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RAJA’AH:ART, IDEAS AND CREATIVITY OF SULAIMAN ESA YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2011 SENI VISUAL DAN HAK CIPTA 4 ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRA-ORDINARY ARTISTRY KEMBARA YUSOF GHANI MALAYSIA’S LEON LIM SELECTED FOR AMERICA’S REALITY TELEVISION SHOW

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Bagi meneruskan momentum, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN) dalam tempoh dua bulan yang lalu telah mempamerkan beberapa buah pameran yang menarik dan penting bagi perkembangan seni visual tanah air. Pameran solo Dr. Sulaiman Esa yang lama dinantikan, dengan karya-karya menarik beliau telah dimanifestasikan dengan mantapnya melalui pameran “RAJA’AH: Seni, Idea dan Kreativiti Sulaiman Esa (1950an-2011)” yang diolah oleh kurator jemputan, Nur Hanim Khairuddin. Pameran “Joy of Living” oleh Prof. Li Chi Mao, seorang pelukis terkenal dari negara Taiwan yang juga pakar lukisan kaligrafi Cina, mempamerkan koleksi-koleksi dan karya beliau yang memukau, sebahagiannya bercirikan Malaysia. Manakala kurator Faizal Sidek bersama dengan kurator jemputan Nasir Baharuddin pula menampilkan pameran bertajuk ‘Seni Konseptual’ yang memperlihatkan karya-karya terpilih dari koleksi Himpunan Tetap BSVN. Dan bersempena perayaan Deepavali, pameran bertajuk “Cahaya” telah dijayakan oleh Kannan Thanapal dan Mohd Azman Salleh, juga menampilkan koleksi yang jarangjarang dipamerkan dari koleksi Himpunan Tetap BSVN. Pameran solo oleh Ali Mabuha (Ali Rahamad), artis dari kumpulan terkenal Anak Alam yang berjudul “Kembara di Sarang Seni” akan menyusul tidak lama lagi. Untuk tahun 2012, pelbagai pameran besar telah pun dirancang dan akan didahului dengan sebuah pameran yang kami janjikan hebat dan menarik, iaitu pameran solo Amron Omar bertajuk “Pertarungan”.

Saya amat berbesar hati mengumumkan bahawa pada tahun 2012, BSVN akan mengadakan pameran biografi solo pelukis abstrak tersohor tanah air, Abdul Latiff Mohidin.

Saya dan beberapa orang kurator telah pun mengadakan perbincangan lancar bersama Pak Latiff dan amat teruja dengan projek pameran ini.

Dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan lagi kepakaran kami, BSVN telah menghantar Amerrudin Ahmad, Kurator Kanan BSVN, ke Northumbria University di England untuk melanjutkan pengajian peringkat Sarjana selama 18 bulan dalam bidang konservasi. Ini merupakan pengorbanan yang besar kerana kami akan kehilangan khidmat beliau untuk sementara waktu.

Namun ianya juga merupakan pelaburan untuk jangka masa panjang kami. Saya juga telah menghantar kurator Rohana Yusof dan Faridah Hanim ke “Frankfurt International Book Fair” sebagai persediaan kami menganjurkan “Malaysia Art Book Fair” pada bulan Disember ini. Mereka juga telah melawat Muzium Seni Berlin dan lain-lain tempat berkaitan untuk membuat kajian awalan mengenai Pak Latiff Mohidin.

Di ruang ini saya ingin merakamkan penghargaan saya dan BSVN kepada Mohamad Izani Abd. Ghaffar, Timbalan Ketua Pengarah (Pengurusan) yang begitu berdedikasi dan cekap dalam menjalankan tugas beliau sepanjang 2 tahun berkhidmat di BSVN. Beliau akan bertukar ke Kementerian Dalam Negeri dan kami mengucapkan beliau selamat maju jaya.

Saya juga ingin berkongsi kenangan peribadi ketika bercuti sempena perayaan Deepavali di New Delhi, India dimana saya telah bertemu dengan pelukis Shamshad Husain anak kepada pelukis terkenal M.F Husain di studio dan rumah beliau.

M.F Husain telah meninggal dunia di London pada bulan Jun tahun ini dan beberapa pameran karya-karya beliau kini didalam perancangan untuk dipamerkan di India dan juga luar negara. BSVN juga telah baru-baru ini memulihkan 4 karya beliau yang dimiliki oleh sebuah institusi swasta di Kuala Lumpur.

Editor's notes Welcome again to Keeping up with our momentum, the National Visual Art Gallery (NVAG) has in the last two months put up a number of exciting and important exhibitions. The long-awaited exhibition of Dr. Sulaiman Esa's works were beautifully manifested in “RAJA’AH: Seni, Idea and Kreativiti Sulaiman Esa (1950an-2011)” curated by guest curator Nur Hanim Khairuddin. Taiwan’s grandmaster of calligraphy and inkwork, Prof. Li Chi Mao’s “Joy of Living” exhibition is a delightful collection of mesmerising works, many with Malaysian themes. A showcase of selected conceptual artworks from the our national collection were put together by Faizal Sidik in “Seni Konseptual” with guest curator Nasir Baharuddin. And in conjunction with Deepavali, an exhibition of selected and hitherto seldom seen works from our collection were put up by Kannan Thanapal and Mohd Azman Salleh in an exhibition entitled “Cahaya”.

Coming soon will be a solo exhibition by Ali Mabuha (Ali Rahamad) of the famed Anak Alam, entitled “Kembara di Sarang Seni”. And for next year a number of major exhibitions are being planned. First in line will be Amron Omar’s “Pertarungan” which promised to be most exciting.

I am very pleased to announce that BSVN will also in 2012 be hosting a biographical solo exhibition of Malaysia’s foremost veteran abstract-painter Abdul Latiff Mohidin. My team and I have had a number of good discussions with Pak Latiff and we are indeed excited by the project.

In our effort to upgrade our expertise we have sent our senior curator Amerrudin Ahmad for an 18 months master’s degree programme in conservation at the Northumbria University in the United Kingdom. It is a big sacrifice to temporarily be without his service, but it is a worthy long-term investment for BSVN. I had also despatched curators Rohana Yusof and Faridah Hanim to the Frankfurt International Book Fair in preparation of our own “National Art Book Fair” in December, as well as to the Berlin Art Museum to do preliminary research on Latiff Mohidin.

I take this opportunity to record BSVN’s and my personal tribute and thanks to our outgoing Deputy Director-General (Management and Finance), Encik Mohamad Izani Abd. Ghaffar for his very efficient and dedicated service to BSVN from the last two years. Encik Izani is transferred to the Home Affairs Ministry and we wish him all the very best there.

On the personal front, I spent the Deepavali holiday season in New Delhi and met up with artist Shamshad Husain, son of famed departed artist M.F Husain, at his home and studio.

M.F Husain passed away in London in June this year and a number of exhibitions of his works are now in the pipeline in India and abroad. BSVN had recently restored four of his paintings owned by a private institution in Kuala Lumpur.

I also visited the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and meet its director Prof. Rajeev Lochan. We had a cordial and useful discussion on their proposal to showcase Rabindranath Tagore’s paintings at BSVN on the occasion Tagore's 150th anniversary, and BSVN’s collection being shown at the NGMA. Let us hope some fruition will emerge from this.

Happy Reading...

Saya juga berpeluang melawat National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) dan bertemu dengan pengarah muzium iaitu Prof. Rajeev Lochan. Perbincangan yang diadakan ini amat bermakna dan beliau juga menyarankan untuk mempamerkan lukisan Rabindranath Tagore kepada BSVN sempena ulang tahun Tagore ke-150, dan bagi koleksi BSVN dipamerkan di NGMA. Semoga perbincangan ini akan mewujudkan hasil yang positif..

Selamat Membaca...

Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof Ahmad Editor-In-Chief

C O N T E N T S WASPADA PADA KARYA| Jazmi Mohamed Sharif

SENI KONSEPTUAL: KOLEKSI BALAI SENI VISUAL NEGARA | Faizal Sidek

ANNIKETYNI MADIAN | Intan Rafiza

SEAH ZE LIN | Tan Hui Koon

SENI VISUAL DAN HAKCIPTA 4 | Bed Samat

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Ordinary People, Extra-Ordinary Artistry| Tan Sei Hon

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YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2011 | Baktiar Naim

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Raja'ah: Art, Ideas and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa (1950-2011)

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Kembara Yusof Ghani | Zuriyadi Sarpin

SONG OF SOUL | Juwita Abdullah

SHAHRIL NIZAM | Jerome Kugen

KL Sketchers at UM's Museum of Art | SH Lee

A.B.Ibrahim | Rahimidin Zahari

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Wong Siew Inn | Ooi Kok Chuen

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Psychotherapy: from Couch to Clay | Hazel Mc Clure

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A Boost To The Spirit Through 'Art For All' | Tan See Ling Deeper Than Words | Rina Shukor

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MALAYSIA'S LEON LIM Selected for America's Reality Television Show Malaysian Artist Abroad : Tan Ru Yi

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PUBLISHER Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN) National Visual Arts Gallery Malaysia(NVAG) Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia No 2. Jalan Temerloh Off Jalan Tun Razak 53200 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA P : 603 4026 7000 F : 603 4025 4987 www.artgallery.gov.my www.facebook.com\artgallery.gov.my l EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof Ahmad l EDITOR Tan Seihon l Assistant EDITORS Anis Amizan Hussein Lim, Osmi Hamidi | HEAD DESIGNER Shamizar Rahim | DESIGNER Norhaslina Ahmad Kamsin l PHOTOGRAPHY Mohd Khazrul Sharuddin, Mohd Yuzaini Ahmed, Mohd Adzim Abd Wahab, Intan Idarina Mohammad Kusaiirry & Mohammad Hisyamuddin Ramli. senikini is designed by Nuzaihan Mustapa can be accessed at

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‘RAJA’AH : Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa [from 1950’s – 2011]’ is a solo showcase of works by Sulaiman Esa, one of Malaysia’s most distinguished artists. This exhibition is meant to give the contemporary public an opportunity to review the shifts not only in forms but more importantly in processes, ideas and contexts that underscores each and every series of works created by Sulaiman Esa over a period of 50 years.

RAJA’AH: Seni, Idea dan Kreativiti Sulaiman Esa [dari 1950-an-2011] dirancang sebagai sebuah pameran persis retrospektif yang menghimpun sejumlah karya yang pernah dihasilkan oleh Sulaiman Esa, salah seorang seniman tersohor tanah air. Ia bertujuan memberi peluang kepada khalayak masa kini menyelami bukan cuma perubahan bentuk tetapi yang lebih pentingnya peralihan proses, idea dan konteks yang melatari setiap siri pengkaryaan beliau sepanjang tempoh 50 tahun.

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The Malaysian artist Zul Idris will be having his solo exhibition of sculptures and paintings at the Balai Berita, News Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur in November 2011. I managed to catch up with him and saw his works while he was busy making preparations for the exhibition at his home in Langkawi. So here is my interview with him.

Well, your exhibiton is entitled ‘Song of Soul’, Why ?

“You see, there is a tribe in Africa. When a woman in that tribe is pregnant, she gathers some friends around her to pray and meditate, until they ‘hear’ the 'song' of her unborn child. In their belief, it is the soul of the child transmitting the song to them. The women will try to be attune tothe song, to catch, memorize and sing it out loud so that they can later teach it to their tribe.Eventually, this song will be sung by their community when the baby is born and during the initiation of the child into adulthood. This song will also be sung during difficult times faced by the child and finally when the soul of the child is departing this world. I was deeply impressed when I learnt of this.

You see, as an artist, something resonates with my soul. It can be something really small, but if the call from within is strong, it sometimes leads to the point where I may even forget where I put my keys, money and everything around me. I become obsessed with creating works based on this feeling, to purge it so that I can be at peace again. If you relate this to the story about the pregnant women in that tribe, I guess you could say that I have heard THE song and I am busy searching for the soul that sang it. Since I am a visual person, I would naturally transfer what I’ve ‘heard’ into a sculpture or a painting.”

| Juwita Abdullah

Ok, too fast for me. I asked the artist to give me an example.

“You look at the fisherman with their faces rugged by the wheather. Their life is hard and it is a daily fight for survival to win the battle against the sea while maintaining the boats and their fishing nets. They are the heroes of my childhood and remain so till this day. When I look at their boats, into the faces of the fishermen, I am moved and overwhelmend to the point where I might even forget things..(like where I’ve left my keys) It is because when that ‘song’ comes to me so strongly, there is nothing more important than to create the ‘baby’, the ‘soul’ of this feeling. So it is times like this that I start investigating, sketching, painting or create sculptural works. If I am lucky and I did my meditation well, my ‘baby’ will be born, the form which materialiszes the ‘spirit’, the ‘soul’ of all the fishermen in this world, who with their little boats are trying to make an honest living catching fish.

If I relate this to the story about the pregnant African women again, it is I who is now pregnant with a ‘song’ and I have to get to the ‘soul’ and to bring the ‘baby’ out so that people around me can join me in singing the ‘song’.

I like the idea of this African tribe. In our life, while growing up and growing old, our soul must battle many challenges but we are also blessed with many good things as well. I think, before I were to leave this world I would like to hear and sing a song, which bears the scars, celebrates the achievments and that gives thanks to the happy moments in life. I would want that ‘song’ to grow during my life and to tell the story of my soul on earth.”

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Well, what does that mean for your art?

“My art is my ‘baby’, with its own ‘soul’. People who look at my art relate to it in different ways. But if it touches them, they will find their own ‘song’. It might be a French song, a Japanese song, a song of a streetworker or a professor or a kid’s song but if the work catches them then there is a song.

All these songs will merge into a choir, which in our example, will sing the song of the fisherman's soul, each in their own tune.”

If I don’t see a fisherman in your work?

“I don’t create a replica of a fisherman. I create a work which expresses my feelings about the fisherman. How could anybody with different experiences have the same feelings as me? If my art catches your eyes and touched something inside of you, then it would mean that you have caught its vibes, you too can sing the song which I’ve heard from my ‘baby’ just like the story about the African woman.

If I ask you to sing a song about your own ‘soul’ and at the same time ask your friends to sing a song about your ‘soul’, I am sure there would be differences though it is about the same soul. It is the same principle with works of art. If my sculptures of the fisherman can make a man in Timbuktu sing a song of a crocodile then I have moved this man trough my vision of a fisherman and even though he sings a different melody, my work is then re-presented with another song.

In this country, we talked a lot about the concept of ‘1Malaysia’. I think our artists have gone far beyond that.

They have heard the songs of the universe and they have created and continue to create in the spirit of these songs for the present age as well as the coming future.”

I thanked the artist and imagine the choir who will sing for Zul's “babies”. ‘Babies’ that began their lives in Malaysia but have touched people around the world, regardless of their nationality, their age or profession. Each song will have its own tune, character, rhythm and melody and when joined together they form a circle around a piece of art being created here on the Malaysian soil. Closing my eyes, I picture millions of circles surrounding the artworks of many artists, connecting the world today and tomorrow.

Zul Idris exhibits his work from 7th till 30th November from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm at Lobby Utama, Balai Berita, The New Straits Times Malaysia BHD, 31 Jalan Riong, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur *Juwita Abdullah is German residing in the island of Langkawi, Malaysia for about 20 years. She studied law and economy, but has since retired from her profession.

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Thirty two year old Malaysian artist and fine art graduate from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne) Shahril Nizam has for the past three years been exhibiting his drawings and paintings in some of KL’s more youthful galleries to often gushing approval from the art clique. Little wonder. Anyone who has managed to glimpse Shahril’s dense, intricate creations can attest to their hypnotic visual power. His subject matter ranges from the fantastic to the grotesque to the abstract. They’re sometimes comical, with figures that reference children’s picture books. But his most stunning pieces are his vortices in charcoal, filling the canvas like deep space and textured like weathered granite.

His deliberately overworked lines are both sensuous and oppressive, disturbing and poetic. They haunt and delight the imagination equally, as though HR Giger and Aubrey Beardsley met for a picnic in a dream.

JK: "[F]or added warmth, substance and appeal."

I find that quite revealing about our attitudes to art as we how appreciate and value it. Somehow the work becomes more precious and valuable and human when it reveals evidence of the deliberate hand of the artist. Your work in traditional media certainly reveals this, with their intense and intricate attention to detail. I'm curious as to your thoughts on this.

To find out more about what made Shahril tick, I emailed him some questions about his approach to art, his inspirations and thoughts about the art world in general.

JK: When seen as a whole, your work as an artist and poet seems to exist in a dreamworld of symbols and metaphors. How and where did this come from?

