PUSAKA

What PUSAKA does

PUSAKA is a Malaysia-registered nonprofit cultural organization founded in 2002 by Eddin Khoo in Kuala Lumpur at the request of traditional performance masters in Kelantan, following the 1991 PAS state proscription of traditional arts. Its operational purpose is the documentation, revitalization, and international presentation of Malaysian intangible cultural heritage, with particular focus on Wayang Kulit, Mak Yong, Manora, Main Puteri, Rebana Ubi, and Dikir Barat, alongside traditions from Selangor, Johor, Malacca, Penang, and Perlis including Mah Meri, Kuda Kepang, Kompang Jawa, Portuguese dance, Teochew Puppetry, Awang Batil, and Urumee Melum. The organization partners directly with 25 traditional performer communities, working with named master practitioners and training local youth as ethnographers to ensure intergenerational transmission.

PUSAKA's core deliverable is an extensive proprietary audio-visual archive — video, audio, photographic, and written transcripts — built over more than two decades, supplemented by cultural mapping projects (Cultural Map of Selangor), publication of the Naratif | Kisah literary journal, and the regional KataKatha dialogue platform co-developed with Maybank Kim Eng. Its "technology" is ethnographic research and documentation methodology rather than software. Go-to-market operates through three concurrent channels: event-driven public programming (concerts, talks, workshops, festivals such as the Living Arts Culture Festival co-curated with JKKN and Music of the Islamic World concerts featuring Kayhan Kalhor), community-led direct work with traditional performer groups, and an archive-access channel via pusaka.org offering audio/video clips, photographs, and interviews.

Revenue is generated through a diversified mix of donations, project grants, corporate CSR sponsorship, and a hybrid pricing model of freemium free-admission events alongside tiered ticketed performances (e.g., RM100–RM350 for Under The Persian Musical Sky). Funding partners span multilateral bodies (US Department of State via two Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation grants in 2003 and 2012, Asia Foundation, Canada Council), Malaysian government agencies (JKKN, Selangor State Government, IRDA), and corporate sponsors (Maybank Foundation, Khazanah Nasional, UEM Sunrise, Ekuinas, Iskandar Investment). International touring and residency programs (Arts Midwest's Caravanserai 2015, Sadler's Wells Theatre London) extend the revenue model into global cultural exchange, while the organization has no equity funding, no parent company, and no commercial product lines.

Name

PUSAKA

Legal name

PUSAKA

Website

https://pusaka.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

PUSAKA is a Kuala Lumpur-based nonprofit founded in 2002 that documents and revitalizes Malaysia's traditional performing arts by partnering with 25 performer communities, maintaining an audio-visual archive, and producing public concerts, festivals, and international tours.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Preservation

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Museums (712110), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

akta.pro primary industry

Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG), Cultural Heritage & Traditional Festivals (Folk, Ethnic, Indigenous) (MPAGAEAB), Indigenous & Community Cultural Institutions (THAJADAK), Cultural Centers & Community Cultural Organizations (BPAGAHAD)

Keywords

• Cultural heritage preservation
• Traditional performing arts
• Ethnographic documentation
• Community cultural programs
• Arts festival curation

Headquarters

HQ city

Kuala Lumpur

HQ country

Malaysia

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Support: PUSAKA operates as a cultural organisation that relies on donations and support from partners. The website features a donation option and partners with organisations including Asia Foundation, IRDA, and government bodies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

PUSAKA is a nonprofit cultural organisation that preserves and revitalises Malaysia's intangible cultural heritage by partnering with 25 traditional performer communities. It produces audio-visual documentation of traditions such as Wayang Kulit, Mak Yong, Manora, Main Puteri, and Rebana Ubi, runs youth instruction and community training projects, and curates public performances, festivals, workshops, and talks featuring master performers and international artists.

