng Yeh, Lacey Greg and Wilson Khor Woo Han. And Anna Tan will say a few words on importance translation in a multilingual and multicultural society.

Free admission | Refreshments will be served
Signed copies of Cinta dan Kehilangan and other books by Edwin and Regina will be on sale

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
E: [email protected]

29/06/2026

Books@Hikayat | CINTA DAN KEHILANGAN with MALACHI EDWIN VETHAMANI and REGINA IBRAHIM | SATURDAY 4 JULY 2026, 7.00pm

Join the author Malachi Edwin Vethamani and translator Regina Ibrahim as they talk about the new translation of the poetry collection, Cinta dan Kehilangan (Maya Press), first published in English as Love and Loss.

Here are the details for your diary.

Cinta dan Kehilangan
Love and Loss

Malachi Edwin Vethamani
with Regina Ibrahim

Saturday 4 July 2026
7.00–8.30 pm

➽ The book

Sajak-sajak dalam kumupulan Cinta dan Kehilangan mengajak kita menyelami cakerawala kehidupan yang rumit sambil memperkenalkan kita kepada watak-watak keluarga, lalu lintas perasaan serta pelbagai sudut pengalaman yang ditampilkan oleh penyair Malachi Edwin Vethamani.

The poems in the collection Love and Loss invite us to delve into the complex horizons of life while introducing us to the characters of the author’s family, the flow of feelings and various perspectives of experience presented by the poet Malachi Edwin Vethamani.

➽ The author

Malachi Edwin Vethamani is a professor emeritus at the University of Nottingham and has made his mark as a poet, writer, editor, critic and bibliographer. He is the author of two collections of short stories and five books of poetry, including Love and Loss (2022), as well as the editor of numerous literary anthologies. He is the founding editor of Men Matters Online Journal.

➽ The translator

Penang-based Regina Ibrahim is a widely published author of fiction and non-fiction and an English–Malay translator. Her recent books include Se-balik Kain (2024), Situasi Situasi (2024) as well as collections of her short stories.

Free admission | Refreshments will be served
Signed copies of Cinta dan Kehilangan and other books by Edwin and Regina will be on sale

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
E: [email protected]

26/06/2026

KAKI KINO | ACCIDENTAL CHOICES | JULY 2026

You are warmly invited to Kaki Kino’s mini-season for July, with four award-winning films under the theme Accidental Choices. We begin with Óliver Laxe’s film Sirāt – a winner at Cannes – an excruciatingly tense road trip through a desert purgatory that offers a vision of human psychology tested to its limits. Adapted from Deborah Levy’s bestselling novel, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s directorial debut Hot Milk follows Sofia who is accompanying her wheelchair-using mother to Almeria, Spain – what seems like a rite of passage story turns to surreal interludes, sudden violence and a quiet summer romance. No Other Choice from the Korean master, Park Chan-wook, is a sensational state-of-the-nation satire, in which an unemployed paper worker hatches a cunning plan to murder his way back into the job market in this continually surprising black comedy. We conclude the month with Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, winner of the Palme d’Or, and another of his humane, sharp, witty, seductively oblique and deeply engaged dramas which reveal how political oppression and political resistance is embedded into the everyday fabric of Iranian life.

The screenings on Tuesday and Wednesday are at 6.00pm, while the Thursday screenings take place at 6.30pm. There is no screening during the last week of July because of our involvement with George Town Festival.

Here are the details for your diary.

➭ Tuesday 30 June 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Wednesday 1 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Thursday 2 July 2026 | 6.30pm

SIRĀT
Dir. Óliver Laxe | Spain, France | 2025 | 114 mins
with English sub-titles
starring Sergi López, Bruno Núñez Arjona, Richard Bellamy

A father and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They’re searching for Mar – daughter and sister – who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.

Winner, Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival
Winner, Best Feature, Chicago International Film Festival

★★★★★
‘Its title refers to the mythical Islamic bridge across hell, on which one false step leads to certain damnation. The path trodden by the film itself is no less risky, but it styles out the crossing astonishingly.’ — Robbie Collin, The Telegraph

★★★★★
‘The movie begins in exhilaration and concludes in despair, and what unfolds in between is an experience of singularly turbulent and transfixing power.’ — Justin Chang, New Yorkers

➭ Tuesday 7 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Wednesday 8 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Thursday 9 July 2026 | 6.30pm

Hot Milk
Dir. Rebecca Lenkiewicz | Greece, UK | 2025 | 106 mins
starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps

In the scorching heat of a Spanish summer, Rose and her daughter Sofia travel to the seaside town of Almería to consult Gómez, an enigmatic healer who may hold the key to Rose’s mysterious illness. But in the sun-drenched town, Sofia, trapped until now by her mother’s condition, begins to shed her inhibitions as she is drawn to the magnetic charms of Ingrid, a free-spirited traveller.