SN: I think it comes from a primal need to communicate: a thought, an emotion or something that needs to be expressed outwardly, without being too literal and in your face. I believe that unobtrusiveness and ambiguity––in terms of expression––would best describe how I normally choose to interact (through my work). This, in a way, leaves things open to personal interpretation, thus allowing the viewer to become an active participant, not just in discovering the meaning behind a piece of painting or the written word, but something about his or her self through introspection and self-analysis.

However, I am more or less driven by an instinctive (though somewhat selfish) compulsion which seeks expression through apparent or latent symbols and metaphors that are not uncommon to the general masses, as they generally allude to emotions, circumstances and issues that affect us all––be it trauma, death or disease; love, desire, absurdity and excitement... Whether I am able to successfully communicate to a wider, media savvy audience through my work, is of course, an entirely different matter altogether (something which i have very little say or control over). This knowledge, in a way, frees me from having to worry about cultural, communal or social responsibility; i simply create, and if it communicates something to someone, even at a subconscious level, that's good enough for me.

JK: You've done illustration work for commercial projects, including book covers and flyers. How different is that to the more gallery-oriented "art" that you do?

SN: I'm not sure if there is a big difference between commercial art and fine art or gallery-oriented art as you've described it; art is art, good or bad. The validity and material value of a piece of art is pretty much subjective. The only difference I can think of is that the former is usually created with maximum mass appeal so that it can be commercialized and disseminated to a wider audience while the latter speaks to whomever it speaks to, though inevitably, they too become commodities that are sold to a different subset of society.

A simpler answer would be that the first type of work pays the bills, while the other, not as much (for me, at least).

JK: Sorry I think I didn't phrase the previous question properly. I meant to ask you about the differences in the approach? Do the commercial aspects of having to deal with clients' demands or think about a mass audience change the way you produce the work? Does it become less introspective? Do you work less with traditional medium and more with designing software?

JK: Some people may say that "introspection and self-analysis" are asking a lot from the viewer, especially in a society that's increasingly giving itself over to a culture of instant answers and instant pleasures. Would you say your work is anathema to that?

SN: That's true, and I won't kid myself into believing that my work speaks to everybody, especially in terms of content and outreach. Having said that, I make these so-called obscure pieces of work with the added mindfulness that they serve to communicate a very limited, private 'vocabulary' to an equally limited number of (analytically inclined) observers.

I'm pretty much aware of the fact that the general masses won't see the point of fleshing out an idea or an image in such a cumbersome, archaic manner, when one could just as easily receive instant gratification via electronic media.

SN: Does it change the way I produce the work? Yes, of course. Does it become less introspective? Yes to that as well. And for the sake of convenience, the use of graphics software greatly eases editing and output, although I will sometimes include hand drawn illustrations whenever possible, for added warmth, substance and appeal.

SN: While I can't speak for other visual artists who work with traditional media, I feel that it is only human to want to leave personal markings and flourishes that are distinct, thus appreciated for their uniqueness––like little tokens or keepsakes for posterity. Personally, I tend to appreciate and gravitate towards works by artisans and craftspeople who create objects of great value in terms of quality and artistry. These works, produced with such constancy and care by those who receive little or no recognition for their labour, exude a kind of vibrancy that I find lacking in most contemporary, mass produced objects. In a way, I am trying to emulate that old, hands-on approach to art-making, in the hopes it this will add a bit of weight to my paintings and drawings.

JK: Who are some of your favourite artists, those who have inspired you in your search for your own artistic vision?

SN: I have great respect for artists like Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Jalaini Abu Hassan, Ron Mueck, Tamara de Lempicka and Tsuguharu Foujita. Nevertheless, during my childhood and formative years, I was completely in love with the works of illustrators and cartoonists such as Lat, Rejabhad, Dzulkifli Buyong, Richard Scarry and Quentin Blake. I think a lot of what I do now in terms of art-making can be traced back to to the times when I used to imitate their style of drawing, which is usually the case when you're starting out and trying to discover your own technique or artistic voice; your own pen lines and brushstrokes, so to speak.v JK: What are you working on at the moment?

SN: Not much aside from a commercial assignment which I'd recently completed. However, I am currently doing a bit of groundwork for what I hope to be a series of figurative paintings based loosely on the notions of boundaries, restrictions and bodily constraints, that is, if all goes according to plan.

Exhibitions : 22 Sept-10 Oct 2010 Deadlines, Group Exhibition, Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.

20 Jan-20 Feb 2010 Contemporary Rhetoric, Group Exhibition, Valentine Willie, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

4 Aug-29 Aug 2009 New Malaysian Artists: Our Own Orbit, Group Exhibition, Tembi Contemporary, Yogyakarta 23 Jul-2 Aug 2009 Between The Lines, Group Exhibition, Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur 10 Dec-23 Dec 2008 Cabinet, Group Exhibition, Valentine Willie, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur 3 June 2008-18 June 2008 Contemporary Picturebook Illustrations in Germany and Malaysia, Group Exhibition, Kuching State Library, Sarawak 29 May 2008-15 June 2008 Out of Line, Group Exhibition, The Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur Projects : 2009 Cerita Rakyat dan Kisah Dongeng Malaysia & Jerman, illustrations ISBN 978-983-068-388-1, ITNM-Goethe Institute, Malaysia 2007 If Only, written and illustrated by Shahril Nizam ISBN 978-983-43488-0-9, Gores Press, Kuala Lumpur 2007 Malaysian Politicians Say The Darndest Things, compiled by Amir Muhammad, illustrations by Shahril Nizam ISBN 978-983-43596-0-7, Matahari Books, Kuala Lumpur

To see more works by Sharil, Please visit shahrilnizam.blogspot.com

| SH LEE

The University Malaya Museum of Fine Art recently organised its first-ever artistic event with the public.

Hosted in cooperation with Kuala Lumpur’s first sketching group, Facebook-based KL Sketchers, the five-hour event was held in the campus of one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the country.

The event began at the vicinity of the museum at 9am and lasted till almost noon. The sketchcrawl was divided into three legs, covering from the compound of the museum and the Economics Faculty to the Science Faculty and ending at Dewan Tunku Canselor.

According to the museum curator, Abd Aziz Abdul Rashid, the event was the first-ever artistic event organised by the museum after 33 years.

“We hope to spur an interest among undergraduates in art through sketching,” he said. “The programme was also part of the artists-in-residence programme with veteran watercolourist Maamor Jantan, and naïve artist Yusof Gajah.

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“It is part of our intention as well as to promote the Museum of Asian Art to the public. Not many people know that the museum is an authority in ceramics and that we are a reference museum for it. Hopefully, through this activity with KL Sketchers, the public will come to know about our museum and visit it.”

After a short breakfast reception, the sketchers totalling about 20 made their way to the various spots around the campus, starting with the area around the museum. The sunny but breezy weather was a bonus to sketchers as they worked in the shade of the well-forested varsity grounds, putting their work on paper, using pen, pencil and watercolours.

For KL Sketcher EW Lok, the limited time spent at each spot did not permit him to do larger paintings, which he loved.

“I had to resort to only using sketchbooks but I will definitely return to do big paintings when I am free,” said the southpaw from Petaling Jaya who is in his mid-50s.

KL Sketcher Hisham Salmin, who also came prepared to do a large painting, said: “I was hoping to do one or two paintings. But never mind, even small sketches are just as good.”

However, for member Pang M.Y. from Kluang, who arrived in KL the previous evening for the event, the short time frame was no hindrance. “I use a moleskine booklet, so I can sketch a scenery quite fast,” said Pang who is fond of buildings.

KL Sketcher founder ES Tung said that although the time frame was prohibitive to doing large works, the trip provided sufficient materials for sketchers to translate their experience into large paintings later.

“Sketching allows us to capture the mood of the place and with reference pictures, we can use the sketching trip to translate our experience into larger works within the comforts of our studios,” he said.

For first-timer to outdoor sketching, Yu Wui Wui, it was inspiring.

“This is first trip and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learnt much from the resident artists and fellow sketchers,” said Yu. Watercolourist Maamor Jantan, who is known for his Cakcibor (dragonflies) series, thrilled the sketchers with his one-the-spot works.

“You have to be daring when it comes to outdoor sketching,” Maamor said. “Don’t be afraid. Just do it. With practice, you will become better each time.

What is important is to put your feelings onto paper, in ink, pencil, watercolour, or any medium.”

Sketchers also had the opportunity to see the other side of Yusof Gajah, whose famous elephant naïve paintings have graced various media. Yusof showed his impressionistic approaches to sketching using ink at the start of the crawl.

A surprise for sketchers was the attendance of artist Khalil Ibrahim, who is very well known for his figurative tribute to women and fisherfolk.

Kelantan-born Khalil also took time to do a quick landscape of the in the vicinity of the museum.

For Indonesian student Rizky Astriningtias, 19, who is pursuing her second-year degree in estate management, the interaction between sketchers was marvellous.

“It allows me to enhance my skills and make friends through sketching,” she said. “I do only portraits at home but now I think I will try more outdoor sketching.”

For Alia Khalid, 20, a third-year chemical engineering student, who is also a KL Sketcher member, it was also her first outing with the group.

“This experience was great,” she said. “I waited for over a month for it since I barely draw or paint in the outdoors. I will definitely want to go on future outings if there are no examination and important assignments.”

The campus sketchcrawl ended with a presentation of letters of appreciation to participants and culminating in a group photography of the sketchers with their works.

UM Library chief Dr Nor Edzan Che Nasir, who gave away the letters of appreciation, said initially she was not aware of what sketchcrawl was all about.

“It was our first hosting of such an event and I am glad it turned out very well,” she said.

“We hope to have more similar activities in the future.”

Yahong Art Gallery is a short walk from most of the major beach hotels; approximately 20 minutes from the Rasa Sayang Hotel, less for those further down the beach. The gallery is fully air-conditioned for a refreshing respite from the heat and to ensure a pleasurable visit. Hours are from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm and admission is free. For further information, Please simply call or email us.

58-D Batu Ferringhi, 11100 Penang, Malaysia. email enquiries@yahongart.com.my or sl_chuah@time.net.my

Tel (604) 881 1251 Fax (604) 881 1093

Admission is free. For details, call the varsity at 03-03-7967-3805

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The University Malaya Museum of Asian Art is open from Monday to Thursday, 9am to 12.45pm and from 2pm to 5pm, and from 9am to 12.45pm and 2.45pm to 5pm. It is closed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

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Objek atau lapisan permukaan karya sama ada dua dimensi atau tiga dimensi mudah terdedah pada kerosakan apabila berubah kedudukan lokasi. Ia boleh berlaku secara sengaja atau tidak disengajakan seperti kecuaian manusia mahupun akibat kesan persekitaran. Pengendalian karya secara cekap adalah penting dilatih dari segi sikap dan dimantapkan dengan kemahiran.

01

Mengenalpasti laluan dan kaedah pemindahan karya dengan berbincang dengan rakan kumpulan sebelum memulakan kerja supaya proses pemindahan karya berjalan lebih lancar.

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Sebelum melaksanakan sesuatu perubahan lokasi adalah penting untuk MERANCANG dari segi jenis karya, lokasi dan perjalanan karya. Tugasan sebegini boleh dilakukan dengan mengenalpasti : Senarai tambahan jika memerlukan sebarang bantuan; contoh-seorang atau dua untuk membawa karya atau memandu arah troli, dan seorang untuk membuka pintu, kenalpasti halangan serta memastikan laluan bebas daripada orang ramai.

Memastikan laluan selamat dan tiada halangan daripada sebarang gangguan sebelum pemindahan dilakukan.

Sentiasa peka dan berinteraksi dengan rakan sepasukan ketika proses pemindahan berlangsung; Jangan tergopoh–gapah, kendalikan dengan tenang dan penuh berhati-hati.

Memastikan tersedia ruang yang sesuai dan selamat apabila sampai ke lokasi, dengan tersedia pelapik yang sesuai untuk meletakkan karya.

02

Elakkan lokasi pemindahan yang ada cahaya matahari secara langsung, berdekatan pintu untuk keluar masuk, berdekatan unit pemanas, kawasan berisiko tinggi trafik, dan di kawasan yang tidak selamat dan tidak berjaga.

Pengkaryaan seni konseptual dalam seni lukis moden dan kontemporari Malaysia boleh dikatakan bermula daripada pengaruh pengkaryaan daripada artis yang pernah belajar di luar negara terutamanya di sekitar tahun 60-an dan 70-an di mana pada masa itu di sana pergerakan aliran seni moden berkembang dengan cepat dengan aliran-aliran pemikiran yang dibawa dalam seni yang daripada penggunaan bahan konvensional cat minyak yang bertujuan sedaya upaya untuk mendekatkan karya artis dengan audien, maka lahirlah pergerakan seperti Seni Pop, Dada, Konsep dan lain-lain.

| FAIZAL SIDEK

Balai Seni Visual Negara telah mengumpul karya pelukis tempatan dan antarabangsa sejak 1958 lagi. Adalah menjadi hasrat BSVN untuk mempamerkan semula koleksi-koleksi yang penting dalam himpunannya sebagai rujukan dan tatapan umum. Pameran ‘Seni Konseptual: Koleksi Balai Seni Visual Negara’ adalah sebuah pameran koleksi terpilih yang dibina untuk membawa penonton kepada satu bentuk seni yang dinamakan seni konseptual, iaitu persembahan bentuk seni yang menekankan pada persoalan konsep dan idea dalam pengkaryaan.

Pameran yang dikuratorkan oleh Faizal Sidik dan Nasir Baharuddin ini akan berlangsung hampir 6 bulan iaitu daripada 9 Oktober 2011 hingga 26 Mac 2012 di Galeri 1A, Balai Seni Visual Negara. Sehubungan itu sebuah penerbitan buku akan dihasilkan memuatkan tulisan kedua-dua kurator dan juga penulis jemputan Fuad Arif bagi menggali dan menyelidiki mengapa seni itu dikatakan sebagai seni konseptual, persoalan-persoalan dasar mengenainya dan impaknya dalan seni lukis di Malaysia pada hari ini.

Bagi menyelusuri aliran ini di sini perlulah sekiranya kita melihat pergerakan seni konseptual di Barat itu sendiri. Pergerakan seni konseptual ini muncul pada tahun 1960-an. Kemunculannya adalah sebahagian daripada reaksi penentangan terhadap formalisme iaitu yang menitiberatkan elemen-elemen komposisi perletakan seperti warna, garis, bentuk dan tekstur daripada kewujudan objek, konteks, dan isi yang disebut oleh pengkritik seni di New York yang berpengaruh iaitu Clement Greenberg.

Bawa HANYA satu karya pada satu- satu masa.

Bawa dengan keadaan permukaan karya mengadap orang yang membawanya untuk perlindungan.

Waspada kendali karya sebegini dengan :

| JAZMI MOHAMED SHARIF

Bawa karya dengan kedudukan orientasi yang betul; seboleh-bolehnya dengan melintang dan elakkan kanvas menyentuh tulang belakang penegang.

Permukaan yang telah disentuh dengan jemari walaupun jemari itu bersih, kesannya tetap akan kelihatan. Kesan akan kelihatan untuk jangkamasa panjang disebabkan oleh asid, garam dan minyak daripada jemari. Waspada ia dengan memakai sarung tangan putih daripada kapas yang bersih; gunakan sarung tangan getah jika permukaan licin; peringatan bahawa sarung tangan yang kotor sama seperti tangan yang kotor.

Jika dikenalpasti bahawa objek atau karya terlalu berat untuk diangkat tidak selamat dengan memakai sarung tangan, maka tangan yang bersih mungkin sesuai sebagai solusi.

Jika TERPAKSA memindahkan karya yang mengalami repih lapisan cat, bawa ia mengadap atas supaya lapisan itu tidak jatuh.

Bagi karya yang dibalut, adalah penting dibawa dengan lebih berhati-hati, kerana kita tidak tahu apa yang kita sentuh. Jika sebarang kerosakan berlaku ketika proses pemindahan, kumpulkan dengan berhati–hati dan simpan mana-mana kepingan yang tanggal walaupun rekahan lapisan cat yang kecil, dan dokumenkan kerosakan itu. Jika karya itu akan digantung, kenalpasti alatan untuk gantungan, jenis dinding dan lokasi ia akan digantung adalah selamat.

karya yang besar perlu dibawa oleh dua orang disebabkan oleh saiz dan beratnya, atau dibawa dengan troli yang sesuai.

KENDALI CATAN DAN KARYA BERBINGKAI Sebelum mengalihkan sebarang karya: Periksa dan pastikan tiada bahagian yang hilang daripada bingkai atau karya-rujuk konservator jika ragu- ragu.

Periksa dan pastikan karya selamat dalam bingkai; rujuk konservator jika ragu- ragu.

Jika karya tiada alas belakang, periksa kekuatan penegang kanvas ( stretcher atau strainer).

Jika karya tiada alas belakang, pastikan dawai untuk menggantung tidak menyentuh belakang kanvas.

