IMMERSIO 2026: PASAR Turns Kuala Lumpur’s Markets Into New Media Art

A pasar is normally somewhere you go to buy dinner ingredients, fruit, clothes or the one household thing you did not know you needed. IMMERSIO 2026 asks a stranger question: what happens when the market itself becomes material for digital art?

The answer is spread around Kuala Lumpur. Handwritten signs, wet-market sounds, kopi bags, arcade memories, trading, surveillance and the organised chaos of a Southeast Asian market are being reworked into interactive installations, projections, games, sculptures and audiovisual performance.

01 · What exactly is IMMERSIO 2026: PASAR?

IMMERSIO is Filamen’s biennial new-media art festival. First launched in 2017, it has grown into a platform where established and emerging artists experiment with digital, audiovisual and interactive work. PASAR is the theme for the seventh edition.

The organisers are using the market as more than a visual motif. Across Southeast Asia, markets are places of exchange, memory, language, food, bargaining and social life. This year’s artists interpret those layers in very different ways rather than presenting one neat definition of what a pasar should look like.

Current festival material lists 100+ artists and creative technologists from Asia and 70+ works. GMBB is the main exhibition space, with satellite programmes expanding the festival into Muzium Telekom, Ombak KLCC and REXKL.

02 · GMBB is the main exhibition — and tickets are live

The core exhibition occupies Level 5 at GMBB from 11–27 September. It is closed on Mondays and currently listed for 11am–8pm.

CloudJoi’s live Filamen ticket page lists RM15 general admission, RM55 for a group of five, and RM65 for multiple entry plus an exclusive gift. Senior citizens, people with disabilities and children under 12 are listed as free. Future dates through 27 September were still bookable when we checked on 14 September.

GMBB says its building is at 2 Jalan Robertson. Its own visitor information puts Bukit Bintang MRT, Plaza Rakyat LRT and Hang Tuah Monorail at roughly a ten-minute walk, with Merdeka MRT a little farther away. That makes the main exhibition fairly easy to combine with a central-KL day without driving specifically for it.

03 · The art is deliberately more “pasar” than polished gallery

The current programme gives a useful sense of the range. Indonesian artist Rimbawan Gerilya turns the rise and fall of the batu akik gemstone craze into a playable game. Singapore’s Arron Teo reimagines disappearing wet markets as a strange digital world, while Malaysian collective Lain Main Lab turns market surveillance into an interactive photo-booth experience.

Other work starts with small everyday details: the knot used to tie a takeaway kopi bag, the familiar rubber mat people sit and eat on, or the places people gather after dark. The theme works because it is specific enough to feel familiar but broad enough for artists from different countries to pull it apart in completely different directions.

You do not need a background in digital art to make sense of the concept. In fact, the festival’s best entry point is probably the opposite: recognise an ordinary object or market habit first, then see what the artist has done to it.

04 · Muzium Telekom is the free student-focused stop

IMMERSIO also runs at Muzium Telekom, Levels 1 and 2, from 11–27 September. The event-specific programme lists 11am–5pm, closed Mondays, with free admission.

This satellite section gives students from MMU, UNIMAS and The One Academy their own space under the PASAR theme. One group of works turns six warung into interactive experiences around language, food trends and familiar Malaysian food icons.

There is one practical wrinkle worth knowing: general museum information can show different normal operating hours. If you are visiting specifically for IMMERSIO, use the festival’s event-specific timing and re-check the organiser on the day rather than assuming the building’s usual timetable applies to the exhibition.

05 · Ombak KLCC is the family-friendly satellite — and it runs longer

At Ombak KLCC, Malaysian artist Eugene Foo’s Saya Seekor Dinosaur universe extends IMMERSIO into a more playful family format. Visitors can create imaginary dinosaurs and watch them come to life through projection and digital technology.

This programme started on 27 August and continues until 30 October 2026, so it outlives the main September festival. Current event information lists RM10 general admission, RM5 for children under 12, RM45 for a group of five, with senior citizens and people with disabilities free. Tickets are listed as available at the venue.

If you are already spending time around KLCC, this is the easiest satellite to slot into a broader city-centre day. Persiaran KLCC MRT is the most direct rail reference for the Ombak precinct.

06 · REXKL gets the closing-weekend energy

REXKL hosts IMMERSIO from 25–27 September. CloudJoi describes this as the more social and performative end of the festival: artist sharing, community programmes, exhibition work and live audiovisual experimentation inside the former Rex Theatre.

The detailed programme published with the festival lists the PASAR exhibition from 11:30am–6pm, artist talks and workshops on 26–27 September from 2:30pm–4pm, and audiovisual art performances on all three nights from 8pm–10:30pm.

The exhibition and artist-sharing sessions are listed as free, while the audiovisual performances are ticketed at RM60 per day. If you want the festival at its busiest and most social, the final weekend is the obvious target.

07 · How I’d plan the festival without turning it into a transport mission

For one visit: choose GMBB. It is the main exhibition, has the broadest concentration of work and is the clearest introduction to the PASAR theme.

For art plus central-KL wandering: pair GMBB with REXKL on the closing weekend. They are different in character: GMBB carries the main exhibition, while REXKL leans towards gathering, sharing and performance.

For families: Ombak KLCC is the most obviously kid-friendly satellite and has a longer run. For free entry: Muzium Telekom is the straightforward option, and REXKL’s exhibition/sharing sessions are also listed as free.

Do not assume one ticket covers the whole festival. CloudJoi explicitly says the GMBB ticket is for the GMBB exhibition; other venues may be free or separately ticketed.

08 · What to check before you leave home

IMMERSIO is live now, but a multi-venue festival can change at the edges. Check Filamen or the live CloudJoi listings if you are travelling for a specific workshop, performance or ticket category. Monday closure matters for GMBB and the event-specific Muzium Telekom programme.

For REXKL, distinguish between free exhibition/sharing sessions and paid performances. For Ombak KLCC, remember the run continues beyond 27 September. If accessibility or concession eligibility affects your visit, confirm the current ticket conditions with the venue or organiser before making a special trip.

09 · Sources & verification

Main exhibition dates, hours, current ticket tiers, the 100+ artist / 70+ work scale and the multi-venue structure were checked against CloudJoi’s live IMMERSIO @ GMBB listing for Filamen and the current IMMERSIO 2026 festival collection.

REXKL’s 25–27 September programme and free-versus-ticketed structure were cross-checked against CloudJoi’s current IMMERSIO @ REXKL listing.

Venue-by-venue programme detail, including the Muzium Telekom and Ombak KLCC satellites and the published REXKL session times, was cross-checked against Gaya Travel Magazine’s 14 September festival report supplied by Filamen. Where general venue hours differ from the event-specific programme, this guide prioritises the festival listing and advises a same-day re-check.