Ssegar Angin: The Healing Art Project is a contemporary version of Malay traditional healing performances inspired by Main Puteri and Mak Yong. This project is a special designated program developed by fusing the power of art with therapeutic elements which highlight the positive benefits of connecting art with mental health and well- being. The Ssegar Angin Project uses sound and body movement to heal the internal psychic and spiritual body based on the Malay traditional healing performances such as Main Puteri and Mak Yong. In Malay culture, traditional healing performances have existed for hundreds of years. These performances use sound/music, movements, and mantras to address different kinds of ailments. There are three elements in the Ssegar Angin performances: the music (soundscapes created by sound artists), body movements (dance choreography inspired by Main Puteri/Mak Yong), and Jjampi (mantras recited by bomoh, a Malay shaman). Ssegar Angin or “revitalizing the energy” is the process of healing the internal psychic and spiritual healing energy which transpired within the panggung or “theater” through sound and movement. It is an embodiment of metaphysical relationships between creation and the Creator. The sounds of the instruments, chanting and the movements are believed to be capable of activating the angin or semangat (energy) of the participants and enabling them to be receptive – Serah diri or “surrender” to the performance stimuli hence possible to revitalize their spiritual well being.

Through paddy field, riverbank and lotus river we had gone through experiencing ‘Segar Angin’ (closest meaning to healing synergy) through the world of experimental sound and the performance movements weaved through the Harmonium, the Rebab, a dash of poetries placed in, and the interlocutor of it all... the inference Electrical sounds in the hands of Master Sound Artist, Kamal Sabran.