Menurut Greenberg seni moden melalui proses pengurangan yang progresif dan penghalusan ke arah yang bertujuan untuk mentakrif dengan sebenar-benarnya sifat bahantara. Elemanelemen ini yang akan bertindakbalas terhadap sifat pengurangan ini. Peranan catan, misalnya adalah untuk menjelaskan apakah objek catan itu: apa yang membuatkan ia sebuah catan dan tiada yang lain. Sifat semulajadi catan iaitu objek yang rata pada permukaan kanvas yang diwarnakan dengan pigmen, seperti catan figura, perspektif ilusi tiga dimensi dan rujukan terhadap subjek luaran yang kesemuanya intipati yang mengatakan ia sebuah catan dibuang.1 Di Malaysia ia dimainkan oleh generasi kedua seniman tempatan yang berkelulusan barat dimana situasi yang sama juga berlaku namun agak lewat sedikit iaitu pada tahun awal 70-an. Kebanyakan mereka ini pernah mengikuti pengajian di Maktab Seni Lukis di mana terdedah kepada suasana baru atau “New Scene” di mana adalah sebuah gerakan seni baru yang muncul implikasi daripada sukatan pelajaran yang diatur berdasarkan aliran “Bauhaus” iaitu sebuah sekolah seni rekaan yang terkenal di Jerman yang mengabungkan pembelajaran antara kraf dan seni halus.

03

MENGENDALIKAN KARYA DENGAN LAPISAN PELINDUNG (GLAZING) ‘Glazing” di sini merujuk pada kaca atau Perspex (kepingan akrilik lutsinar, juga disebut Plexiglass) digunakan dalam sistem pembingkaian untuk catan/ lukisan.

Lapisan pelindung ini perlu dikendali dengan baik kerana Perspex atau kepingan akrilik mudah calar dan kaca pula mudah pecah.

Untuk pengangkutan karya yang ada lapisan pelindung kaca, letakkan pita pelekat hanya pada permukaan kaca dengan ‘masking tape’ dengan jarak grid 20cm.

Diingatkan jangan letakkan pita pelekat pada perspek kerana ia agak susah untuk dtanggalkan.

Bauhaus membawa idea penciptaan secara total dalam karya seni di mana semua cabang seni termasuklah seni bina di ajar. Stail Bauhaus ini telah membawa pengaruh yang besar terhadap perkembangan dalam seni, seni bina, seni grafik, seni reka dalaman, seni reka industri dan typografi yang membina satu pandangan yang lebih analisis dan konstruktif. Ciri-ciri bagaimana melihat atau pengamatan lebih ditekankan. Pendekatan Bauhaus ini telah memberi impak serta dipraktikkan oleh maktab-maktab seni yang terkenal di England serta dikembangkan dan diajar sehingga ke hari ini apabila mereka mengugurkan diploma lama dengan mengantikan Diploma in Art and Design sebagaimana kursus-kursus yang terdapat di sekolah seni di Malaysia pada hari ini.

Rombakan besar yang berlaku dalam sistem pendidikan di sana terutamanya seni telah membawa angin perubahan baru kepada artis tempatan yang menerima didikan diluar.

Piyadasa mengatakan “Mata pelajaran seperti sejarah sosial, falsafah, kesusasteraan dan sejarah pemikiran mulai diajar buat pertama kalinya di maktab-maktab ini. Kesemua perubahan–perubahan ini meninggalkan kesan yang mendalam ke atas pelukis-pelukis kita yang menerima pendidikan disana”.2 Stail Ekspressionisme Abstrak yang mementingkan aspek dari segi emosi, perasaan dan sifat individu artis mula ditentang oleh artis-artis muda ini. Stail seni antarabangsa atau International Stail mula

muncul menolak aliran sebelumnya.

Peralihan inilah yang membawa kecenderungan yang baru kepada artis untuk mendekatkan diri mereka dengan pengolahan seni yang lebih idealis seperti yang dibawa oleh seni Konseptual dan Minimalis.

Artis-artis yang menggelarkan diri mereka sebagai “New Scene” ini tadi membawa aliran Seni Konstruktif seperti Redza Piyadasa, Tan Tuck Kan, Sulaiman Esa, Chong Kam Kow dan Tan Teong Eng di mana mereka juga bereaksi terhadap Ekspressionisme dan Ekspressionisme Abstrak yang bawa pada awal dan pertengahan tahun 60-an oleh Syed Ahmad Jamal, Latiff Mohidin, Yeoh Jin Leng, Ibrahim Hussein, Lee Joo For dan Cheong Laitong di samping gerakan Formalisme pengaruh daripada Lyrical Colourist oleh Ismail Zain dan Jolly Koh pada akhir 60-an. Pada tahun 1974 koloborasi Redza Piyadasa dan Sulaiman Esa sekali lagi dalam sebuah pameran penting dalam pergerkan seni moden Malaysia iaitu “Toward A Mystical Reality” yang membangunkan Seni Konseptual Mistik membuka lorongan baru dalam pengkaryaannya itu disini.

1

Sol Lewitt, “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art”, dalam

Artforum (1967) 2

Redza Piyadasa, Pengolahan Lanskap Tempatan dalam

Seni Moden 1930-1981, Balai Seni Lukis Negara, 1981.

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Saya tertarik untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang pergerakkan pengkaryapengkarya perempuan tempatan yang mana pada hemat saya, kekangan masa, tanggungjawab selain berkarya, tidak fokus, karya bersandarkan emosi dan individualistik selalu menjadi alasan mengapa karya-karya mereka kurang diambil perhatian.

Apakah perlu untuk setiap karya itu berbaur universal? Atau sekiranya saya terlalu menekankan tentang pelukis yang bersandarkan alasan gender, adakah ianya penting untuk pertumbuhan pengkarya baru dan mereka adalah cerminan suara masyarakat dan kekurangan pengkarya perempuan ini secara tidak langsung memperlihatkan tiadanya suara lantang dalam mengetengahkan isu-isu yang dianggap minoriti. Saya tidak menyimpulkan kerjaya pengkarya ini adalah sebagai seorang pejuang hidup, tetapi pengkarya seni adalah lebih dari menyapu warna dan menyusun imej. Apakah yang ingin ditonjolkan selain medium seni dan sejauh manakah isi suara dari medium ini yang ingin di perdengarkan dan di kongsi?

Sokongan House Of Matahati (HOM) dalam mengadakan program residensi sebagai platform kepada para pelukis muda untuk membina kerjaya dan berkongsi luahan karya telah memberi peluang kepada Anniketyni Madian menyertai program residensi untuk kali yang ke-9. Program ini telah bermula pada tahun 2008 lagi dan untuk setiap pengkarya muda, mereka di beri tempoh selama 6 bulan untuk berkarya dan mengadakan pameran setelah tempoh residensi tamat.

Mendekati karya Anniketyni Madian membawa saya untuk mengetahui dengan lebih lanjut tentang pandangan dan persepsi beliau ketika olahan karya dibuat. Karya beliau yang kebanyakannya adalah susunan kayu yang berbentuk geometrik dan olahan ini secara tidak langsung telah membentuk satu alunan yang lebih organik.

| intan rafiza

perlu dititikberatkan. Manakala dari segi teknikal pula, pengarca Reuben Heyday Margolin seorang lagi pengarca kinetik dari Amerika Syarikat yang menyusun kiub berskala kecil menjadi bentuk berskala besar menjadi rujukan untuk menghasilkan karya beliau.

Selain dari berkarya, Anniketyni Madian juga adalah individu yang bergerak membantu dan memberi galakan kepada rakan-rakan seni yang lain mengadakan pameran seni secara berkumpulan yang mana penglibatan ini juga memberi peluang buat beliau bertukar pendapat dan idea dalam berkarya.

Ketrampilan dalam pelbagai aspek seni visual sebagai seorang pengkarya muda adalah satu inisiatif yang positif dalam penglibatan pergerakan seni visual tanahair.

Sekiranya kita melihat karya terdahulu oleh Dolly Unithan, seorang pengarca perempuan yang menggunakan medium kayu untuk berkarya beliau pada tahun 1964, koleksi Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN) yang bertajuk 'Pemalu-Shy' mengingatkan saya tentang kesamaan alunan kayu ini dibentuk secara organic tetapi kedua-dua pengarca ini mengguna cara teknikal yang berbeza. Kebiasaan ukiran kayu untuk membentuk arca berbeza dengan olahan Anniketyni yang disusun secara tertib bongkah kayu. Ulangan susunan secara teratur, dengan warna dan komposisi yang minimal membuatkan karya beliau bergerak dalam satu ruang dan secara tidak langsung ianya kelihatan seperti tumbuhan yang menjalar untuk terus mendominasi.

Semoga semangat dan usaha dalam berkarya dan berkongsi kreativiti akan terus menyala buat Anniketyni Madian dan semoga program residensi beliau kali ini akan menjadi titik permulaan sebagai seorang pengkarya yang akan terus melangkah ke persada seni yang lebih luas pada masa yang akan datang!

Pengaruh lanskap dan alam semulajadi Bumi Kenyalang, Pulau Borneo menjadi titik tolak Anniketyni Madian yang mana beliau dilahirkan dan dibesarkan di negeri Sarawak.

Merakam pusaran air antara subjek yang diangkat untuk menyusun kepingan kayu mengingatkan semula alam yang pernah hampir dan telah jauh dari persekitaran pengkarya sendiri. Atas dasar keprihatinan dan daya sensitiviti pencinta seni, Anniketyni telah berkongsi rasa ini dengan penonton dalam karya-karya beliau.

Mengagumi seorang pengarca kinetik Theo Jensen dari Belanda yang percaya kepada unsur seni berhubung rapat dengan unsur kejuruteraan dalam menghasilkan karya. Selain daripada itu juga, pengolahan idea yang memberi penekanan unsur alam dalam karya Theo Jensen juga membuatkan pengkarya Anniketyni Madian merasakan kepentingan hubungkait alam dalam penghasilan karya

| Tan hui koon

Life doesn't always turn out as planned, that's why some said life is full of surprises. Here is a story about a boy whose ambition was to be an inventor but unexpectedly became a restless maker of images.

Seah Ze Lin, who looks much younger than his age, used to work in the commercial arts industry. He was the illustrator who did the portrait of Stephen Chow for the movie ‘Kung Fu Hustle’ in 2004 and had also illustrated various comic book heroes.

The inventor’s instinct in Ze Lin found that life to be disagreeable. “Life was boring and the overwhelmingly commercial values sicken me, like eating tasteless food. It may look beautiful but it has no soul.” Finally, he decided to “escape to Birmingham to further his studies”. Since then, his mission is to delve into the endless search for the aesthetic through his own way of seeing. Life hasn't change much though, but a change of personality and attitude towards living has led to the understanding of the infinite possibilities between the relationships of space and subjects.

“I deconstruct and rebuild visual relationships when I draw figures, objects and space. This is not to depict the dismemberment of the literal but rather, to augment the disconnected, anxious tension between the subject matter themselves, their bodies and their immediate surroundings.”

Ze Lin who works as an art lecturer at a private college is also the resident artist at the House of Matahati’s (HOM) Residency. He was offered the residency in 2011after being selected as a runner up in the Malaysia Emerging Artist (MEA) competition in 2009. During the 6 month long

residency, Ze Lin explored the sensations and feelings arising from the brushing of paints onto huge canvases. Using a ‘classical’ approach to painting, Ze Lin shapes forms with black outlines intuitively, culled from what was experienced in daily life, and then erases those experiences with white paints to finally transforming the whole image, again intuitively into a metaphor.

It’s like pulling a drawer, and pushing it back after disposing all of its contents.

All throughout the process, Ze Lin doesn’t even pay attention to his brushstrokes while he paints. He shapes the forms like a blind man who feels the joys of vision through the sense of touch.

Instead of calling it an act of painting, the action is more akin to molding. He feels the visions. The heavy, short and swirling strokes reminded me of Van Gogh, who rejected objective representation in favor of subjective expression1.

The intensity and negation of any representational imagery in the creative process, which is guided by his intention of erasure seems more like an affirmation rather than a rejection.

One of his handful of large scale paintings (12x8ft), formed by three canvas panels, entitled ‘Nothing Happened Here' shows underneath the white paints and some yellow strokes, black outlines depicting

Seperti yang dijanjikan pada keluaran lepas, siri terakhir Seni Visual dan Hakcipta (4) akan menyentuh isu paling kritikal di dalam dunia seni iaitu isu ‘pelanggaran’ hakcipta. Pengetahuan dan kesedaran terhadap isu ini di Malaysia (terutamanya di dalam bidang seni visual) masih dipandang remeh dan ‘bersahaja’ oleh pengkarya mahupun khalayak umum. Oleh kerana itu, apabila terjadinya pelanggaran hakcipta terhadap sesuatu karya, kebanyakkan pengkarya tidak mengambil langkah yang sepatutnya untuk membendung perkara tersebut daripada berleluasa. Pelanggaran hakcipta, bukan sahaja akan melemah dan melumpuhkan industri seni tetapi juga mampu menyekat kreativiti dan idea untuk menghasilkan karya-karya yang baru bermutu lagi asli. Jika keadaan ini berterusan, paling minima kesannya pasti akan menyebabkan industri seni ‘tersekat’ dan tidak berkembang dengan baik.

Lebih buruk lagi, keadaan ini akan mempengaruhi generasi muda yang akan datang untuk tidak menghargai seni warisan budaya mereka sendiri.

Impak pelanggaran hak cipta bukan sekadar terkesan pada ekonomi, malah turut melibatkan isu sosiobudaya. Oleh itu, pengkarya seharusnya lebih peka terhadap isu pelanggaran hakcipta.

Bagi definisi terhadap ‘pelanggaran’ hakcipta1,anda bolehlah merujuk kepada seksyen 36 di bawah Akta Hakcipta 19872. Terdapat dua jenis pelanggaran yang diklasifikasikan di dalam CA 1987. Pertama, adalah pelanggaran secara langsung dan kedua adalah pelanggaran secara tidak langsung. Definisi pelanggaran secara langsung diterang di bawah Seksyen 36 (1)3 dan harus di baca bersama Seksyen 13 (1)4. Setiap perkara yang berlawanan yang terdapat di bawah Seksyen 13 (1) dan tidak mendapat keizinan daripada pemilik sah karya5 adalah diklasifikasikan sebagai pelanggaran hakcipta menurut Seksyen 36 (1). Pelanggaran hakcipta secara langsung dapat dibuktikan dengan (1) terdapat persamaan yang objektif terhadap karya asli dengan karya yang ditiru (atau yang dikatakan telah mengalami pelanggaran hakcipta) dan (2) ada seperti suatu keadaan yang bersebab(causal connection), contoh seperti : defandan mempunyai pengetahuan terlebih dahulu berkaitan karya tersebut atau keadaan tersebut terjadi kerana mereka berada di industri yang lebih kurang sama atau kemungkinan lain karya-karya tersebut telah ditiru daripada sumber ketiga6. Untuk lebih memahami situasi pelanggaran hak cipta secara lansung ini anda juga boleh membuat rujukan dengan membaca dua kes sebagai contoh iaitu kes Longman Malaysia Sdn. Bhd v Pustaka Delta Pelajaran Sdn. Bhd7 dan kes Francis Day & Hunter Ltd & Anor v Bron & Anor8.

Bagi definisi untuk pelanggaran hakcipta secara tidak langsung pula, anda bolehlah merujuk kepada Seksyen 36 (2)9 di bawah CA 1987. Liabiliti untuk pelanggaran secara tidak langsung bergantung kepada seberapa banyak pengetahuan (knowledge) pesalah terhadap kesalahan yang telah diperlakukan.

Tidak seperti pesalah yang melakukan pelanggaran secara langsung di mana dua cara seperti yang dinyatakan dia atas adalah mencukupi untuk membuktikan bahawa beliau telah melakukan perbuatan melanggar hakcipta.

a busy and lively urban sprawl or cityscape, suggesting that buildings and roads with lamp post (and still many unclear forms) are redundant and overwhelming wasteful, a testament of poor urban planning.

Between the subjects and spaces, of expression and romanticism, the artist appreciates that the truth of beauty is from the pleasure of freedom and feelings. From what I recall of our dialogue, Ze Lin, who plucked out from thin air a quote by renowned British painter Francis Bacon, “The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express”, truly believes in the process of feeling rather than the act of painting.

To Whom It May Concern: Seah Ze Lin’s exhibition: BEING is open for public viewing from the 10 November – 19 November 2011 at the House of Matahati (HOM).

Kleiner, Fred S., Gardner’s Art Through The Ages, 2009, 13th edition, Thomson, Boston.

