Bisik Kata

About 3 months ago, an old college friend of mine asked me if I would want to be a part of her yearly project called Letterature. She works in advertising and is highly passionate about art and about how she places herself as a useful being by giving back / contributing to community through art and education. Letterature is her non-profit project that gathers her (talented) friends, colleagues, acquaintances into one event that showcases appreciations towards literature in various mediums. She   successfully held her first Literature event last year, entitled "Bedah Rasa" and this year for part 2, she calls it "Bisik Kata".

So here's what happened in this collaboration. She had her 3 writer friends to write. Then she passed these writings to 3 of her musician friends. The 3 musicians then composed 3 songs from there. Now this is where I came in. The lyrics were them emailed to me, short-listed and focal and featured lines were chosen, and I had to make papercuts of those. Other collaborators would work on typography/calligraphy arts and also illustration/paintings. 

I have always been so used to making papercuts in A4 (or smaller sizes). This time I had to make in sizes of A2 and bigger, which is a new challenge. I had to finish (designing and cutting) 10 pieces of artwork within 2.5 weeks, which is another challenge and something that I thought was impossible. But I am so glad that it's all done now, the showcase was yesterday, and it all turned out pretty well. 

A few things were learnt from this project. First, I started using ordinary, normal house-hold small cutter / cutting knife instead of more expensive x-acto or craft knife. The cheap cutter worked just fine and allowed me to have ample stocks of fresh and sharp blades (just keep on snapping the blade, it's long, it's cheap). Secondly, bigger sized papercuts require less manoeuvres but requires steadier hand. The longer straight slices would turn awful with even the tiniest and slightest off-the-track movement.

I admire the spirit of Letterature so much. To me, I think it was all giving and none taking. The hard work put by the founder, Ebee, and her friends were tremendous, just to be able to provide a special moment for people to gather and appreciate each other's works, for old friends to reunite, and for new people to meet and know each other better. I wish for all good things to come for Letterature (and Letterplatters)'s future. May you inspire even more.