Page 281 - Proceedings Collega2023

extravaganza.” The representations of different tribes are conveniently portrayed through its unique
houses’ architectural design, giving a glimpse of tribal characters through one’s journey within its huge
area. One has to travel through this ‘catalogue of cultures’ to likely end their journey at its main attraction
- the cultural show.

According to SCV’s website, this much-admired cultural show embodied all the aspects of Sarawak’s
multi-racial community. Our initial review of the show is taken from a long personal experience, who
have watched it numerous times since 1990s and up until recently. Nothing much has changed and has
been stagnated in terms of the performance structure (may not necessarily be criticism). However, the
intentions behind preserving what can be considered as repetitive and safe could either be driven a
stance of ‘consistency is a key to successes, or it could also somewhat be influenced by its physical
limitations – the auditorium space hosting the show. This is the angle this study is interested in,
hypothesized so because since the beginning, the auditorium design of SCV has been utilizing a
proscenium stage (Latrell, 2008), which can be the least interactive or immersive type of auditorium
design for such cultural performances to be effectively delivered. Therefore, this research intended to
study these problems based on the objectives below:

1. To identify the relationship between the auditorium design and performance structure in
Sarawak Cultural Village.

2. To study how auditorium design influences the structure of the performances in Encore Malacca
and Putrajaya Rainforest Show.

3. To compare the relationship of other auditorium design and performance structure (Encore
Malacca and Putrajaya Rainforest Show) with Sarawak Cultural Village.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Cultural Village
A cultural village is a form of cultural display which may also function as a museum. Visitors may
experience the cultural environments while interacting with different ethnicities in the cultural village
(Hamzah Muzaini, 2017). Ethnic tourism takes use of these re-created leisure environments, allowing
tourists to experience what each place has to offer in terms of culture and history (Ryan & Aicken, 2005).
Sarawak Government took this opportunity to build SCV to represent the diversified ethnic tribes exist in
Sarawak in 1991 and has since grown to become one of Malaysia's most popular cultural destinations
(Hamzah Muzaini, 2017). The uniqueness of SCV lies in the engagement between visitors and activities
held in each of the traditional houses. Besides giving the tourist an opportunity to experience traditional
houses through replica buildings that of every major ethnic group in Sarawak, SCV also offers a cultural
performance twice a day in its auditorium hall. The cultural performance highlights dances from different
ethnic tribes with the aim of introducing the tribes to the audiences which is supposed to allow them to
learn more about the tribes themselves.

International Conference on Local Wisdom of the Malay Archipelago (COLLEGA 2023) Page - 268 -