1

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| Bed Samat

Kadangkala, terdapat situasi yang nampak seakanakan seseorang itu telah melakukan pelanggaran hakcipta tetapi sebenarnya terdapat pengecualian dalam situasi tersebut. Pengeculian itu dapat diberikan, dengan syarat memenuhi ketiga-tiga elemen seperti berikut. Pertama, pengeluaran semula karya tersebut adalah kerana sebab-sebab tertentu (special cases). Kedua, tidak terdapat apa-apa konflik dalam pengeksploitasian secara normal terhadap karya tersebut dan ketiga pengeluaran semula karya tersebut tidak prejudis terhadap hak undang-undang pencipta karya.

Antara contoh-contoh situasi pelanggaran hakcipta adalah dibenarkan seperti di dalam urusan-urusan munasabah seperti penyelidikan yang tidak berlandaskan keuntungan (non-profit), pengajian persendirian, kritikan, ulasan atau untuk melaporkan peristiwa-peristiwa semasa. Cara-cara untuk menentukan sama ada urusan-urusan tersebut munasabah dan boleh mendapatkan pengecuali atau tidak, tidak dinyatakan di dalam CA 1987, tetapi mahkamah akan mengambil kira perkaraperkara seperti berikut : 1) cara pengubahsuai dan pelanggaran itu dilakukan 2) mempertimbangkan sama ada wujud motif yang tidak wajar daripada pihak defandan 3) bahagian karya yang telah mengalami pelanggaran hakcipta, sama ada bahagian tersebut digunakan setakat yang diperlukan 4) melihat kebiasaan budaya dan praktis industri tersebut 5)wujud di dalam karya yang sudah diterbitkan atau pun belum di terbitkan. Untuk pemahaman lanjut sebagai rujukan, anda bolehlah membaca dan mencari kes University of London Press Ltd v University Tutorial Press Ltd10 dan kes Hyde park Residence Ltd v Yelland & Ors11.

Kes-kes yang dinyatakan di atas adalah contoh untuk memahami lebih lanjut tentang pelanggaran hakcipta walaupun kes–kes tersebut tidak memfokuskan khusus dalam bidang seni visual. Faktafakta dan aplikasi di dalam kes-kes tersebut masih boleh diguna-pakai sebagai rujukan. Tetapi, masih terdapat satu kes Malaysia yang boleh di jadikan sebagai rujukan dan sekaligus boleh dianggap sebagai ‘precedent’12 kes bagi pelanggaran hakcipta di Malaysia terutama sekali di dalam skop seni visual Malaysia. Kes tersebut ialah kes Syed Ahmad Jamal13 v Dato Bandar Kuala Lumpur14.

Fakta berkaitan kes ini adalah seperti berikut: Kes ini melibatkan sebuah arca karya Syed Ahmad Jamal15 (SAJ) yang berjudul Puncak Purnama (juga dikenali sebagai Lunar Peaks). Karya ini telah dikomisenkan kepada beliau oleh UMBC Harta Sdn. Bhd pada tahun 1985 untuk melengkapkan landskap sebuah taman di tanah kerajaan16 Kuala Lumpur. Arca tersebut kemudiannya diserahkan oleh UMBC kepada penduduk Kuala Lumpur pada 20 November 1986 di bawah tanggungjawab penyelenggaran diberikan kepada Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL). Pada tahun 2000, pihak DBKL telah membuat beberapa perubahan terhadap arca tersebut tanpa meminta keizinan daripada SAJ. SAJ kemudiannya telah menulis surat kepada pihak DBKL untuk mengembalikan arca tersebut kepada bentuk asal tetapi tidak diendahkan oleh pihak DBKL. Maka, dengan sebab itu, SAJ memutuskan untuk mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap pihak DBKL17 menggunakan Seksyen 25 (2)18 kerana berpendapat bahawa terdapat pelanggaran hakcipta di dalam kejadian ini terhadap karya milik beliau.

Makhamah, bagi kes ini telah memutuskan bahawa, mengikut seksyen 25 (2), pengubahsuaian yang telah dibuat oleh pihak DBKL adalah dengan ketara telah mengubah karakter dan semangat Puncak Purnama sekaligus menghancurkan reka bentuk dan ketenangan yang diciptakan oleh plaintiff.

Walaupun arca tersebut diubah berdasarkan kepada bentuk yang sama mengikut keterangan plaintiff, tetapi pengubahsuaian tersebut telah sama sekali menghilangkan ‘gaya’ seni beliau terhadap karya tersebut. Malah, pengubahsuain tersebut juga seakan-akan menghina reputasi dan kehormatan beliau sebagai salah seorang pengkarya agung di Malaysia.

Untuk kejadian ini, mahkamah telah memutuskan bahawa plaintiff harus diberikan ganti rugi sebanyak RM750,000.00 dan karya asal beliau harus dibina kembali mengikut reka bentuk asal oleh pihak defendan19. Kes ini sekaligus telah membuktikan bahawa setiap hasil seni di Malaysia adalah dilindungi oleh Akta Hakcipta 1987 (Akta 332), Malaysia.

Pelanggaran hakcipta di dalam artikel ini adalah tertumpu kepada karya-karya yang berkaitan dengan seni visual khususnya tidak termasuk ‘performance art’, muzik atau karya-karya seni bukan daripada bidang seni visual.

1

Selepas ini akan ditulis sebagai CA 1987 (Copyright Act 1987–Act 332), Regulations & Orders : ILBS.

2

Contoh pelanggaran hakcipta secara langsung (khususnya di dalam seni visual) adalah seperti: pengeluaran semula karya itu dalam bentuk apa-apa bahan sekalipun, pengedaran salinan-salinankepada orang awam melalui penjualan atau pemindahan lain pemilikan dan penyewaan secara komersial karya itu kepada awam atau apa-apa yang terdapat berlawanan dengan Seksyen 13(1).

3

Untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut penerangan berkaitan Seksyen 13(1), sila rujuk kembali Siri Seni Visual dan Hakcipta (3).

4

Untuk penerangan mengenai pencipta dan pemilik sah karya, sila rujuk kembali Siri Seni Visual dan Hakcipta(2).

5

Untuk penerangan lanjut di dalam memahami topik ini sila rujuk, Copyright Law in Malaysia (Second Edition) by Prof. Dr. Khaw Lake Tee – (Chapter Six : Infringement of copyright); Malayan Law Journal, Kuala Lumpur, 2001.

6

7

[1987] 2 MLJ 359

8

[1963] 1 Ch 587

Walau bagaimanapun, hanya Seksyen 36(2) yang menceritakan tentang pelanggaran hakcipta secara tidak langsung dan tiada seksyen lain yang memberi penerangan lain berkaitan isu ini. Untuk penerangan lanjut sila rujuk, Copyright Law in Malaysia (Second Edition) by Prof. Dr. Khaw Lake Tee–(Chapter Eight : Indirect infringement of copyright); Malayan Law Journal, Kuala Lumpur, 2001.

9

10

[1916] 2 Ch 601

11

[2000] 3 WLR 215

Dalam sistem undang-undang, ‘precedent kes’ merupakan kes utama atau kes yang akan dijadikan sebagai satu garis panduan atau satu prinsip atau kaedah yang ditubuhkan pada mana-mana undang-undang bahawa mahkamah atau lain-lain badan kehakiman boleh mengikut keputusan kes tersebut apabila memutuskan kes-kes seterusnya dengan isu-isu atau fakta-fakta yang serupa. (sumber: http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent) 12

Syed Ahmad Jamal merupakan seniman agung seni visual tanah air.

Beliau telah kembali ke rahmtullah pada 31 July 2011. Selain daripada pencapaian yang membanggakan di dalam bidang seni visual Malaysia, beliau juga merupakan satu-satunya pengkarya seni visual yang pernah dinobatkan sebagai Sasterawan Negara (kadar waktu kenyatan ini ialah saat artikel ini ditulis pada tahun Oktober 2011). Untuk membaca perjalanan seni dan biografi terperinci beliau, bolehlah merujuk kepada katalog terbitan Balai Seni Lukis Negara yang berjudul ‘Syed Ahmad Jamal : Pelukis’, ISBN : 978-983-3497-43-0

13

[2011] 2 CLJ as decided by Azahar Mohamed J. (Seperti yang telah diputuskan oleh Y.A Dato’ Azahar Mohamed).

14

15

Selepas ini akan ditulis sebagai plaintif.

Tempat tersebut juga dikenali sebagai ‘Taman Mini Puncak Purnama UMBC’ Kuala Lumpur.

16

17

Selepas ini akan ditulis sebagai defendan.

Untuk penerangan berkaitan hak-hak moral seorang pengkarya sila rujuk Seni Visual dan Hakcipta (3).

18

Kes lain yang boleh digunakan juga sebagai rujukan ialah kes Sehgal v Union of India [2005] FSR 39 (refd)

19

* Setiap seksyen di dalam artikel ini merujuk kepada Akta Hakcipta 1987 (Akta 332), Malaysia.

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| Tan Sei hon

Creative individuals who did not have any formal or academic art training are common. In fact, many of them have contributed and enriched the history of art by bringing a vision of originality and innovative use of materials. In Malaysia, even though many of our early artists did not receive formal academic training or only briefly, their contributions in developing a uniquely local as well as personal visual vernacular cannot be underestimated. Some have produced works that we cannot categorize under the art brut, outsider art or even naïve art category proper though we do recognize in their works distinctive traits that separates them from professionally trained artists. Their works encourages one to look at art and its practices in contemporary times from different angles and approaches. Furthermore, their non-specialists background and their (sometimes) eccentric expressions also challenged the hegemony of conservative art and culture specialists’ monopoly of ideas in the field of art. Unlike most professionally trained artists, these autodidacts or informally trained individuals make works out of urges or necessities that mirrors their psychological states and social conditions.

It is inseparable with the context from which they create and serves to address/ offset the imbalances of inner turmoil of the psyche or as a result of freely following their inner voices. The unmediated expression of their impulses through visual means had produced some of the most startlingly original and mindboggling works of art. In this and the articles to follow, I will introduce three informally trained artists to the readers. I hope a brief coverage of their background history and motivations behind their labor of love will serve as an eye opener and inspiration.

By acknowledging and celebrating their artistry, we also celebrate our own personal narratives, eccentricities, dreams, beliefs and world views.

Born in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in 1957, Thangarajoo M.A Kanniah or Raj as he is affectionately known is no stranger to the local art scene. As a child born in the year of the nation’s independence, the free spirited Raj left his working class family home to pursue the artist’s life at the young age of eighteen. He was introduced by Zafaruddin Zainuddin @Apai to Anak Alam (Children of Nature) in 1974. Raj remembers Mustapha Haji Ibrahim, Mariam Abdullah, Ali Rahamad @ Mabuha, Osman ‘Volkswagen’, Dzulkifli Dahlan, Abdul Latiff Mohidin, Wairah Marzuki, Sharifah Fatimah Zubir, Khalil Ibrahim, Abdul Ghafar Ibrahim, Siti Zainon, Ismail Hashim and a few others as being the core or active visual artists in the collective comprised of many from different artistic disciplines in the then nascent KL arts scene. Anak Alam was an offshoot of the Angkatan Pelukis Semenanjung (APS) or Peninsula Artist Group headed by the towering painter of representational images and portraits, the late Datuk Mohd Hoessain Enas. While the APS championed realistic renditions of life, Anak Alam was multi- disciplinary in its approach. Members were mostly engaged in abstract or Surrealistic art, printing, photography, Malay theater, music (using self made musical instruments) and poetry. Many of their performances were held near Benteng (located near the small clock tower in KL) University Malaya (UM) and the City Hall Theater (Panggung Bandaraya) in Kuala Lumpur. The collective was established with the primary aims of creating innovative artistic expressions as well as to promote awareness for the need to conserve the environment. Group members had a strong aversion to man’s senseless ravaging of nature and believed in a shared vision in which nature and man coexist in harmony.

Even though Raj did not received much formal training in the arts, he became skillful in drawing, painting and crafts such as making paper-mache as well as puppetry.

As a Malaysian artist of Indian descent, he achieved many firsts in his 37 years career as a visual artist. He was the first and only Malaysian Indian to win both the National Art Gallery (now, National Visual Arts Gallery)’s Young Contemporary’s Award art competition in 1984 and the Hans Christian Andersen illustration competition sponsored by the Danish Embassy and organized by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) later that year.

Raj was also among the first Malaysian-Indian artist to be honoured with a solo exhibition entitled ‘I of the Universe’ at the National Art Gallery, then located at its former premise at Jalan Hishamuddin, Kuala Lumpur in the early1980's. The gist of the ideas or philosophy behind his works was formed as a result of his near-death experience when he met an accident at Templar Park, Selangor. “He experienced a soundless world where his conscious soul dwelled in unity with the earth, rocks and sky. He was a part of everything and everything was a part of him .The episode changed his life dramatically; for the first time he saw himself, the universe and all people in it as one.”

(To read more, please visit http://atomicscape-jootha.blogspot.com)

His many detailed drawings, paintings and mixed media works which he had produced after that incident to his latest ink on canvas series entitled ‘Atomic Numinosity’ have been a life long continuation of Raj’s philosophy of transcending duality to non-duality; the oneness that pervades everything. (To see more artworks, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/thanga4)

It takes Mohd Fadzil days to work out an idea as he wants to ensure the intended effects using various combinations of unconventional materials such as winding threads / nylon or screws with drawn lines on papers, canvas, perspex , wood are correctly constructed to create the “multiple, psychedelic lights and water effects or mobiles that change direction and shapes if you position your self at various angles when looking at my works”. Though his mixed media works are intricate and requires carefully planning beforehand, the process leading to the completion of the final form is loose enough for him to make alterations or changes as and when new shapes or forms appear together with colours that adds value to “the whole design and to bring it to the illusion of form so that the process is simply a steady progression till the end”.

(His works brings to mind a little known ‘artist’ whose works were also centered on the energies emanated from humans and minerals, Emma Kunz (1892-1963). Born in Switzerland, she was recognized as healer and visionary who used the pendulum to both discover the biodynamic energies as well as to diagnose diseases of the spirit though the legacy of her artistry are the detailed drawings of aura energies on large graph papers now collected and displayed at the Emma Kunz Centre. For more info, please visit www.emma-kunz-zentrum.ch ) Vong Nyam Chee or Cheev stumbled onto the local art scene not exactly by choice, but partly out of necessity as well as to re affirm the reasons that constitute the meaning of his life as he had re discovered and understood anew. Born in Kuala Lumpur and grew up in Cheras, life started quite conventionally for the informally trained sculptor.

Cheev had keen interests in the arts and was accepted to a degree program (which he thought was related to commercial art) in a university in the United States, but due to some misunderstanding and complications, Cheev ended up doing Communication Arts in the English Department studying linguistics and literature instead of design or advertising! Still, he counted himself fortunate to have been under the tutelage of Ms. Joanne Lattavo, his tutor for the visual arts component which he took as a minor. She was adamant in ensuring that Cheev would receive a fine arts program covering art history, philosophy and techniques. It was not just geared towards the acquisition of technical skills, but also an appreciation for ideas about art, beauty and life. The implications did not sink in at that time as the then youthful Cheev was more preoccupied with pressing financial matters and his dreams of making it big in the advertising world once he graduated.

Mohd Fadzil Othman was born in Kuala Muda, Kedah in 1943 and worked with RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) as a technician right after completing his secondary education at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College, Alor Star, Kedah. He has since retired and is now focusing fulltime on his art. According to Mohd Fadzil, he had a good art teacher named Pa’ Chooi (Chooi Kok Keong) who not only taught and encouraged him but also showed a lot of art books introducing many artists while providing explanations to their works. “That really touched me, heart and soul”. Though he did not pursue a formal art education or a career in the visual arts, he continued to create works. Inspired by the works, lives and philosophies of Van Gogh, Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvador Dali and even Buckminster Fuller, as well as local artists namely Datuk Ibrahim Hussein, Abdul Latiff Mohidin, Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal, Sharifah Fatimah Zubir and Hasnul Jamal Saidon. All these art figures pushes him to seek and develop a distinct and personal style which “until now I am still searching and experimenting with the works, which are different from the ordinary.” The artistic breakthrough finally came when he discovered the HungarianFrench artist Victor Vasarely (1906-97), widely hailed as the father of Op Art whose works in the 60s and 70’s found its way into popular culture and became one of its most recognized representative. Though his current Op art works were inspired by the paintings of Vasarely, his ideas are based on the aura of the human body as shown through the different colors. “If you are happy and tranquil, colors can be seen surrounding your body and if you are angry and moody different colors will be moving around the body. You can control the emotions through that aura. The flexibility and movement in my work is in relation to changing something negative to something positive and making it a form of creative problem solving.”

