The Shah Alam Art Gallery (Galeri Shah Alam) is in the heart of the Shah Alam Lake Gardens. This small gallery overlooking the water showcases a collage of styles by Malaysian artists. This gallery is one of the few indoor, air-conditioned spaces in the park, making it a little art oasis for a day at the Lake Gardens.
How to Get to Shah Alam Art Gallery
Galeri Shah Alam is on the right side of the West Lake. There are signs and maps along the way that will point you in the right direction. It is a squat building but highly visible once you’re in the area with its brick red colour.
Admission Price & Opening Hours of Shah Alam Art Gallery
Admission to the Shah Alam Art Gallery is free.
The gallery is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Some reviewers on Google complained about the unexpected closure, but I’m willing to bet they visited on a Sunday. To be fair, we also assumed that it was open all weekend, like most art galleries.
What to See at Shah Alam Art Gallery
Don’t expect much from the Galeri Shah Alam. We passed a darkened and closed-off room (labelled Gallery 4), but only Gallery 1 was open during our visit.
Inside Gallery 1, there were about forty paintings and sculptures around the medium-sized space. I asked the lone man sitting at a desk in the corner about the other galleries, but he confirmed that only this one was open.
There wasn’t a unifying theme to the art. The artists seemed to all be Malay, naturally, but we saw a variety of styles and techniques on display. We saw landscapes, still life, abstract, and twisted modern art sculptures.
If you’re just a casual art admirer, a stop at the gallery will take you ten minutes. It will be more about getting some air con and sitting on a comfy bench after wandering around the park under the baking heat.
Facilities
To get to the toilets, exit the main gallery and turn right. Turn right again to go around the back of the building, and you should see the sign pointing to the toilets down the stairs. However, there was a locked metal grate blocking the door, so we used the park toilets instead. There is a park washroom very nearby to the north. After leaving the Galeri Shah Alam and descending the main stairs, turn right and start heading in that direction.
What to Eat
I didn’t see anything to eat or drink within the Shah Alam Art Gallery, not even a vending machine. If you need a snack, you’ll have to venture out to one of the restaurants scattered around the park or the food trucks near the Taman Anggerik Shah Alam entrance (on Persiaran Tasik).
Saturday Worthy?
Don’t make a special trip to Shah Alam hoping to spend an afternoon looking at art. The Shah Alam Art Gallery is small and not worth the time. It is not a tourist attraction. It is purely a pit stop within the Lake Gardens.
Shah Alam Art Gallery (Galeri Shah Alam)
Address: Laman Budaya Seksyen 14 (next to Musical Fountain at the West Lake), Shah Alam Lake Gardens (Taman Tasik Shah Alam), Persiaran Tasik, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor
Opening Hours: 10am – 5pm Tuesday to Saturday, Closed on Sunday & Monday
Admission Price: Free
