Learning Responsible Consumption at the Wet Market

About the Workshop

Through this nine-day Youth Arts Camp, 24 secondary school students explore the supply chain of fruits at the historical Chowrasta Market, engaging with wholesalers and vendors to learn about the differences between imported and local fruit, reflecting on the topic of responsible consumption. Students present learning through a contemporary wayang kulit (shadow puppet) performance involving live music, original plot and character design.

Methods Used

1. Orientation to Theme, Topic and Site

Students explore Chowrasta Market through a treasure hunt, getting to know key fruit vendors and the local and imported fruit sold. Students plot the data collected on a world map showing where the fruits in Chowrasta come from.

2. Interaction and Documentation in Community

Students head back to interview vendors, looking at factors like transportation, packaging and pricing of fruits from in and out of the country. Facilitators guide students through analysis and critical reflection of the data collected; weighing the pros and cons of consuming local and imported fruit.

3. Interpretation and Creative Synthesis

Students are exposed to the art of wayang kulit through expert-practitioner Mohd Jufry Yusoff. He guides students through puppet making, puppet manipulation, storytelling techniques and traditional music playing. Using these skills, students incorporate their learning about fruit consumption into the script and puppet character design process.   

4. Reflection and Evaluation

Each day of the camp would end with a reflection activity. Here, students summarise and communicate their daily learning.

Outcomes Produced

Each team produced a 15-minute contemporary wayang kulit performance based on their learning from the workshop.

They recorded and showed the pieces to the vendors that they interviewed. They also performed it live during an inter-school showcase displaying the learning and final works created by participants from other workshops. This showcase was attended by members of the public, teachers, principals, education officers, parents, friends, programme funders and the media.

Youth Arts Camp is run by Arts-ED with the support of George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), under the Cultural Heritage Education Programme.