After coming back from the United States some 30 years ago, Cheez worked in various capacities in the creative industry for two and a half decades but abruptly abandoned the routine (and a well paying job) due to deep dissatisfactions and personal raison d'être. Though he excelled at what he did, he found the substantial remunerations to be meaningless and true satisfaction to be fleeting and illusory. “…I realize that the commercial world did not reflect the depth of creative thoughts but just skimming the ideas off the essence primarily to gain profits with no regards for posterity. This bothered me a lot. The commercial world has no soul. The feelings and rewards were short termed…I wanted to be recognized for my efforts and not just be rewarded in monetary value. I wanted to be relevant.”

The nagging feeling that there has to be more to life than just the daily grind for the almighty Ringgit would lead him back to the lessons taught by his former art tutor. Her wisdom and guidance decades later proved to be the catalyst that pushed Cheev towards the direction of the fine arts, which he plunged into headlong without any expectations or assurance. Cheev took a 10 year period of isolation of deep soul searching, recollecting past experiences and a reassessment of what they meant.“I have that urge and passion to translate them into physical interpretations that I can resonate with since I cannot wind back time. I wondered about existence and my primary conclusion was that we exist to experience…and to experience we must feel. In whatever consequences the end results were and still are…feelings… and their intensities. Having deduced a philosophy of existence, I now utilize that awareness to reenact the emergence of passions I accumulated.”

Cheev found the perfect vehicle to form or materialize them as working with 3d materials came quite naturally. Though he is able to sculpt or craved the most intricate of details and forms into any shapes he desires with ease-as evident from his earlier smaller figurine pieces-it is his sculptures,

carved and assembled from discarded wood that is most refreshing and unique.

The crude and feral characteristic of each of his sculpture- all assuming the female form which he reasoned possessed both sensual and dangerous traits that perfectly embodies the qualities he wished to expressstood out distinctively when compared with the works of other handful of Malaysian sculptors working in the field today. His is a dancing female spiritualist in trance, a primitive gymnast gyrating, convoluting in complex yoga-like postures, perpetually in motion (and in heat!). Sensual, savage and intense, the works conveys his reactions to life’s drama and his destiny, unscripted, unrehearsed, but spontaneous and intuitive, never capitulating but with all guns blazing or in this case, dancing like a hurricane!

(To read more about Cheev, please visit www. sculpturexxx.blogspot.com)

“ Our Magic Hour – How Much of The World Can We Know?� merupakan tema untuk Yokohama Triennale 2011.

Festival ini berlangsung dari 6 Ogos hingga 6 November 2011. Secara ringkas, Bandar Yokohama adalah sebuah pelabuhan dunia sejak pembukaannya pada tahun 1859, sebagai langkah pembangunan dan pemodenan negara Jepun. Yokohama ini dilihat strategik dalam penganjuran festival kontemporari seperti triennale ini.

Festival ini dilihat dapat representasi pemikiran cara baru dan penerimaan interaksi antara pelbagai bangsa, budaya dan kepelbagaian nilai. Julung kalinya, Yokohama Triennale dipentaskan di Yokohama Museum of Art sebagai tempat utama penganjuran dan NYK Waterfront Warehouse (BankArt Studio NYK) satu lagi lokasi untuk festival ini.

Ianya sebuah bangunan bersejarah yang menandakan Yokohama sebagai sebuah bandar pelabuhan Jepun yang terpenting serta bandar kelahiran seni fotografi Jepun. Ia merupakan penganjuran ke empat Yokohama Triennale setelah permulaan acara ini sejak tahun 2001, 2005 dan 2008.

Tema yang berkaitan dengan unsur misteri, keajaiban dunia dan kehidupan harian berlandaskan mitologi, lagenda dan animisme. Persoalan tentang sains dan teknologi juga dirungkaikan melalui beberapa karya seniman. Lebih 300 buah karya daripada 77 orang seniman daripada pelbagai negara terlibat dalam acara Yokohama Triennale ini. Kepelbagaian genre seni kontemporari daripada kerja–kerja seniman seperti catan, lukisan, cetakan, fotografi, seni video, seni instalasi memberi daya tarikan kepada masyarakat. Penyertaan pengunjung juga dalam berinteraksi dan berhubung melalui bahan seni yang dipamerkan memerlukan tafsiran dan kreativiti dalam menelaah maksud dan intipati karya serta membina kebudayaan keseniaan baru.

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Manakala di BankArt Studio NYK, pengunjung boleh menikmati kepelbagaian genre dan lebih dinamik. Seni instalasi, seni video, seni fotografi, arca, catan dengan kepelbagaian bahan memenuhi ruang bangunan tiga tingkat ini. Visualnya bebas, dalam perancangan kurator memastikan keseimbangan kedudukan karya yang dilihat mempunyai kekuatan tersendiri. Selain landskap luar yang cantik menanti ketibaan pengunjung untuk datang melihat Yokohama Triennale di sana. Penulis sempat mengunjungi Yokohama Triennale 2011 ini, setelah menghadiri Persidangan Asia Muzium Kurator ke-7 di Japan Foundation, Jepun pada 27 hingga 29 September 2011 diantara rangka lawatan yang dianjurkan. Ketibaan kami (kurator yang terlibat dengan persidangan) di sambut baik oleh Osaka Eriko, Pengarah Muzium Yokohama Museum of Art. Sedikit penerangan mengenai penganjuran Yokohama Triennale 2011 sebelum bebas menerokai ruang pameran.

Di pintu masuk Yokohama Museum of Art tersergam sebuah arca pelangi yang bertajuk “Our Magic Hour” dan sebahagian arca seperti imajan figuratif era primitif oleh Ugo Rondinone seniman dari Switzerland yang membarisi ruang hadapan pintu masuk muzium seolah –olah sebagai penyambut tetamu untuk Yokohama Triennale 2011 ini.

Menurut Miki Akiko Pengarah Seni, Yokohama Triennale 2011, salah satu aspek yang tersendiri triennale tahun ini, perkara yang tidak dijangka adalah " pertembungan " dan " mesyuarat " yang menanti pengunjung sepanjang pameran itu.

| Baktiar Naim

Bukan sahaja acara itu termasuk seni penyertaan (participatory art), ia membolehkan pengunjung untuk memulakan perjalanan visual, klasifikasi bebas dan kategori, di mana tafsiran dan kreativiti baru timbul diantara konfrontasi, dialog, dan sambungan di antara kerja-kerja dari tempoh dan pelbagai generasi, budaya latar belakang dan genre yang berakar umbi dalam pelbagai tema dan konteks.

Selain itu, sebagai Yokohama Museum of Art kini telah menjadi salah satu tempat utama, pengunjung akan dapat mendekati koleksi dan kemudahan dari perspektif yang baru.

Selain itu satu lagi kawasan di Yokohama Creativecity Center (YCC), dilancarkan sebagai tapak untuk orang ramai berkumpul dan bertukar-tukar maklumat, penonton akan terkejut apabila mendapati rumah hijau, di mana persembahan muzik untuk tumbuh-tumbuhan akan diadakan.

Di samping itu, kerja-kerja papan iklan boleh dilihat di sepanjang tepi jalan dan labu, diukir dalam gaya Thai yang indah, boleh didapati dalam bidang tempatan.

Beberapa karya menarik untuk dikongsi pandangan secara individu di mana kali ini karya seni instalasi, seni penyertaan dan seni video menjadi tarikan Yokohama Triennale 2011.

Seperti karya “Organi” oleh Massimo Bartolini sebuah arca pemasangan terdiri daripada perancah besi (scaffolding) dari tapak bangunan yang telah dipasang di dalam ruang pameran. Dari paip perancah, bunyian melodi seperti di gereja terhasil seperti organ muzik boleh didengar oleh pengunjung.

Mekanisma ini mewujudkan persekitaran yang sebelum ini tidak diketahui di mana tapak pembinaan, gereja dan muzium digabungkan dalam satu ruang.

Penggunaan bahan daripada alam semulajadi seperti pasir, tanah dan tumbuh–tumbuhan juga di bawa masuk ke dalam ruang kotak putih menerokai ruang pameran oleh beberapa orang seniman. Henrik Hakansson, seniman dari Sweeden menghasilkan karya “ Fallen Forest” di mana sekumpulan pelbagai jenis pokok di jatuhkan ke lantai dalam ruang pameran dan sebuah lagi karya bertajuk “Tree with Root” yang membawa isu–isu persekitaran dengan akar pokok digantungkan di bahagian syiling dan sebahagian tengah pokok memenuhi ruang tingkat dua dan bahagian pucuk pokok di ruang tingkat tiga.

Yokohama Triennale 2011, ini memberi pengalaman dan penerokaan baru merungkai tema pameran seperti “Our Magic Hour–How Much of The World Can We Know?”. Ia memberi inspirasi berhubung tema-tema magis sebegini dalam penghasilan karya bersifat kontemporari serta festival ini memberi sumbangan besar kepada perkembangan seni kontemporari dunia serta pertumbuhan ekonomi bagi negara yang menganjurkannya.

Rujukan : Yokohama Triennale 2011 Guidebook

‘RAJA’AH: Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa [from 1950’s – 2011]’ is a solo showcase of works by Sulaiman Esa, one of Malaysia’s most distinguished artists. This exhibition is meant to give the contemporary public an opportunity to review the shifts not only in forms but more importantly in processes, ideas and contexts that underscores each and every series of works created by Sulaiman Esa over a period of 50 years. This exhibition is divided into four main parts, the ‘London Era: Before and After’ (1950’s-70’s), ‘Towards a Mystical Reality’ (1974) with the late Redza Piyadsa, the ‘Insyirah’ segment (1980’-2000) and ‘The Endangered Garden’ (2011). Their chronological sequence is reflective of the apparent changes in the artist’s ideatic and formalistic tendencies. The term ‘Raja’ah’ means ‘return’, and specifically refers to man’s transition from his worldly and existential self to the spiritual and primordial nature.

Below are selected excerpts from his writings and an interview with the curator of the exhibition Nur Hanim Khairuddin.

“It is our belief that the strength of the Asian artist of the past (especially the Far Eastern artist) lay in his ability to view life and reality in terms of the meditative and the spiritual, The mystical attitude of the eastern artists with its "spiritual" rather than "intellectual" outlook certainly contrasts with the notion of "art for art's sake" that seems to be the fashion these days. Art in the Asian past was never meant to provide "intellectual entertainment but rather it aimed at a heightening of one's awareness of reality and helped bring about a spiritual and mystical communion with nature and the Universe itself.

The late Ismail Zain in his devastating attack on modern Malaysian artists, (10) considers their involvement essentially as cultural aberration and an anomaly. He linked the state of modern Malaysian art to that of “Ersatz”, namely the “state of being not quite what it is” –in other words, a state of cultural delusion. For him, the sense of inadequacy exhibited by many Malaysian artists concerning the complex philosophical and semiological structures” that shape and determine the various art movements renders their involvement with Western modern art movements, highly questionable!”

As such, there was no dichotomy between art and life. Again, that so many major western artists of the 20th century have in fact drawn their inspiration from the mystical philosophies of the east (e.g. John Cage, Yves-Klein, Ad Reinhardt, Tobey, Brecht) certainly indicates how necessary it is for Asian artists to reconsider their Asian heritage. The tendency amongst so many creative Asian artistes (be they artists, writers, poets, dramatists, or musicians) to go on functioning on the basis of a "western-centric" aesthetics and formalism whilst remaining oblivious of their own artistic and philosophical traditions is certainly indicative of a very sad state of affairs which prevails all over Asia today !” (pg 15) Towards a Mystical Reality (1974) a documentation of jointly initiated experiences by redza piyadasa and sulaiman esa.

The Manifestation of Islamic Spirit in Contemporary Malaysian Art (1993)

“The Rise of Modern Art and the Decline of Traditional Art. From the spiritual perspective, the rise of modern art evidenced the process of secularization and humanization which the psyche of Malay artists had undergone.

Hence, as argued elsewhere, the emergence and ascendency of modern Malaysian art movement such as Realism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Abstract-Expressionism, Constructivism and Conceptual art are but manifestations of Western cultural and intellectual colonization on Malaysian art scene. Unlike the traditional art, modern art is spiritually debilitating, sociologically alienating and psychologically corrupting. Rather than God-centric, modern art is decidedly man-centric. Instead of creating art for spiritual fulfillment of community or society, modern art is uniquely aimed at expressing the individualistic and idiosyncratic tendencies of an artist. Furthermore, instead of contributing towards the refinement of the artist’s soul, modern art oftentimes created intriguing characters who take pride in considering themselves as avant-garde, social rebels, and unique cultural heroes.

The irony of the Malaysian artists’ involvement with Western-centric art is that, intellectually and culturally, the artists exist in no man’s land.

“Apart from being spiritually debilitating, modern art is also self-consciously anti-social. Unlike the traditional society, modern art is not creating for the practical or spiritual needs of society instead it functions as vehicle for the expression of artists' individual feeling and ideas. It is the concept of ‘art-for-art's sake’ and not ‘art-for-society's sake’ that determines the rationale of modern art. Under the impact of formalist theories, art assumes the status of an independent, autonomous, self-referential entity.

This, inevitably further exacerbates the alienation between art and society.

The intelligibility and communicability of art suffer when it concerns itself primary with formalistic, aesthetic and plastic problems, and is impervious to the material, cultural and spiritual needs of the society. Unquestionably, it is the self-image, attitude and posture of the modern artists that betrays his essentially antagonistic relationship towards society. Nurtured by the romantic notion of his own uniqueness, the artist assumes various labels such as cultural hero, social rebel, genius, and "avant-garde". Even the lifestyle that he leads reflects his anti-establishment stance.

Living on the fringes of society, he usually leads the life of the bohemian, and an outsider, who is excessively ill-at-ease with the common people.”

Form and Soul:The Continuity of Tradition on Contemporary Malaysian Arts (1993)

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AND

“There were also Chomsky’s “Imperial Ambitions”, Zaiuddin Sardar’s

The violent, aggressive, beautiful, seductive, and destructive

“Barbaric Others,” Farish Noor’s “Terrorizing the Truth” and many

icons of the American psyche as expressed in their

other books that have unmasked the real truth of America’s sinister

Superheroes, Captain America, Batman, Catwoman,

and disquieting plan to rule the world! So, one should not read the

Madonna, the statue of Liberty with wings, symbolizing the

tragic incident of September 11 based on the superficial

angels of death and Darth Vader embodying dark evil forces,

interpretations of the AFP who accused Muslims as the evil forces

etc. as metaphorical elements in their pursuit to displace our

behind the catastrophe. This accusations of branding the Muslims as

spiritual beliefs be it Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or those

terrorists which ultimately led to Islamophobia, was actually part of

belonging to the indigenous societies of the country. In other

their Policy to ensure that Islam should be dealt with and eventually

words, ‘The Endangered Garden’ was to addressed

eliminated as what they have done to Russia. Thus all the horrific

God-fearing people, the Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to

tragedies inflicted in Muslim countries; killings, bombings of Iraq,

be weary of the subversive Western cultural hegemony and

Afghanistan, and Pakistan are manifestations of the Policy’s sinister

to not easily imbibe values that are detrimental to our

grand global ambitions. My anti AFP stunts started not with the

religious and cultural traditions”.

coming of Sept 11 but I have made my drawings as early as in ‘62 in London. I was involved with this student movement protest at the

[This interview between Sulaiman Esa and the

American Embassy because of the Vietnam War. We were a very

curator Nur Hanim Khairuddin was conducted on

radical group. In ‘68, I was in Paris, involved again in this Vietnam

June 12, 2011 in Shah Alam]

War protest and was even put in jail for one night because I was wrongly thought of as a rebel. In fact I was only taking photographs but the offshoot of it; I made a lot of drawings and painting of this experience. To me the metamorphosis is not new but it went back as early as in ‘62. So when I came back and did it again, but the “There are two resolutions proposed by the Congress which proved to be most propitious. First, to restore the role and status of Malay indigenous and traditional art forms and elements as vital component in the formation of Malaysian culture. Second, to sanctify Islam as crucial element in Malaysian cultural development.

intensity now is much greater because I was talking about Islam

That the national Congress was sponsored by the ruling government in its attempt to harness the power of culture in fostering unity and social integration among the multi-racial society of Malaysian, is a significant fact.

But what is equally important is the recognition given by the Malaysian government of the indispensible role which Islam in the life and culture of the people. Given the peripheral position relegated to Islam during the period of British colonization, the privileged position and recognition that it now achieved, augurs a greater role that Islam is to occupy in the decades that follow. In this context, the global phenomenon of Islamic resurgent in the 70’s was most propitious in that it provided the driving force that inevitably led to process of religious and spiritual revitalization in the lives of post-Independent Malaysians”.

So my work is trying to reverse the whole idea. You see, we are the

The Manifestation of Islamic Spirit in Contemporary Malaysia Art (1993)

against the AFP, about Islamophobia. Because of this false creation of a myth by the West, it had to be rightly addressed.

victims, not the aggressors.

