Speak Out, Speak Up! by Papillon Artelier and Kinta Zine Club Image Credit: Papillon Artelier
In October 2025, Papillon Artelier and Kinta Zine Club organised an event called ‘Speak Out, Speak Up!’ in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of mental health in Ipoh, especially through dialogue and art. This event was held at Kinta Zine Club in Pasar Besar, Ipoh. I found the venue approachable, as it was a place where people come for grocery shopping or settling government matters at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC).
Papillon Artelier has been organising art and mental health programmes in Ipoh annually since 2022. They have worked with various NGOs and art communities to raise awareness about mental health. In their previous programmes, they either offered free classes or taught paid art masterclasses, and the proceeds went to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta (HUBK) programmes.
Here are my thoughts about the event:
Discussion about mental health among the youth
The session began with Befrienders and Agape Counselling Centre discussing the influence of social media on young people, especially in light of recent cases of school violence in Malaysia. It was a meaningful effort to raise awareness of current issues, especially the recent school violence in Malaysia. Most conversations centred on the negative role of social media among youth. Yet, in discussing the role of social media amongst the youth, some nuances about digital platforms and ideologies were understandably lost. As many of the facilitators were not digital natives, the discussion veered too much toward restrictions on social media use rather than finding solutions relevant to the current context.
Collaborative expression through an interactive art canvas
After the discussion, we were given a prompt to express ourselves on the interactive art canvas. The prompt given to us was “If your emotions were a social media post, how would you express this?”
I love the open-ended aspect of the prompt. Prompts are essential for giving people an idea to work on, while the open-endedness of the prompt allows others to express whatever is in their minds. Some leave encouraging messages, some write song lyrics, and some express themselves with drawings and stickers. This activity shows that there is no judgment on how we approach emotions differently. This activity was a good way to engage the community and build connections with one another.
Zine creation with Kinta Zine
The event ended with Kinta Zine demonstrating how to create a zine collage with a few participants. Zines are a form of writing that lets us tell our stories. It was like a playground, with stationery and old magazines placed in the middle of the table. This activity felt like an art jam, where a group of people gathered to create something. We went into deep silence as we were in the zone, experimenting with layouts and colours through collages, occasionally with little chatter filling the air. Personally, I enjoy art jams that strike a balance between silence and light chatter. The silence gives me space to process my thoughts slowly, and the slight chatter serves as a touchpoint to get to know each other better.
Despite being a small, cosy gathering, it was a good initiative to destigmatise mental health through community outreach. The dialogue highlights the need for community support so one does not feel isolated, and the artmaking allows people to express their thoughts and emotions when words fail. There is room for future collaboration between digital practitioners, art practitioners, and mental health professionals as these different knowledge are often interrelated. If we separate this knowledge into silos, we miss out on the nuances that affect mental health today.