Nominee, Best Film, Berlin International Film Festival
Nominee, Best Actress, Irish Film and Television Awards

★★★★★
‘The fierce sinew of Shaw’s performance gives the film some shape and keeps it grounded. Mackey and Krieps, both formidable performers, give the film their presence and force.’ — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

★★★★★
‘Rarely has maternal trauma been so well-dramatized on the big screen with zest, humor, and genuine appreciation of the ambivalence baked into these relationships.’ — Savina Petkova, The Film Stage

➭ Tuesday 14 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Wednesday 15 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Thursday 16 July 2026 | 6.30pm

No Other Choice
Dir. Park Chan-wook | South Korea | 2025 | 139 mins
with English sub-titles
starring Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon

After a devoted, middle-aged paper company manager is unexpectedly laid off, his desperate search for a new job yields no results. Driven to preserve his comfortable lifestyle, he devises a ruthless plan to secure a specific position by eliminating the other highly qualified applicants.

Winner, Best Film, Stockholm Film Festival
Winner, Best Film, Toronto International Film Festival

★★★★★
‘There’s something so rewarding about going to a movie and giving yourself over to a master like Park Chan-wook, someone whom you trust through all the twists and turns of a film as tonally complex as No Other Choice.’ — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert

★★★★★
‘No Other Choice isn’t just Park’s funniest film, but his most humane, too – and that’s quite something for a comedy as violent as this one.’ — Nicholas Barber, BBC

➭ Tuesday 21 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Wednesday 22 July 2026 | 6.00pm
➭ Thursday 23 July 2026 | 6.30pm

It Was Just an Accident
Dir. Jafar Panahi | Iran, France | 2025 | 104 mins
with English sub-titles
starring Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi

The story follows Vahid, a mechanic and former political prisoner who recognises the sound of a prosthetic leg belonging to a customer. Believing this man is his past torturer, Vahid kidnaps him and journeys into the desert with other survivors to determine whether to exact revenge.

Winner, Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival
Winner, Best Film, Sydney Film Festival

★★★★★
‘It’s a cry from the heart, a comic howl in the dark and one of the year’s essential movies.’ — Manohla Dargis, New York Times

★★★★★
‘This is a film about anger, felt as deeply by the characters whose lives unspool in front of the camera as by the filmmaker who sits behind it. Such anger is a long river that bifurcates into two opposing forces: violence and empathy.’ — Rafaela Sales Ross, The Playlist

Screenings and refreshments | RM15
Advanced booking is essential

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang 1/3

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
04 261 8001 (Gerakbudaya Bookshop @ Hikayat)
E: [email protected]

13/06/2026

Books@Hikayat | MONSOON WITH MOHTASHIM SHAIKH AND MOHD SHAFIZI | SATURDAY 13 JUNE 2026, 7.00pm

THIS EVENING. Join the author Mohtashim Shaikh and illustrator Mohd Shafizi bin Abdul Ghani as they talk about their new illustrated children’s book, Monsoon (Entrepot Publishing).

Here are the details for your diary.

Monsoon

Mohtashim Shaikh with Mohd Shafizi bin Abdul Ghani

Saturday 13 June 2026
7.00–8.00pm

➽ The book

This evocative story draws from Mohtashim’s own childhood memories, capturing the vibrant sights, sounds and wonders of growing up in a tropical land. Monsoon is a tender tale that beautifully bridges generations. It begins with the first cool gusts of sea breeze that stir the palm trees and carry the scent of the seas and far-off lands. Soon, dark clouds gather, and the warm fragrance of damp earth rises as the first drops fall. The story paints the delight of rushing winds, pounding rain, flashes of lightning, and booming thunder, nature’s grand orchestra. By evening, the storm calms, leaving behind glistening puddles, fresh air, quiet waves, and a peaceful world where the children drift off to sleep, content and safe after the magic of a monsoon day.

➽ The author

Following a long career in engineering and project management, Mohtashim transitioned from the rigorous world of logic and numbers into the soulful rhythm of retirement. Within this reflective space, he discovered a profound passion for storytelling. Monsoon is his debut book.

➽ The illustrator

Born George Town, Penang, Mohd Shafizi is a self-taught artist. His creative evolution began with the raw simplicity of pencil sketching, progressed through the vibrant textures of pastels and culminated in oil painting, which now serves as his primary medium of expression. He frequently showcases his work in public exhibitions to share his evolving creative vision.

Free admission | Refreshments will be served
Signed copies of Monsoon will be on sale

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang

T: 04 261 9001 (Hikayat)
E: [email protected]