Essentially, my ‘The Endangered Gardens’ series was simply a socio-political critic or comment about the hypocrisy, the double standards of the Policy in which I tried to visually interpret the global American cultural idealism as a threat to God-fearing peoples.

| Rahimidin Zahari Penggunaan bahantara cat air antara medium tertua dalam sejarah seni lukis. Tetapi di Malaysia lukisan cat air agak tersisih daripada sebarang bicara.

Ini menjadikan kolektor seni tidak berminat untuk membeli lukisan cat air sebagai himpunan koleksinya.

Lulusan universiti dalam negeri akan mencebih bibir apabila ada rakan-rakannya yang ingin meneruskan berkarya dengan menggunakan medium cat air.

Apatah lagi seniman perupa yang terdidik dalam tradisi Barat, biasanya akanlah lebih-lebih lagi mencemuhnya, seolah-olah dia sendiri sebagai pelancong Barat yang singgah bersiar-siar di Kuala Lumpur.

Semasa hayatnya, Rahime Harun melalui A.P. Art Gallery miliknya bersama Pusat Kebudayaan Universiti Malaya pernah menganjurkan pameran Ide Dan Kreativiti Melayu pada 13-27 Disember 1997. Dalam katalog pemeran tersebut, Rahime Harun menulis: “Jumlah koleksi lukisan cat air dalam koleksi BSLN sehingga 1992 ialah 215 karya sahaja, sungguhpun tradisi catan cat air mempunyai keaktifan yang tinggi.

Usaha untuk meningkat koleksi cat air telah diabaikan berbanding dengan media yang lain. Jika diperhitung dari rasio koleksi cat air, ia merupakan hanya 10 peratus dari jumlah koleksi BSLN. Koleksi pelukis cat air Melayu jelas amat sedikit dalam koleksi negara. Untuk pengetahuan umum, koleksi seni lukis oleh pelukis Melayu ialah 24 peratus daripada seluruhan koleksi BSLN, menurut kajian yang dilakukan pada tahun 1992.”

Tulisan Rahime Harun merujuk kepada kajian tahun 1992, sekarang sudah 2011 dan akan masuk 2012.

Barangkali hal itu sudah berubah. Lukisan cat air Melayu barangkali telah banyak berubah dan jumlah peratus pelukis Melayu pun telah banyak bertambah.

Moga-moga! Sayanglah kan, kalau pelukis cat air terbaik negara seperti Mansor Ghazalli, Mohd. Zain Idris dan Mokhtar Ishak tidak ada dalam koleksi negara. Seperti sedia maklum, Abdullah Ariff, A.B. Ibrahim, A.J.Rahman, Mansor Ghazalli dan Mohd Zain Idris semuanya sudah kembali ke alam arwah. Yang tinggal hanya karya-karya mereka.

Muzium Kedah pernah menerbitkan sebuah katalog pameran lukisan A.B. Ibrahim yang diadakan pada 5 Januari 1993. Menarik apabila hampir 100 buah karya A.B. Ibrahim seorang pelukis cat air Melayu yang bergantung hidup sepenuhnya pada lukisan karyanya berjaya dikumpulkan. Ismail Hj Salleh telah menuliskan esei pendek tentang A.B.Ibrahim dalam katalog pameran itu.

Walapun pendek tetapi banyak informasi yang perlu diketahui oleh peminat dan khalayak seni lukis Malaysia.

Tulisnya: “Balai Seni Negara mempunyai

12 buah karyanya dan Balai Seni Negeri Kedah mempunyai 9 buah”. Tetapi apabila saya meneliti Inventori Himpunan Tetap Warisan Seni Tampak Negara 1958-2003 (tanpa tahun terbit) jumlah koleksi A.B.Ibrahim yang terdapat dalam koleksi negara hanya empat buah sahaja dengan judul karya Kota Melaka(1952, cat minyak), Alam Benda(1953, cat minyak), Pemandangan(1940, cat air) dan Potrait Ibu Tua(1940, cat air). Lukisan Pemandangan kemudiannya diistiharkan sebagai Warisan Negara pada tahun 2009. Kalaulah benar tarikh 1940 terhasilnya Pemandangan dan Potrait Ibu Tua, A.B. Ibrahim menghasilkan dua karyanya yang menjadi koleksi negara ketika usianya baru 15 tahun. Ini mengambil kira tahun kelahirannya pada 1925.

Di sesawang tertentu terdapat tawaran harga karya lukisannya yang telah mencecah RM6000 untuk sebuah lukisan cat air bersaiz biasa.

Beberapa foto yang menawarkan karyanya di internet juga memaparkan beberapa karya yang ditiru daripada gayanya.

Kemudian daripada Haji Alias Mohd. Samah, dapat diketahui yang arwah bapanya merupakan penjual lukisan A.B. Ibrahim masih menyimpan karya-karya lama arwah. Daripada makluman Haji Alias, beliau telah menjualkan kesemua lukisan A.B. Ibrahim dalam simpanannya kepada BSLN dengan harga RM2,100 sebuah dengan jumlah 60 buah. BSLN mengambil semua sekali dengan meja tempat A.B. Ibrahim melukis termasuk berus dan pellet yang pernah digunakan oleh pelukis itu. BSLN telah mengambil tindakan yang tepat dengan memborong kesemua karya A.B. Ibrahim.

Selepas zaman Yong Mun Sen dan Abdullah Ariff, A.B. Ibrahim dan teman-temannya yang dikenali sebagai “Pelukis Tiga Serangkai” (A.B. Ibrahim, A.J. Rahman dan Saidin Yahaya) merupakan penerusan kepada seni lukis cat air pada zamannya. Menarik apabila mereka bertiga berjaya membuka

20/page

A.B. Ibrahim @ Ibrahim Abu Bakar / Potrait Ibu Tua / 1940/Cat air / 73 x 63 cm / Koleksi Himpunan Tetap Negara

"Warna Art Studio” pada 1 April 1946 di Pekan Rabu, Alor Setar. Dua adik A.B. Ibrahim, iaitu A.B. Hassan (yang juga menggunakan nama A. Aziz atas sebab-sebab tertentu) dan A.B. Kechik mengikuti jejak langkah abangnya melukis dengan menggunakan medium yang sama.

Karya cat air A.B. Ibrahim merakam suasana alam kampung, sawah padi, rumah beratap rumbia, tepi laut, kerbau di sawah dan pelbagai subjek yang tidak mungkin kita temui lagi hari ini. Karyanya telah menjadi perakam zaman yang akan kekal. Kita akan terpegun amat dengan rumah berlangsir merah di bawah redup pohonan kelapa. Sapuan cat air dibiarkan putih di dinding rumah yang terkena cahaya matahari. Begitu juga dengan batang kelapa yang dibiarkan dengan kertas putih yang asal. Di belakang rumah sepohon hijau yang merimbun meneduhkan pandangan. Tiga ekor ayam sedang mematuk-matuk mencari makan. Entahlah pula dengan lelaki berbaju merah yang mengandar jualan itu. Apalah dia sedang menuju ke halaman untuk menjualnya atau pun membawa pulang hasil dapatannya pada hari itu.

Langit pula dicat biru kekukingan lembut, jernih dan indah.

Di tangga depan yang tidak kelihatan, belum tentu tuan rumah akanmembeli hasil jualan.

Kita percaya dalam waktu terdekat karya-karya lukisan cat air A.B Ibrahim, A.J. Rahman dan teman-teman yang seangkatan dengannya yang manis dan syahdu itu akan menjadi buruan kolektor yang serius dan yang benar-benar memahami erti seni. Nostalgia silam seolah-olah hidup di dalam sejumlah karya mereka.

‘OMBAK BESAR’ 1950-1970 an, Cat air atas kertas, 38 x 28 cm

SHE knew every whorl of flowers, every blade of plants and herbs - the shape and textures of the leaves. She recognised the scent, even the bees and the birds that carried out the rites of nature in her garden. Even when weak, with her plodding gait, she would hobble around and tend to her garden with the same loving care and devotion she brought up her three children-one, a son (Richard), since dead.

Wong Siew Inn had sacrificed her love of art, which could well have been a career early on, but the warJapanese Occupation-and her concentration on raising her family took precedence. She was a nurse (from 1942 to 1948, more or less during the War years) and then a school-teacher. When she retired and her children were grown up, she went back to her “other love” with a vengeance. She even enlisted for the non-graduate course in Fine Arts (Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture) at the Universiti Sains Malaysia from 1988 to 1990.

Naturally, her main theme was flower paintings. Her still-lifes on “canvas”-she painted in watercolours and gouache-are an alternative garden from the one that she nurtured together with Nature. She had such green fingers that anything that scarcely remained of a few tendrils of roots would sprout merrily in her garden like a songfest. Her flowers are thus lively, vivacious even, fresh in colours and hues and with all the delicate lines or more robust bulbous supports, in an origami of stalks and leaves and amidst other flowers with different colours and patterns.

(1924-2011)

African Daisies, Calla Lilies, Gladiolis, Red Canna Lilies, White Lilies, Marigolds, Vanda Orchids, Heliconias, Dahlias, Gloxinias, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium, Vanda Hookeriana, Pidgeon Orchids, Sunflowers, Red Lilies, Purple Hibiscus, Hibiscus Mutabilis, Chrysanthemums, Magnolia, Green Anthuriums, Clitoria Ternatea (Blue Pea), the Changeable Rose Hibiscus (‘Pak Bor Hua’, in Hokkien), Purple Cattleya, Calla Lilies, Frangipanis, Peacock’s Pride, White Azaleas, Carnations, Caladiums, Spider Lilies (once done by her mentor Peter Harris in a surrealist watercolours ), Oncidium,Llileums, Baby’s Breath…, Madam Wong, as she was called, had painted them all, remembering their names-even scientific ones (occasionally, she was invited to write articles for gardening magazines), their colours and changes, the splotches and patterns, the pistils and stamens. On painting the Cheangeable Rose Hibiscus, she advised: “One has to be very quick in painting this, because of the colour changes of this flower which is related to the Bunga Raya but which originated from China.”

21/page

| Ooi Kok Chuen

“I seek solace in my garden of live bunga rayas and the visiting sunbirds,” she had told me once.

She put off a (right-eye) cataract operation until after her third 'Flower Power' show at the Penang State Art Gallery from May 15-27, 1999. Immediately after her eye operation, when she painted, she noticed that her Cannas Red and Yellow (1998) lacked the usual details. She credited Tan Gek Khean (Mrs Tay Hooi Keat, later Datin), for lighting the spark of her artistic inclinations, when she asked her to do bookmarks, at the Anglo-Chinese School (now Methodist Girls School) in 1938. She (Mrs Tay) was her Form 5 Literature teacher, and Madam Wong went on to do 100 bookmarks with drawings of flowers. Such was her zeal for art that being more headstrong than prudent, she went ahead to sit for her last paper on Art for her Senior Cambridge examination in Penang in 1941. War had broken out and the Japanese had swept the streets and burnt homes and buildings.

She realised how foolhardy she had been when she saw the carnage when cycling back from school along Kelawei Road, but luckily she got back to safety. After completing her studies, she taught at the Convent of Holy Infant Jesus in Kedah and later its Penang chapter, before teaching Art at the Sekolah Menengah Greenlane Convent until her re tirement in 1979.

She was among four women in a pioneer batch from Penang including Grace Selvanayagam selected by Peter Harris, then the Art Superintendent, to undergo a one-year course in art and crafts at the Specialists Teachers Training Institute in Kuala Lumpur in 1960.

Naturally, she joined the Wednesday Art Group founded by Peter Harris. Another person whom she credited for inspiring her directly was May Liang, the late wife of batik-art/watercolour maestro Tay MoLeong, now a Dato. She was also later inspired by the more sensuous flower paintings of Georgia O’Keefe.

Fong Chee Kway, her husband who is two years older than her, observed and commented when I visited her in her house about a year ago (but she was admitted to hospital for a heart ailment): “There are more contrast in her works, and yet they appear

so harmonious.” He said that although she could not paint for sometime then, she had had a bout of painting frenzy for about three months. Perhaps what struck people most about Madam Wong was not so much her paintings, good as they are, as her passion and spirit which was infectious and even child-like. Hers was an impulse that was pure in mind and heart. She would take trips on buses and once even on train to Kuala Lumpur, to see art exhibitions which she happened to learn about from the daily newspapers, despite her feeble condition, and this “sudden” habit of hers would get May-li, her daughter in Kuala Lumpur, greatly agitated. GaleriCitra assistant Ivy Chua remembered her: “She used to travel by bus to KL just to attend exhibitions by GaleriCitra and other galleries. Within that tiny frame of hers burns a fierce flame of self-determination and dedication to her craft. I salute her feisty spirit.”

Although she put up her works every now and then and joined group exhibitions such as women’s-only exhibitions and the Penang Teachers’ Art Circle’s since 1965, it was not until July 1993 that she held her first solo, at the Conservatory of Fine Arts (Artville), called Flower Power. This was followed by another in September that year, at the National Art Gallery’s Creative Centre, which was officiated by Datin Seri Endon Dato Mahmood, wife of the then Finance Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, now Tun. Madam Wong had also held joint shows with her friends Grace Choon Ai May (at the Alliance Francaise) and Oon Suan See (1991).

According to her second son, Michael Fong, Madam Wong had survived a heart operation but her other organs could not hold out, and she died peacefully.

Like life, flowers are ephemeral. Here today and gone tomorrow, leaving only the scent of their presence. Madam Wong took a maternal instinct to the things she grew in her garden. She would even get worried when a particular bird didn’t patronise her garden anymore. “I like flowers, even weeds and wild flowers. I like growing plants and trees and watching them grow. I try to record their beauty, and my joy in them forever.” Like her flowers, the sweet scent of her passion for her art and her art itself, will remain forever in her paintings. R.I.P., Madam Wong!

Wong Siew Inn was born in Penang on Sept 27, 1924 and died on Aug 3, 2011.

'Untitled'

Question: "When is art not valued for it’s aesthetic beauty, technical prowess, photo realism or political message, not an investment opportunity or statement of affluence, not decorative, designed to communicate concepts or to sell something to a wider audience and is created for only limited private viewing?"

Answer: When it is art therapy.

Almost everyone would agree that the process of art making can feel therapeutic, but fewer understand that how we feel while we are making art is only a small part of the therapy. Within an art therapy session there are many things going on simultaneously that combine to create a therapeutic relationship between client, therapist and images.

22/page

The classical idea of traditional psychotherapist and client (often depicted lying on a couch) is often a summary of common knowledge in our region about psychotherapy. While most people with no personal experience of therapy feel unfamiliarity from this subject, some treat it with frank suspicion and others undergo a process of distancing themselves further from a subject they are uncomfortable about by joking about it.

So let’s demystify things a little.

I’m sure that if you are reading Senikini you are already somewhere on a scale between ‘I am comfortable with’ and ‘ I have expertise in’ understanding the many languages of art. Now apply this knowledge and understanding to the fact that 80% of our thinking is actually unconscious but can be expressed succinctly through art making. Then add to this, the knowledge that most of us struggle from time to time with personal emotional issues and the opportunity that art offers us to understand these from a conscious and unconscious level at the same time. The final ingredient is the trained art therapist who knows how to help people work sensitively with all of this material, make sense of it and move forward. The end result is a more holistic and insightful view of any internal struggle.

'Shock'

'SL faces'

Art therapy is not about creating images, as much as finding ways to express what is inside us, and exploring this once it becomes externalized. Hence it’s not about making figurative images to depict a story, but expressing the feelings evoked by it. The therapy takes place in both the process and the product. Although working directly with a therapist, there is an inherent privacy within art therapy, as the feelings are contained in the image

'Shadow people'

'Pulsing'

| Hazel mcclure

and not necessarily spoken about. An art therapist helps clients express and work through these feelings in a way that often helps them feel less vulnerable than direct discussion. Modern knowledge of how emotions are processed in our right hemisphere, while the left is more language driven, helps us appreciate the fluency of visual arts in depicting feelings. Art is simply a more powerful language than words. For this reason images created in art therapy sessions are private and seldom appropriate for display. They contain intensely personal feelings that in many cases the client prefers to leave behind with the therapist.

Art therapy can be appropriate for almost anyone who wishes to work through personal issues. It is regularly used professionally in health, education and social work settings with many different client groups to address a range of varied needs. Examples of this might be helping someone find acceptance following bereavement, recover from a traumatic experience, or work through feelings of anger or betrayal after a divorce. While it is an effective therapy for adults, it has additional appeal for children to whom playing and creating comes very naturally. But you don’t have to

have a problem to work with an art therapist. It can also be used as a personal development process for those who want to know themselves better, or find ways of changing patterns in their lives. Companies for example, use art therapists to run professional development training workshops and interpersonal skills sessions with groups of employees.

