AN exuberant group of youngsters played their part in documenting heritage through a filmmaking project on the ‘Living Heritage Treasures of Penang.’

Three outstanding craftsmen and artists found themselves the subject of scrutiny of 20 secondary school and tertiary students for 10 months, the time it took to work on the project.

The “living heritage” personalities – basket weaver Sim Buck Teik , the Father of Batik Art Datuk Chuah Thean Teng and national laureate Prof Mu-hammad Salleh – were chosen by the youngsters themselves for the project initiated by Penang Heritage Trust.

A month of team building and training in research methodology, videography and IT sufficiently prepared the students for the task of producing an interactive multimedia VCD on the trio.

During the launch of their exhibition recently at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Museum and Art Gallery, the irrepressible youth showed how their energy and passion could kindle awareness among the young about the greats of old.

Natasha Khanum, 17, from Convent Light Street who coordinated the Sim Buck Teik team, said a lot of trades were dying out in Penang.

“For two months, we visited Sim to see how he weaved baskets and I'm amazed at his patience in sitting with us for hours,” she said.

The Chuah Thean Teng research coordinator Shari Chong Ying Yi, 19, from Kemayan ATC was intrigued to learn that the man was not just an artist but someone who created a whole new medium of art – batik art.

“I'm privileged to have met Chuah and his family and drunk tea in his house! It’s like meeting Picasso or Van Gogh,” she enthused.

Shirin Aziha Shahidan, 17, from St George’s Girls’ School who coordi-nated the Prof Muhammad Salleh team, was inspired by the poet’s vast travels.

“As he travels, he gains more ideas for his poems, thus making his newer poems harder to understand compared with earlier ones that are more straightforward,” she said.

The VCDs would be distributed to schools.

The project was organised by ARTS-ED, an arts education programme for young people run by USM and the Penang Consultative Educa-tional Council.

For details on the programme, contact 04-6533060 or go to www. arts-ed-penang.org

(Source: The Star Online)