Dargent, who now divides her time primarily between Paris and Venice, lived in Malaysia in the early 1980s (Photo: Marie Dargent)
Options: Congratulations on Chinatown Funkytown, your exhibition happening now at Else Hotel. Tell us a little about it, especially what you want guests to walk away feeling.
Marie Dargent: Thank you. A total of 23 pieces are exhibited, all mixed media collages offering a fantasy view of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. The base features black and white photographs, cut up then partly recoloured and modified with different materials, textiles, lace, litho prints and colourful pieces of paper with acrylic and pencil, but all using my imagination to embellish and create different perspectives. I would like to see how these buildings and houses in Chinatown can affect people through visual impact.
What are your favourite sources of inspiration?
I do a lot of paintings and litho prints inspired and stimulated by heritage architecture. And of equal importance is nature, but always in an abstract style, featuring only shapes and colours. You would find no details of vegetation or men or animals (unless I am commissioned for a special piece). It would be just fluid or dramatic landscapes, all depending on the places I discover during my travels.
It has been five years since you last visited KL. What is at the top of your to-do list?
When we lived here, almost all our friends were locals. We remain good friends still and I am longing to see them! I would also like to revisit my most beloved spots in Malaysia. I have just come from Penang and Langkawi and was most surprised to see that nothing much has changed, apart from a few new buildings and roads. Kampung life is unchanged: the same rhythms, the same smells and the same little food stalls.
This trip, I want to go shopping in Sungei Wang Plaza, my favourite shopping centre. It’s so old and old-fashioned, so kitsch, dark and chaotic … also with the famous biscuit smell wafting about. I would like to go to the KL Forest Eco Park, which I have yet to visit, and the textile museum near the old train station. I would also like to see a performance by Ramli Ibrahim at his Sutra Dance Theatre and enjoy good makan! For sure, black Hokkien mee in Imbi, noodles by the son of Soo Kee and maybe great cuisine accompanied by a panoramic night view from Fritz at The Troika.
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You lived in Malaysia in the early 1980s. What are some of your most evocative memories of KL from that period in time?
I remember KL was almost still a kampung then. Monkeys could still be found along Jalan Pinang and the race track was in the middle of town, now where KLCC is. Places like Sentul and Cheras seemed miles away. One thing remains unchanged: the country was and still is a paradise for foodies. I remember the old Central Market selling all sorts of fresh food and spices and how it was where the old Malaysian master painters and the budding new generation of artists would hang out. Oh, and an unforgettable memory would be my first-ever solo exhibition at the late Victor Chin’s
Rupa Gallery on Bukit Nanas.
What are you reading right now?
Dalva, a book by Jim Harrison, a contemporary epicurian American writer often compared to [Ernest] Hemingway. It is essentially about a Native American nation and its people whom whites try to “domesticate” and teach them how to behave “well”.
Which books do you always find yourself re-reading?
I sometimes re-read philosophical books about travelling around the world. I like how they make you think further — not just as the logbook of some conqueror hunting for gold or diamonds — but rather to try and understand local people and their way of life.
What are you listening to right now?
Right now, I have no time to listen to anything. But when I happen to catch some old Malay music, I lend an ear to it; especially if it’s by P Ramlee!
You divide your life between Paris and Venice. What are the top three things you would tell any art-inclined traveller to see and do in each city?
In Paris, I would suggest visiting small places like the Musée Carnavalet, Musée Marmotan, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Musée Maillol, Musée Cognac-Jay and the Musée Cernuschi ... all museums with a genuine soul. Tourists go to the Louvre and the big establishments, but is queueing for hours to have a glimpse of old masters really worth it?
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For me, fashion and cuisine also constitute the arts. I like flea markets. A hidden secret is the Marché d’Aligre near the Bastille, where lots of bargains may be found. I love hunting for artsy antiques and vintage fashions. For authentic French cooking, head to historic bistrots, grand brasseries or bouillons in incredible Art Nouveau or Art Déco styles that were once the meeting places of writers, philosophers, artists and their muses. I would choose a gourmet bistro, such as L’Ebauchoir, the opulent Bofinger Brasserie and the very reasonably priced Bouillon Julien, though you may have to queue to get a table.
In Venice, a tour around the Biennale Gardens is a must. This year was the spectacular Biennale of Art and it will be the Biennale of Architecture in 2025. Two top museums off the tourist route are Palazzo Mocenigo, dedicated to textiles and fabrics, and Museo Navale, filled with unique Venetian boats. Enjoying an opera performed at the Fenice Opera House is unforgettable, both for the music and the incredibly ornate interiors. Sip a cappuccino at the historic Caffe Florian on Piazza San Marco. An insider’s tip: Don’t sit outside and be serenaded by the musicians as the prices can be expensive. Instead, sit inside, in one of the splendid salons. It will take you back to the times
of Casanova.
Where are you off to next?
Venice in December and I will spend Christmas with my mum who is 92. After, I am thinking of South Africa, Uruguay and perhaps a spot of trekking in the low mountains of France.
Describe your idea of a perfect weekend.
This is difficult as I don’t have free weekends like most people despite having no kids (by choice) and grandchildren to entertain. Being an artist, your schedule is dictated by intuition, energy and whenever inspiration strikes. If I am in Venice, then the perfect weekend is shopping in the Rialto market for fresh fish and vegetables, and taking the ferry out to the lagoon for a long lazy Sunday lunch on the tiny island of Mazzorbo at Venissa, a vineyard restaurant. Paris will be more artsy. Catching a movie or an exhibition, a morning tour of the chaotic flea market at Montreuil on Sunday, followed by early evening aperitifs and live jazz at Le Quartier Rouge, a local cafe.
'Chinatown Funkytown', an exhibition of new works by Marie Dargent, is on at Else Hotel, 145 Jalan Tun HS Lee, until Nov 15.
This article first appeared on Nov 4, 2024 in The Edge Malaysia.