Art Therapist and Art Psychotherapist (interchangeable terms) are protected job titles in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand. That means that legally only those who are professionally trained and registered (or licensed) can state this as their job title. Training to become an art psychotherapist is a two year masters degree level programme and is a mix of therapeutic theory (psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy), understanding of the deeply personal process involved in our own image making and the knowledge of how to apply this to help others.

Applicants usually apply for art therapy training with either a visual arts first degree or through working in a psychological profession and having a personal interest or experience with art.

Further Information about art psychotherapy : Professional Art therapy Organisations British Association of Art Therapists www.baat.org.

Australia and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association www.anzata.org American Art Therapy Association www.aata.org Art therapy Association of Singapore www.atas.org.sg Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists www.hk-hkaat.org Training courses Singapore: http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/index.php/programmes/master-of-arts/art-therapy Bangkok: http://www.art4human.com/bcsat.html For training courses further afield please refer to information on the appropriate professional organizations listed above.

Centre for Creative Arts Therapies, Penang www.creativeartstherapy.org.my

'Make it stop!'

However, the profession is newly developing in Asia so students are currently entering training from a wider range of backgrounds. Post qualification, in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, additional registration or licensure with the appropriate professional body is then required, to ensure that therapists are adequately trained and working to approved standards. This helps prevent confusion with other related professions such as community arts workers or artists in residence and helps to reassure potential clients that they are working with someone who is an approved practitioner.

In Malaysia, the closest masters training course in art psychotherapy is in Singapore and there is a second course soon to start in Bangkok. There is also a newly opened Centre for Creative Arts Therapies in Penang, which runs introductory courses to creative arts therapies, and some other local organisations run short courses from time to time.

To date there have been only two batches of art therapy graduates from the Singapore training course, but there are also other graduates trickling back home from training overseas. Interest in the subject is growing steadily in our region, as we come to realize the value of accessing our unconscious world through creativity and perceived stigmas attached to seeking psychological support services are being replaced by understanding. These days a whole battery of art materials is replacing the traditional psychotherapist’s couch.

Hazel is a state registered art therapist (UK, 1990), trainer, consultant, counsellor and teacher. She works in an international school in KL and also writes, undertakes research in the visual images of third culture children and does art therapy training work for NGOs around SE Asia. She can be contacted through surfaceintervalcreativearts@gmail.com

24/page | tan see ling

I was fortunate to be selected as an art educator to this year’s Art for All 2011 which was held in Thailand from 14July-18July. Our team from Malaysia includes curator Hui Koon from the National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) young artist Damien Wong and his mother Nora Tan. Upon our arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, we were welcomed by Ms Borimas Srikhajon from the International Relations Ministry of Culture, Thailand. This year eight Asean countries were invited to this memorable event, namely Brunei Darussalam, India, Japan, Lao, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.

The opening ceremony was held on the 14th July at the United Nation Conference Centre in Bangkok. I was surprised to witness such a grand ceremony with so many children and youth gathered together at the main hall.

All of them came from different provinces of Thailand. This event was held annually to unite the disabled and normal children and youth through art.

Prof.Dr.Channarong Pornrungroj was the founder of the art foundation in1999. This year marked his 15th year of passion, dedication and contribution to this project. The event was successfully supported by The Crown Property Bureau Foundation, Government Savings Bank, Ministry of Culture, Government of Thailand, Ministry of Education, Government of Thailand and Tri Petch Isuzu Sales Company Limited.

The opening ceremony was very spiritual, all the international delegates were seated in front to participate in the chanting of Buddhist hymn during the opening. Nun Sansanee Sateerasut was one of the special speaker on that day to share about spiritual teachings to young children and youth. It was a very heart warming ceremony when we were asked to sing along with the meditation song screened during the opening.

We were also introduced to Bai Sri ceremony which is a traditional ceremony performed on special occasions such as birth, wedding and welcoming new people. All participants were blessed wih white strings tied a around the wrist to have “khwan” or “high spirit” before we embarked our journey to the campsite at Wangree Resort in Nakhon Nayok Province.

Orientation and introduction for each children and youth were held the first night when we arrived at the campsite. After a cold dinner, we were gathered at the main hall where all the children came in their pajamas. During the 5-day camp, children and youths were asked to practice mindfulness in their words and actions. A short study class was given by Prof.Channarong Pornrungroj.

I was amazed to see his dedication and his deep passion in this event.

The art activities at the camp site was on the 15th to 18th July. After a brief introduction from all the international delegates, we were invited for a guided tour by a few English speaking officers from the Ministry of Culture to the campsite. All the children and youth were divided into small groups each day to participate in the art activities.

The team from Malaysia did doll installation using natural and used materials to enhance the beauty of all the works done by some children who came to participate in the workshop. Delegates from Japan presented the art of wrapping with scarf while delegates from Vietnam and the Philippines did performing arts with a small group of disabled youth.

We had a good exposure with some Thai artists and art educators during a group workshop.There was a sharing session with an Australian participant in relation to western and eastern art cultures and also an interesting art therapy session with Mr Mairom Thamachati-Asoka.

Some interesting works that caught my attention were clay works by children, candle sculpturing, drawing on carbon canvas heated by candle, feet stamping art, foot and mouth painting and exploring the darkroom.

Delegates from every country have to present ideas for the art activities.

Malaysia and Brunei teamed up for a recycling workshop. Young artists from Brunei conducted a brief session on paper rolling for constructing paper houses.

In conclusion, the camp was an eye opener for me.

Not so much of seeing new art or good art but the process of making art that made the experience with them wonderful.

Nevertheless, Art for All has inspired all of us and i hope that Malaysia can be a host one day. With my dedication in nurturing special children through art, I am really looked forward to seeing more changes in the art scene especially for artists with disabilities. In Art there is NO INABILITY. Tan See Ling Artist, Art Educator to special needs Thumb Art Tutti Art Club www.thumbartstudio.com www.tuttiartclub.blogspot.com

Pertemuan petang itu amat santai dengan suasana yang amat tenang, setenang ruang galeri di singgahsana milik pelukis tersohor tanah air iaitu Yusof Ghani (Pak Yusof). Ditemani rakan sekerja saudara Ahmat Jafri Sharif dan jurufoto saudari Intan, penulis berpeluang menemubual pelukis yang tidak asing bagi graduan dan juga bakal graduan jurusan Seni Halus, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) juga bagi penggemar siri ‘Tari’, siri ‘Wajah’, siri ‘Wayang’, ‘Segerak’ dan yang terkini siri ‘Taman 2011’. Yusof Ghani satu nama yang penulis kira kekal relevan berdekad lamanya. Keterujaan menemubual beliau membuatkan penulis melakukan kajian demi kajian mengenai beliau sebagai persediaan bertatap mata dengan pelukis yang terkenal dengan kritikan-kritikan sosial yang tajam dalam mengheret pelbagai isu kemasyarakatan dan kesedaran terhadap dunia seni dalam karya beliau. Ini memandangkan penulis biarpun pernah bertemu namun tidak pernah berbual dengan lebih lanjut memandangkan reputasi yang dibina oleh beliau seakan langit dan bumi pada perkiraan penulis.

Dilahirkan pada 29 November 1950 di Pontian Johor, anak kepada seorang pegawai kerajaan dan suri rumah sepenuh masa ini mempunyai sebelas orang adik beradik. Beliau mendapat pendidikan awal di Sekolah Rendah Tengku Mahmud Iskandar. Minat kepada seni lukisan bermula apabila beliau berpeluang menonton wayang dan dari situ terhasil lakaran-lakaran babak yang dilakonkan seperti kata beliau;

27/page | Zuriyadi Sarpin

“Saya suka menonton wayang, apabila pulang ke rumah saya akan melukiskan kembali babak-babak lakonan tersebut secara ‘storyboard’ dan akan tunjukkan kepada rakan-rakan”, - Yusof Ghani.

Beliau juga melibatkan diri secara aktif dengan persatuan seni dan sering dipilih untuk melukis mural di sekolahnya dan ini menjadikan minat beliau dalam seni lukis semakin bercambah.

Penulis tidak berhajat menulis panjang lebar mengenai latar belakang pendidikan beliau namun keinginan beliau untuk terus berjaya mampu menjadi panduan kepada generasi baru. Apa yang mengagumkan adalah, bagaimana beliau mencorak masa hadapan dan bergelut dalam keadaan di mana pembudayaan dan kesedaran masyarakat terhadap dunia seni merupakan satu mimpi yang tidak pasti namun beliau yang juga pernah menjadi pelukis jalanan bersama-sama pelukis terkenal Raja Azhar begitu optimis akan masa depan dunia seni visual Malaysia. Beliau merasakan penerokaan terhadap dunia seni visual tanah air adalah suatu proses jangka masa panjang dan tidak akan tercapai dalam tempoh puluhan tahun ini. Proses ini harus berterusan dan yang paling utama pengkarya/perupa harus terus berusaha menghasilkan karya-karya yang terbaik.

Pak Yusof yang pernah dikenali sebagai pereka grafik dan juga pelukis ilustrasi terus bergerak maju kehadapan apabila menerima biasiswa dari George Mason University di Virginia, U.S.A dalam bidang Seni Grafik pada usia 29 tahun dan beliau tidak menunggu lama untuk berkarya apabila minat yang mendalam dalam bidang seni halus menyebabkan beliau mengambil subjek lukisan sebagai subjek elektif. Disitulah boleh disifatkan sebagai kejayaan/ platform beliau dalam menerokai dunia seni visual apabila menyertai pameran ‘Seni Antarabangsa’ anjuran Art Barn Gallery di Washington dan beliau telah menerima biasiswa Dr. Burt Amanda sebagai penghargaan terhadap karya yang luar biasa dihasilkan oleh beliau. Ini menyebabkan penulis teringat perbualan ringkas bersama saudara U-Wei Hj Saari ketika pameran “Wayang U-Wei Angkat Saksi” iaitu pameran pertama beliau yang menggabung elemen filem dan seni visual dengan beberapa pelukis tanah air yang baru sahaja berlangsung di galeri 3A & 3B di Balai Seni Visual Negara. Penulis bertanyakan apa lagi yang diperlukan oleh setiap pengkarya Malaysia tidak kira dibidang pengarahan filem atau seni visual agar setiap karya mereka mempunyai roh dan jiwa yang tinggi di mana setiap karya yang terhasil mampu memberi kesan dan ingatan yang dalam terhadap penonton, pengunjung mahupun pencinta seni. “Kau nak tau apa..?

Exposure…!” katanya. Ringkas tepat dan padat dalam merangkumi persoalan penulis lantas membuatkan penulis tersenyum. Ya, pendedahan sedari awal sangat perlu kepada semua pengkarya bukan hanya terkongkong di dalam alasan ciptaan sendiri.

Kata-kata itu menggambarkan perjuangan pelukis tersohor tanah air ini. Pertemuan dengan beliau secara peribadi menjadikan mutiara kata bahawa ‘pengalaman itu mendewasakan’ amat bertepatan sekali untuk penulis gambarkan siapakah gerangan Yusof Ghani. Banyak yang dikupas oleh beliau mengenai harapan dan kecintaan beliau terhadap dunia seni ini terutama di Malaysia. Peredaran masa tidak menjadikan beliau lupa Maha Pencipta apabila beliau sentiasa mengingatkan penulis bahawa disiplin manusia telah Allah bentuk sedari dulu, solat 5 waktu yang diwajibkan keatas umat Islam harus dilihat sebagai cara Allah mendisiplinkan manusia. “Tentu ada sebabnya… “ ujar beliau lagi.

Berbalik kepada permulaan perjalanan karier beliau, impak yang paling berkesan ialah apabila beliau menyertai pelukis-pelukis muda yang radikal dan menyertai pameran secara berkumpulan iaitu "American Intervention in Nicaragua & El Salvador" di Gallerie Intae di Washington, Amerika Syarikat. Gambaran karya beliau sebagai medan kritikan sosial yang sangat tajam terhadap tindakan-tindakan sosial masyarakat pada ketika itu. Kritikan itu bertujuan menyedarkan masyarakat bahawa setiap tindakan yang diambil haruslah diteliti dan tepat agar ianya tidak menimbulkan kesan yang tidak baik akhirnya. Lantas dari itu lahirlah pameran solo yang pertama oleh beliau berjudul "Protest" pada 27 Julai 1984 di Anton Gallery, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. Penulis berpendapat itu merupakan satu lagi kejayaan bagi Malaysia kerana pada tahun itu 1984, seorang anak Malaysia telah berjaya mengadakan pameran solo di sana.

Menjadikan William De Kooning dan Henry Matisse sebagai rujukan, pelukis aliran abstrak ekspressionis ini terus mengorak langkah dengan menghasilkan beberapa siri lukisan seperti siri ‘Tari’, siri ‘Topeng’, siri ‘Wayang’, ‘Segerak’, ‘Biring’, ‘Wajah’dan siri ‘Hijau’ sepanjang hampir 30 tahun beliau berkarya. Pameran solo terkini beliau adalah pameran ‘Taman 2011’ yang bertempat di galeri seni PUNCAK di Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam. ‘Taman 2011’ merupakan rentetan pengalaman dan kenangan beliau ketika berada di Amerika Syarikat dan juga negara Eropah lain. Bersekali dengan pameran ini Yusof Ghani turut menampilkan karya-karya yang pernah menggegar dunia seni visual satu ketika dahulu dan juga karya simpanan peribadi yang tidak pernah dipamerkan kepada khalayak.

Menceritakan perkembangan terkini pelukis ini, beliau telah pun membina sebuah galeri seni yang diberi nama ‘Tapak Yusof Ghani’ di Seksyen 8, Shah Alam, Selangor. Ini merupakan satu lagi sumbangan beliau kepada komuniti setempat. Galeri yang dibina ini boleh dilawati secara percuma dan beroperasi seperti galerigaleri lain. Beliau turut mengadakan kelas seni bagi mereka yang berminat bermula dari pukul 9.00 malam – 1.00 pagi. Kelas seni ini turut disertai oleh golongan profesional seperti Arkitek, Peguam, Pensyarah dan sebagainya yang ingin mendalami seni visual dengan lebih lanjut. Galeri yang menempatkan 120 karya koleksi peribadi beliau, juga turut menyimpan karya-karya dari pelukis terkenal tanah air seperti, Ibrahim Hussien, Latiff Mohidin, Awang Damit, Sulaiman Esa, Ramlan Abdullah, Raja Azhar Ahmad Idris dan lain-lain pelukis lagi. Satu-satunya pameran solo yang pernah diadakan di galeri ini adalah pada tahun 2005 adalah pameran ‘Segerak 2’ iaitu satu lagi siri pameran solo beliau.

Tapak Yusof Ghani ini terbahagi kepada 3 iaitu ruang pameran, studio pelukis dan tempat tinggal. Ruang hadapan tingkat bawah dijadikan galeri/ruang pameran yang menempatkan karya beliau, juga sebagai ruang menerima kunjungan manakala bahagian belakangnya sebagai kediaman. Tingkat dua pula dijadikan ruang perbincangan di antara pelukis dan juga penyelidikan bagi mereka yang ingin melakukan kajian lukisan. Terdapat juga satu ruang tamu yang dihiasi rak buku dengan pelbagai buku yang digunakan oleh beliau sebagai sumber rujukan.

Tingkat paling atas pula digunakan oleh beliau untuk menempatkan karya-karya pelukis tanah air yang telah dikumpul oleh beliau sejak awal 90-an.

Karya-karya didalam himpunan beliau yang pada perkiraan penulis merupakan himpunan karya yang hebat.

Galeri beliau ini persis galeri sebenar seperti milik organisasi lain, di sini jugalah beliau membawa rakan dan jiran tetangga bagi menyemai kesedaran dunia seni dalam minda mereka. Seperti kata beliau “Kadang-kadang saya juga membawa rakan surau ke sini bagi mereka memahami dunia seorang pelukis dan mengharapkan kesedaran ini menjadikan mereka lebih arif tentang seni lukis”, ujarnya. Pada masa ini juga beliau menyatakan kepada penulis empat prinsip berkenaan isu-isu yang bagi beliau harus ada dalam setiap penghasilan karya agar karya tersebut mendapat ‘jiwa’.

Atas kesedaran itu, kini beliau sedang membina sebuah lagi galeri seni yang terletak ditepi jalan utama di ruang belakang Tapak Yusof Ghani.

