Events | Collective Arts Festival 2015

Last Sunday, Armada Properties and The Collective collaborated to host a creative arts festival. It was to support of local businesses and the arts. Because what Brunei lacks in giant chain stores like H&M, Forever 21, or Target, we make up in local businesses.

Local businesses are a dime a dozen here. Someone is a clothing retailer, someone is a baker, someone is an artist. The easiest way to commercialize is through social media. What Instagram is to Brunei, is what Etsy is to everywhere else. Online shops thrive on social media like Instagram and Facebook to sell their work.

Because of that, many of these vendors don't have physical shops. In the endless ocean of local businesses, it might be difficult to gain attraction. So the Collective Arts Festival stepped in to highlight all these great vendors.





The first thing you see is the amazing artwork from UBD Arts Club. The University of Brunei Darussalam's Art Club showed off some great paintings. I absolutely adore the Kitty Cat one in the frame. You can find their Facebook page here, and Instagram here.

The paintings of Aron Jon's Studio are incredible. I loved his recreation of The Last Supper with Marvel and DC characters. I misheard him saying it was only $20, while it was actually $280. For a moment, I would've bought it almost immediately. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Aren't these designs just gorgeous?

My handwriting is terrible so I'm envious of her skill. Calligraphy is a special skill of the angels in my opinion. These were made by Christine from Little Red Designs. Her designs caught my eye just by being so simple yet so beautiful.

I picked up the Be Kind post as a reminder to myself when life gets a little rougher. To be kind is a task we tend to forget. Right now, the card hangs in my bedroom beside my Scott Pilgrim poster and a photo of me at fourteen. You can find Christine's website, Little Red Designs here, and her Instagram here.

I met my friend, Jim there who runs Raja Maverick. He creating beautiful handmade jewellery using precious stones and crystals. I wished I bought one of their crystal necklaces. They were gorgeous but I was broke. Raja Maverick makes raw and rustic pieces for 'the Ballsy Badass.' Their words, not mine. You can find Raja Maverick's Instagram here.

To fund their travels, Brunei's WCOPA Team were selling sweets and goodies, and dream catchers! Oh, I love dream catchers. I had one a pink dream catcher when I was seven, dangling in my pink bedroom to chase away the nightmares. 

WCOPA is a big step in Brunei's entertainment industry. It is the World Championship of Performing Arts held in Los Angeles, and twelve Bruneians have been chosen to go! Brunei is so small, I know a few of them. If you would like to support them, you can find their Instagram here.

So that was my Sunday. They were 50 vendors, each showcasing different items from paintings to jewellery to cups of coffee. These were only some of little creative gems found in the Collective Arts Festival.

I hope you will check out at least one of these incredible vendors. Big thanks for Armada Properties and The Collective for hosting. Don't forget to visit Armada Properties' website here and The Collective's website here. They host some great events and the best way to keep up is through their Instagram here.

This is my first Event post! Do you like it? I'm not one to talk about happenings but the festival seemed to be the place to start. It's great to have local creatives recognised on such a big scale in Brunei. It's showing the change in medium of both businesses and creative arts. What an age we live in! 

So do you have any favourite local businesses in your area? A clothing store, book shop or maybe something crafty? I'd love to know!