After Dark, Downtown Kuala Lumpur Moves in Light

After dark, the laneways of Downtown Kuala Lumpur will take on a different rhythm as Warung TERANG brings projection mapping out of large-scale building facades into a mobile, artist-led experience.  Unfolding from 8 to 17 May 2026, 6 artworks will move across locations including Jalan Tun H.S Lee, Jalan Sang Guna, Muzium Telekom and River of Life, inviting the public to explore light, sound and cultural stories up close as the experience appears, shifts and re-emerges across the city.

Warung TERANG is developed by Filamen as an ongoing exploration of how contemporary digital art can exist freely within the city, moving beyond fixed installations into formats that invite closer interaction between the public, the artworks and artists.

With support from Think City, Warung TERANG is one of the programmes under the KL Fest. The initiative also seeks to draw audiences back into overlooked urban spaces, reactivating areas that often fade after dark. Guided by the theme of pasar, Warung TERANG takes cues from Southeast Asia’s marketplaces – places defined not just by goods but by the constant exchange of ideas, conversations and cultural encounters.

When Behind-the-Scenes Meet the Streets

Taking place over two weekends, Warung TERANG brings together daytime workshops and evening street activations, where projection mapping comes alive alongside REAVANG – an open platform for artists and creatives to experiment with visuals and sound in a live urban setting.

As night sets in, Downtown KL shifts into pockets of colour, sound and activities, encouraging people to slow down, walk through the city and rediscover spaces they would normally pass by. Artists remain on-site, allowing visitors to get a behind-the-scenes look, have conversations and engage directly with the work as it happens – breaking the usual distance between projection mapping and audience.

The inaugural edition of Warung TERANG brings together Southeast Asian artists, including Fairuz Sulaiman of Sekolah Main Wayang (Malaysia), known for blending traditional storytelling with

contemporary media, visual collective Fonetikar (Malaysia), multimedia artist Tan Ji Kean (Malaysia) and Indonesian collectives and artists featuring The Fox, The Folks, Story of Karana and Hue, drawing from the lived experiences and everyday exchanges found in the marketplace, where stories will be reimagined through light, visuals, audio and live interaction.

“In a pasar, it’s never just about what is being sold – it’s about the people, the conversations and the shared stories that move through the space. With Warung TERANG, we wanted to bring that into Downtown KL, where audiences are not just watching, but becoming part of the experience – rediscovering familiar places and forming meaningful new memories along the way,” said Abdul Shakir, Co-Founder of Filamen.

KL Fest runs from 6 to 31 May 2026 across Downtown Kuala Lumpur, activating heritage buildings, streets and public spaces through more than 80 events and over 700 hours of programming - the majority of which are free to the public. Organised by Think City in collaboration with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), supported by the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Territories Department, the festival forms part of a broader effort to reimagine the city through culture, with activations like Warung TERANG bringing audiences closer to the streets through more intimate, ground-level encounters. The festival is held in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2026, Warisan KL, and Kuala Lumpur's designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Design.

DETAILS OF WARUNG TERANG

WEEK 1
8 May 2026
8:00PM – 11:30PM
River of Life
Tan Ji Kean
REAVANG

9 May 2026
8:00PM – 11:30PM
Muzium Telekom
Story of Karana

High Street Studio
The Fox, The Folks

10 May 2026
9:30PM – 11:30PM
Pucks Coffee
Fairuz Sulaiman

Jalan Sang Guna
REAVANG

WEEK 2
15 May 2026
9:30PM – 11:30PM
Pucks Coffee
Hue

Jalan Sang Guna
REAVANG

16 May 2026
8:00Pm – 11:30PM
Muzium Telekom
Fonetikar

High Street Studio
REAVANG

17 May 2026
8:00PM – 11:30PM
River of Life
REAVANG
Fonetikar
Tan Ji Kean

Warung TERANG is organised by Filamen and presented as part of KL Fest.  It is also made possible by Yayasan TM, Digital Tech Incubator, Humblezing and RUBIX.

Follow Warung TERANG and Filamen on Instagram and Facebook at @wearefilamen for the latest updates and behind-the-scenes moments.