Muara Arts Gallery has opened in six restored 1930s shophouses at Kuala Lumpur’s historic Medan Pasar, showcasing modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art.
THE old market square in Kuala Lumpur is getting a second act. At Medan Pasar, where the Gombak and Klang rivers meet, two arts patrons have turned a row of faded 1930s shophouses into a public gallery and the seed of a wider cultural district.
Muara Arts Gallery opened on Nov 1 as a not-for-profit space for modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art. Behind it are Shanthi Kandiah and her husband Brahmal Vasudevan, founder and chief executive of the investment firm Creador, whose foundation backs the project.
The idea did not come from a business plan. In 2023, after the pandemic, the couple stopped for breakfast at Makan.Buzz during one of their regular rides through the city. Looking across at the Medan Pasar buildings, Shanthi remembered Seng Nam, a cafe at lot No. 2 where she often ate chicken rice as a young lawyer. The kopitiam that later took its place had also closed.
