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Spire chosen as Official Research Partner for DiverseCity’s KL International Arts Festival 2017


Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be appointed as the Official Research Partner for DiverseCity’s Kuala Lumpur (KL) International Arts Festival (KLIAF) 2017 – an ambitious program of performing and visual arts to showcase the diverse, complex, yet rich nuances of the country and its people.

The event organizer, DiverseCity, along with Spire and the University of Nottingham, conducted a survey to draw out participant feedback and generate fact-based insights to improve the development of the arts landscape in Malaysia.

Jeffrey Bahar (Regional Advisory, Deputy Chief Executive Officer), Yap Far Loon (Lead Consultant), Iqmal Roslin (Project Manager) and John Yam (Country Manager for Spire Malaysia) worked on the project.

The KL International Arts Festival encompassed a range of concerts, performances, showcases and workshops from global artists in five genres: music, dance, theatre, literature and the visual arts, across 20 venues in Kuala Lumpur.

To generate its report, Spire conducted face-to-face interviewing at 17 events covering a total of 549 respondents.

The festival was made possible by seed grant funding of MYR2 million by the Malaysian government. Additionally, the festival involved sponsorship and contributions in kind by various government agencies, professional intermediaries and academics.

For every MYR1 million grant funding by the government, economic activity resulted in MYR5 million revenue to KL from expenditure incurred by artists and audiences.

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