Product overview

PUSAKA is a cultural organization, not a technology product company. It does not offer software products or technology services. The organization focuses on cultural sustainability, documentation of traditional performing arts in Malaysia, public performances, literature and arts curation, and youth engagement programs in traditional arts. Its activities center on cultural revitalization, ethnographic research, archival documentation, public education, and creative engagement with Malaysian and Southeast Asian cultural traditions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Audio-Visual Documentary Archive of Traditional Performance Comprehensive audio-visual archive of traditional performance in Malaysia, encompassing Wayang Kulit, Mak Yong, Manora, Main Puteri, Rebana Ubi, Dikir Barat, Mah Meri, Kompang Jawa, Kuda Kepang, Portuguese dance, Teochew Puppetry, Awang Batil, and Urumee Melum. Accessible through the website as audio and video clips, photographs, and interviews.
• Living Arts Culture Festival Multi-day cultural festival co-curated by PUSAKA with JKKN, featuring traditional performances by master performers and open free of charge to all attendees.
• Music of the Islamic World Concert Series Concert series produced and curated by PUSAKA in collaboration with the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, featuring international artists such as Kayhan Kalhor and the Constantinople Ensemble. Offered with tiered seating (VIP, Premier, Standard, Value).
• Persian Classical Music Workshop Free admission workshop on Persian classical music open to all attendees with registration required.
• Youth Ethnographer Training Program Community-based training programme that equips local youth with ethnographic research skills to document and transmit traditional performing arts within their communities, with the Mak Yong and Kompang Johor communities as documented partner projects.
• KataKatha - Southeast Asian Conversations on Culture & the Arts Regional initiative of conversations on culture and the arts, partnered with Maybank Kim Eng and supported by Maybank Foundation, connecting Southeast Asian cultural perspectives.
• International Touring and Residency Program International presenting of Malaysian traditional performance traditions through residency tours and collaborations, including the 2015 month-long US residency via Arts Midwest's Caravanserai programme and the 2018 Sadler's Wells Theatre London collaboration on 'From Man to Monk'.

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Maybank Kim EngcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in KataKatha - Southeast Asian Conversations on Culture & the Arts, a regional initiative.
• ThinkCitysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organised Malam Wayang (2016) with ThinkCity and DBKL, in partnership with PUSAKA and LabDNA, sponsored by Citi Foundation.
• Islamic Arts Museum MalaysiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia for Music of the Islamic World series, featuring Kayhan Kalhor and the Constantinople Ensemble (September 2018). PUSAKA served as curators and producers.
• Sadler's Wells Theatre LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting partner for 'From Man to Monk' by Mavin Khoo, commissioned by Sadler's Wells Theatre, premiering November 2018.
• ILHAM GallerysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated for Music at ILHAM event featuring Tari Asyik performance by Jalinan Seni Tanah Merah from Kelantan (June 2018).
• Perbadanan Kota BukucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected as curators of the international programme for the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Literary Festival (2016).
• JKKN (Jabatan Kebudayaaan dan Kesenian Negara)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-curator for Living Arts Culture Festival 2018, organised by JKKN in collaboration with PUSAKA.
• Arts MidwestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvited PUSAKA to present Wayang Kulit of Kelantan on month-long residency tour of the United States in 2015 as part of Caravanserai programme for intercultural understanding.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Nusantara Performing Arts Festival: US-based festival dedicated to presenting traditional performing arts from Southeast Asia, including Malaysian traditions — directly comparable programming model to PUSAKA's international presentation work and overlapping artist networks.
• Heritage Foundation of Malaysia (Yayasan Warisan Negara): Malaysian national heritage body tasked with documenting and preserving the country's tangible and intangible heritage — directly comparable to PUSAKA but operating as a government agency with broader mandate and larger scale.
• Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT): Hong Kong nonprofit combining heritage preservation, textile arts and contemporary curatorial programming — directly comparable hybrid model of archive, education, exhibition and community work to PUSAKA's approach, though focused on textile heritage.
• Singapore Heritage Society: Singapore-based nonprofit promoting research, documentation and public awareness of Singapore's tangible and intangible heritage — directly comparable regional peer to PUSAKA in mission, documentation focus and nonprofit operating model.
• Yayasan Warisan Johor (Johor Heritage Foundation): Malaysian state-level heritage foundation that documents and preserves Johor's cultural traditions including Kuda Kepang and Kompang Jidor — directly comparable to PUSAKA's community-based heritage documentation model and overlapping geographic remit.
• Rimbun Dahan: Malaysian arts and cultural residency that supports traditional and contemporary arts practice through residencies, gardens and performance programmes — directly comparable to PUSAKA in its preservation-and-production hybrid model within Malaysian cultural infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Korea Foundation: Large Korean government foundation promoting Korean culture internationally through grants, programmes and partnerships — comparable to PUSAKA's cultural promotion mandate but operating at national scale with significantly larger resources.
• Esplanade — Theatres on the Bay: Singapore's national performing arts centre that presents and commissions Asian traditional and contemporary works — comparable to PUSAKA in curatorial interest in Southeast Asian traditional performance but operates as a large presenting venue rather than a community-embedded preservation organisation.
• Asian Cultural Council: US-based foundation funding individual cultural exchange and heritage work across Asia — comparable mission (Asian cultural preservation and exchange) but operates as a grantmaker rather than a direct operator of community programmes like PUSAKA.
• Japan Foundation: Japan's principal cultural diplomacy organisation funding arts exchange, language and heritage preservation — directly comparable mission to PUSAKA's combination of heritage documentation, international touring and partnership-driven cultural promotion, but at national-institutional scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/senipusaka

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PUSAKA