By: Siti Asmah Zolkefly
Photo by: Khysful Azim Hamzah
LONDON – Undergraduates from the 10th College (Kolej Ke-10) and 11th College (Kolej Ke-11) of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) recently organized a programme, known as Kembara Seni Eropah (European Art Tour) to London, England, with the aim of enhancing their theatrical skills and knowledge.
Program Kembara Seni Eropah 2015 Advisor from UPM Talent and Arts, Ahmad Qadri Basri said the trip involved knowledge-sharing and study visits to several theatre centres and universities within London city.
“The main focus of this programme is to provide an opportunity to our local undergraduates to participate in training sessions held at such centres and to gain as much knowledge as possible on theatrical performances with the help of instructors at each and every location that we visited,” he said.
He also said he was proud that the programme had achieved its target in broadening students’ knowledge and interests at the international level.
“Program Kembara Seni Eropah 2015 is the first to have been held by Kolej 10 and Kolej 11 students who are representatives of SETA Arts Production, a theatre production based at UPM’s main campus which has attained many hallmark achievements during UPM Inter-Colleges’ Theatre Festival,” he added.
Among the locations, universities and art galleries they visited included the Cambridge Theater and the Palace Theatre, Goldsmiths University, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Liverpool, London National Gallery, Royal Albert Hall, and the Royal Academy of Arts that provided the space for students to witness and feel the design inspirations, ideas as well as the performances of modern theatres and conceptualised arts.
Program Kembara Seni Eropah 2015 Director, Khysful Azim Hamzah, meanwhile, said such a programme had enabled students to explore and gain knowledge in terms of fostering external relations and understanding the actual situation in managing their works in a professional and efficient manner globally.
“Such an exposure and expertise needed to be mastered by each and every undergraduate to get them ready to face the world and other challenges. This programme has allowed me to interact directly with foreign students and I was able to gain lots of information about theatre,” he said.
Siti Asmah Zolkefly said the programme had inspired her to search for knowledge and study foreign theatres.
“I gained lots of ideas and concepts on theatrical performances after watching the performances at Cambridge Theatre which I feel can be applied to our theatrical shows in our country,” she said.
UPM has set a target for high-impact programmes to be continued to enable its students to gain scientific knowledge and experiences at the global level. - UPM
