Inktober seems to be the month for drawings to come alive and not only that, we spot a trend coming on with more artists drawing “live”.

If you didn’t get a chance to see artists, Sanuri Zulkefli and Superdoofus in action for Doodle Malaysia’s Contenglah in Masjid Jamek LRT last week, fret not! There’s still Art Battle Malaysia set to happen this Saturday at Publika.

The novel phenomenon will feature 12 artists, each conjuring their special brand of magic onto canvas for 20 minutes, all within viewing pleasure of an audience.

If you’re watching, you get to vote for the works you like best to advance into the final round, and then also choose the champion lah!

At the end of it, if you like any of the paintings created, you can buy it fresh off the easel through a bidding auction.

This spectator sport is a first of its kind in Malaysia and brought about by artist and program director, Ruby Subramaniam.

The 27-year-old took part in Ar Battle Brasil last year during her travels and was so inspired, she decided to have one back home and now she has done it too, with the help of some sponsorship by Premier Art.  

The concept actually reminds us a lot of gladiators in historic Rome, just that instead of violent warriors, we have vibrant artists and instead of the colosseum, we have Publika’s The Square.

The artists entering the ring are Adel Shat, Haris Rashid, Harris Hadiwinata, Izwan Shah, Jiet Wong, Josh Mosh, Juan Villanueva, Nabella Malinka, Roova Li Juan, Stan Lee, Thineswari and Zhafran Tan.

You can check out some of their work and quotes on the Art Battle Malaysia Facebook Page. 

Have an awesome art event coming up? Let us know at editors@eksentrika.com