THE NIBONG TEBAL Cultural Heritage Project, an extraordinary grassroots effort, has brought to life the stories of diverse communities in this southern township on Penang’s peri-urban fringe. Spearheaded by Arts-ED, a Penang-based arts and education non-profit, this participatory mapping project places local voices at the centre of heritage documentation—literally putting them on the map.
While Arts-ED has long been involved in community-based arts and education initiatives, from its early days mapping George Town’s living heritage to engaging schoolchildren in Balik Pulau and Sungai Pinang, this Nibong Tebal effort goes a step further in community participation. Instead of researchers simply extracting information, residents were invited to share feedback on the outputs, from deciding banner locations to debating language choices.
From the outset, the team prioritised resident participation and inclusion, such as collecting data through community stories, then curating and verifying them collaboratively before shaping the final outputs. Considerations were taken on aesthetics, location, representation and inclusivity for the final map outputs.
