Blank Canvas is an independent contemporary arts space within the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town, Penang. While modest in size, it is ambitious in its aspirations.
Opened in 2022, Blank Canvas seeks to be a bridge between its richly historic surroundings and the international contemporary art world. It aims to create greater local awareness and appreciation of Malaysian and international contemporary art, as well as to encourage international contemporary art practitioners to discover and engage with the contexts of Penang and its region.
More fundamentally, Blank Canvas is an experimental and experiential space seeking to explore, and to challenge, the twin notions of what art is and what can be art. In addition to the conventional visual forms of painting and sculpture, it embraces other art forms such as photography, performance, installation, sound and even psychology, as well as other experiences heretofore unencountered.
On this journey of exploration and evolution, Blank Canvas is guided by the ethos of collaboration. It takes joy in engaging widely and deeply with the myriad members of the local and international art community, and is continually looking for different ways to serve contemporary artists and audiences – as a gallery, an incubator, a residency, a venue for dialogue, and beyond.
True to its name, Blank Canvas is a site of potential, of exploration, of encounter and experimentation.