Beliau telah membeli sebidang tanah bagi tujuan itu. Galeri setinggi dua tingkat ini bertujuan untuk mempamerkan koleksi-koleksi simpanan beliau dan juga memberi ruang dan peluang kepada manamana pelukis yang ingin mengadakan pameran seni secara solo atau berkumpulan. Hakikat tujuan beliau hanya satu, dengan sokongan yang beliau terima dari masyarakat, beliau ingin kembalikan semula ‘hak’ ini kepada masyarakat dan beliau ingin berkongsi kepada khalayak akan keindahan seni visual. Semoga ini mampu memberi kesedaran kepada masyarakat mengenai dunia seni lukis di Malaysia. Sebagai permulaannya, beliau ingin mengadakan pameran retrospektif sebagai tanda pembukaan galeri tersebut.

Apa lagi yang harus penulis katakan apabila menterjemah perupa ini dalam konteks penulisan kecil sebegini? Semuanya telah dilakukan, sokongan dorongan, cemuhan, kritikan, cabaran dan kejayaan telah beliau lalui. Namun penulis percaya seseorang perupa tidak boleh terus dibiarkan selesa, perupa, pengkarya dan pelukis harus terus dicabar bagi menghasilkan karya hebat, perlu terus dikritik dalam konteks pembudayaan ilmu, dipuji seminima mungkin dan harus terus disokong setiap karyanya kerana seni itu merupakan nadi bangsa, seni itu merupakan penceritaan terhadap ketamadunan sebuah bangsa yang berjaya.

Protest Series Hydrogen Man / Mixed media on canvas / 66 x 50 cm / 1983

“Kita harus ada empat perkara ini dalam menghasilkan karya dan karya kita tidak akan lari paksinya, yang pertama sosial, cultural, spiritual dan mistikal”. – Yusof Ghani.

Apa yang menarik adalah kesungguhan beliau dalam mewujudkan kesedaran dunia seni visual terhadap masyarakat, kesungguhan beliau untuk jatuh dan bangun di dalam arena ini harus diberikan pujian, pengalaman benar-benar mendewasakan beliau.

Kita letak dahulu soal lain dalam sisi karya-karya Yusof Ghani, ada yang mempertikai karya-karya beliau, tidak kurang juga yang mencemuh namun bagi beliau ini semua sebagai satu pengalaman yang menyeronokkan. Namun nilai yang harus dipuji adalah bagaimana beliau sebagai pelukis ‘memasarkan’ diri beliau agar terus dikenali dan karya beliau terus dinanti oleh pencinta-pencinta seni visual. Dalam keadaan karyawan tempatan yang terus berjuang dan masih mencari sinar beliau terus bangkit dan maju terus dalam menghasilkan karya-karya terbaik beliau. Beliau harus berdepan realiti yang nasib seseorang bukan ditentukan oleh orang lain namun beliau percaya nasib itu boleh diubah hanya dengan USAHA. Beliau harus terus bangun dan mengejutkan masyarakat luar tentang pentingnya nilai budaya ini, seni dan budaya saling berkait, seni mampu menceritakan apa sahaja sesuai dengan tugasan lain beliau sebagai pensyarah seni di Universiti Teknologi MARA ini.

Memetik kata-kata Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin, seorang kurator bebas dalam buku Persoalan Seni Rupa Sezaman sebagai berkata “Mutakhir ini kita kerap dicanang dengan konsep ‘independen’ dalam konteks seni di Malaysia. Seniman muda digalakkan untuk menjunjung sikap mandiri, melakukan sendiri tugas-tugas asas untuk mengangkat karya masingmasing tanpa perlu senantiasa bergantung kepada badan-badan besar yang ditubuh khas untuk tujuan tersebut, untuk mengelakkan diri daripada kongkongan-kongkongan garis panduan rasmi yang telah termaktub. Ini akan memberi lebih ruang dan kepuasan kepada seniman untuk menghasilkan karya secara jujur mengikut visi dan target personal mereka lantas dapat mengundang respons perdebatan atau wacana yang lebih bermakna”.

Yusof Ghani harus dilihat dalam konteks kejayaan beliau meletakkan diri di dalam persaingan dunia seni lukis moden Malaysia yang serba kompetitif. Semoga karya beliau dapat terus kita nikmati pada masa akan datang mungkin dengan nafas yang lebih baru sekaligus mencabar tahap intelektual masyarakat Malaysia, lebih menggerunkan dan mampu mencetus polemik hangat dikalangan pencinta seni.

Diharapkan rentetan perjalanan beliau ini dapat dijadikan dorongan sebagai pembakar semangat jiwa perupa muda Malaysia dan penulisan ini akan terus mampu menzahirkan rasa cinta terhadap seni.

“In art... you cannot cheat, because art is visual….”

Kata beliau mengakhiri perbualan kami.

Rujukan: - “WAJAH”, Yusof Ghani 2010. published by TAPAK - Katalog SEGERAK – One Movement 1 Malaysia.

- Katalog Yusof Ghani, Taman 2011.

- PERSOALAN SENI RUPA SEZAMAN?, Contemporary Visual Art Discourse: vignettes by Malaysian artist/ editor Raja Ahmad Aminullah, Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin. ISBN 983-101-056-6.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusof_Ghani.

- http://www.yusofghani.com - http://seni-lukis.blogspot.com/2005/05/rumah-itu-galeri-dunia-seniku.html - http://risalahproseni.blogspot.com/2009/06/menatap-buku-yusof-ghani- http://malaysian-artist.blogspot.com/2005/05/yusuf-ghani.html

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| rina shukor

relation between the two. It is a meeting ground of of both the inner and outer worlds.

Art as therapy is a form of treatment which could be traced back to ancient times. It played a role in health and symbolic expression. From Egyptian hieroglyphics, it was discovered that people often use objects and visuals of animals and birds as intervention in mental health. Another example are scripts from the Sumerians and the Mayan cultures, called logograms, were primitive elements for magical, spiritual, protection purposes and as a daily journal.

A recent scientific research officially declared how images influenced emotions, thoughts and well-being. This is a process of how the brain and body reacts through drawings and paintings. Science has found connections between emotions and health, stress, disease and the immune system. Therefore, art therapy is to discover the use of imagery and art expression in treatment.

In the field of education, art therapy is a way to express emotion through creativity in expressing inner feelings and emotion. Art therapists were to help in analyzing factors such as attitudes, emotion,

My current project, which uses the art therapy approach is aimed towards adult hardcore drug abusers and addiction to help them change to a new lifestyle that does not include compulsive abuse of chemicals and the change of behavior requires both time and commitment. The purpose of the treatment is not to push the addicts into de-escalation but rather to bring about a profound shift in beliefs and behavior in which the addiction loses its power.

Through contemporary cultures and societies, art has been used symbolically to cure illness, which brought physical and psychological relief. For example, as evidenced in the culture of the Navajo Indian inthe United States, who combined songs, dance, and sand paintings in some specific element of patterns.

Further, sand painting in the form of Mandalas act as a focus of prayers that were used by the Tibetans intended for healing and relief from suffering.

Art therapy was been inspired by Sigmund Freud a psychologist & philosopher, who claimed that psychological disorders are the results of conflicts in early childhood which the individual is unaware of. Impulses and emotions involved that have been repressed unconsciously results in conflicts between the aggressive and sexual impulses. The techniques of psychoanalysis were modified into more flexible and less stressful to reconstruct the patient’s childhood experiences during therapeutic process.

Freud clarified that psychoanalysis is a form of psychotherapy-which combines other theories and techniques that now are now widely used by the group therapists, counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists- acts as a bridge to access deeper levels of understanding in manipulating between mind and body.

Carl Jung,a former follower of Freud and founder of Analytical Psychology said : “Expressive therapy is a form of therapy which uses artistic expression and divided into different discipline and approaches such as dance therapy, drama therapy, art therapy and music therapy” Therapy is a process designed to help changes in personality or in daily life while art is a means to discovering both the self and world in establishing a

Each group that I’ve worked with have developed an intervention towards mind – body and brain co-ordination through the art process. Clients are able to create their own images, ideas and problem- solving in their art production. Working with autistic children using art is a long-term process due to their lack of eye coordination and motor skills. However, autistic children are more creatively expressive than normal children in making their art pieces. Working with the disabled using art often stretches one’s creativity and imagination because one has to think of how to make the end results achievable. In art therapy sessions with autistic children, one must pay particular attention to the art making process in order to address deficits in communication and imagination. This helps the children collaborate with the art therapist in making symbols, icons and visual arts. Children with HIV, psychologically abused, social withdrawal, refusing to go to schools, anxiety disorders, social phobias are even more challenging. They are capable of communicating through drawing and storytelling.

As demonstrated with case materials, children with these disorders frequently reveal themes of death, destruction and rebirth.

environment, behaviors and social relationships.

Zeki (1999) has used new method in brain imaging, the process of forming memories from motor, visual and “somatosensory” information whose relationship is created between the process of art expression and brain function using art media through stimulation.

According to Barbara Granim, “When we use art to express our pain, we are accessing that through body – mind’s inner language of imagery instead of using words”. (2004) In lighter terms, art therapy can be described as a process of therapeutic and diagnostic means of understanding people’s emotion through art activities instead of words.

These days, art therapy is a new media to detect social skills, motor skills, expression, inner self-emotion and artistic skills through art making activities towards a variety groups of people namely people with disorders, physical disabilities, cancer patients, hardcore drug abusers, severe mental disorders, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), sexually abused children and etc.

Art making may stimulate a similar experience and provide experiences that soothes and heals the self.

The process of “art therapy has a unique and specific potential relative to self-healing of the way art affects the brain.” (Tinnin, 1994). As an addition, researches in neuroscience continues to provide an ever-widening understanding of how the brain and body reacts to stress, illness and other events. The ability to capture through visual imagery the internal world of feelings, sensations, perceptions, and cognition makes the art therapy approach a unique, creative and effective way to work with clients of all ages.

To Create, To Communicate, To Connect

Artis di lobi BSVN

Osman Akhbar (Fulltime Artist / Art Consultant) -Water color landscape and Kampung Houses.

019-3698 486 Email:osmanakbarlong@yahoo.com

Umi Natasha (Fulltime Artist / Art Consultant) -Batik, Sculpture 016-3766181 Email:Uminatasha@yahoo.com

BSVN

SANA SINI PELANCARAN AKTA BALAI SENI VISUAL NEGARA Lobi Aras 1, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN) 25 September 2011

Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim hari ini telah merasmikan Majlis Pelancaran Akta Lembaga Pembangunan Seni Visual Negara 2011 (Akta 724) yang membawa kepada penukaran nama dari Balai Seni Lukis Negara (BSLN) kepada Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN). Majlis tersebut juga telah dihadiri oleh Timbalan Menteri, Ketua Setiausaha dan Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha serta wakil-wakil agensi KPKK selain rakan-rakan korporat dan media yang turut sama menyaksikan pelancaran yang bersejarah bagi Balai Seni Visual Negara.

PELANCARAN SETEM KHAZANAH SENI VISUAL NEGARA-SIRI II

Lobi Aras 1, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN) 25 September 2011 BSVN dengan kerjasama Pos Malaysia turut melancarkan setem Khazanah Seni Visual Negara-Siri II, di mana Pos Malaysia telah mengeluarkan 3 jenis setem yang bertemakan perjuangan kemerdekaan sempena sambutan kemerdekaan Malaysia ke 54 pada tahun ini. Setem-setem tersebut mempamerkan karya tiga orang pelukis pelopor negara iaitu Datuk Mohd Hoessein Enas, Encik Nik Zainal Abidin Nik Salleh, dan Encik Anthony Lau. Pelukis-pelukis ini terkenal dengan kajian bahan dan olahan reka bentuk yang penuh estetika. Kaitan karya ini dengan tema perjuangan adalah berdasarkan idealisme pelukis terhadap budaya, persekitaran dan kelestarian kehidupan.

PAMERAN SENI LI CHI MAO ‘JOY OF LIVING'

Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual (2) di Balai Seni Visual Negara Balai Seni Visual Negara sekali lagi telah mengadakan Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual (2) berikutan sambutan dan permintaan yang menggalakkan dari bengkel-bengkel yang lalu. Bengkel ini telah berlangsung pada 15 Oktober sehingga 20 November 2011 selama 5 sesi, setiap sabtu dan ahad yang melibatkan Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual khususnya bagi pelajar sekolah rendah dan pelajar sekolah menengah.

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Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual bagi pelajar sekolah rendah telah dibimbing oleh tenaga pengajar muda , Saudara Hirzaq Harris yang juga merupakan seorang pelukis sepenuh masa.

Setiap peserta diketengahkan dengan pelbagai teknik dan penggunaan medium dalam menghasilkan sesuatu hasil seni.

Antaranya catan,corak kolaj, stensil, rekaan dan seni kraf.

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Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual bagi pelajar sekolah menengah pula telah diberi tunjuk ajar oleh seorang pelukis muda , Saudara Ali Azraei Bebit. Di sini, peserta diberi pendedahan berkaitan pengenalan asas seni visual, perspektif, lanskap permandangan, lukisan alam benda (still life), dan merekacipta “miniature”.

Lobi Aras 1, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN) 25 September 2011-09-22 25 September–27 November 2011 Galeri 2B, BSVN

MAJLIS BERBUKA PUASA DAN PELANCARAN PAMERAN BSLN YAYADAN/MANIFESTASI MERDEKA/‘JAGA!’/‘SYED AHMAD JAMAL DALAM KENANGAN’ Pada 18 Ogos 2011- Sempena menyambut keberkatan bulan Ramadhan al-Mubarak, Balai Seni Lukis Negara (BSLN) menganjurkan satu Majlis Berbuka Puasa dan pelancaran empat buah pameran BSLN seperti Pameran Yayadan, Pameran Manifestasi Merdeka, Pameran ‘JAGA’ dan Pameran ‘Syed Ahmad Jamal Dalam Kenangan’.

Balai Seni Visual Negara berbesar hati apabila sekali lagi bekerjasama dengan Art Expo Sdn Bhd dalam menganjurkan Pameran Seni Li Chi Mao ‘Joy of Living’ iaitu sebuah Pameran Berus Cat Cina yang menjadi sebuah lagi jambatan budaya yang diterjemahkan melalui karya Prof Li Chi Mao melalui unsur-unsur kemanusiaan dan kehidupan dalam rantaian persembahannya. Perasmian ini dengan jayanya telah Dilancarkan oleh RAJA MUDA PERLIS, DYTM TUANKU SYED FAIZUDDIN PUTRA IBNI TUANKU SYED SIRAJUDDIN JAMALULLAIL dan RAJA PUAN MUDA OF PERLIS, DYTM TUANKU HAJJAH LAILATUL SHAHREEN AKASHAH KHALIL.

Art Expo 2011 catalogue launched by the Minister of Tourism The Art Expo Malaysia has become a marketplace of East-West and Arabian art trading and commerce and exchanges. It is a great confluence of Western, Asian and Arabian art with Iran making its debut this year with representations from Shiraz Art Gallery and Art & Identity.

Some 66 exhibitors from 24 countries will be taking part and they include six art organisations and 51 art galleries. The participating countries are: Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Philippines and Vietnam. It will involve more than 400 artists, some of whom come from nine other countries like Costa Rica and Tibet.

pameran dan jualan bersempena Istiadat Konvokesyen ke 8 Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA) Pada 14 dan 15 Oktober 2011, Balai Seni Visual Negara telah dijemput untuk mengadakan pameran dan jualan bersempena Istiadat Konvokesyen ke 8 Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA). Tujuan pameran dan jualan ini diadakan adalah untuk memberi pendedahan dan informasi kepada pelajar khususnya para graduan mengenai industri seni visual tanahair. Balai Seni Visual Negara amat berbangga kerana pameran dan jualan ini mendapat sambutan yang amat menggalakkan dari pengunjung dan pelajar jurusan seni halus. Pelbagai katalog penerbitan yang dipamerkan seperti Bakat Muda Sezaman 2010, Wayang U-Wei Angkat Saksi, Kasihnya Ibu, Yang Terutama dan sebagainya.

M AN A R G W gara O A R L P E Ne l R a A su i K V i SU lai Sen

Pertandingan Seni Visual Terbuka Johor 2011

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di B

Satu panel hakim telah dipilih untuk menilai dan memilih pemenang-pemenang bagi Pertandingan Seni Visual Terbuka Johor yang bertajukkan 'Ritma Johor'. Panel hakim terdiri dari wakil BSVN Saudara Tan Seihon, Pengarah Muzium dan Galeri Tuanku Fauziah, USM iaitu En. Hasnul Jamal Saidon selaku Ketua Panel Hakim dan Prof. Ponirin Amin dari UiTM dan dibantu oleh staf-staf dari Galei Seni Johor. Tiga kategori utama dalam petandingan tersebut ialah catan/cetakan, Arca dan Batik. Galeri Seni Johor telah menerima hampir seratus penyertaan dari penggiat-penggiat seni dari seluruh negara melalui penggunaan pelbagai media dan pendekatan seni yang telah diperlihatkan.

Membuka peluang kepada masyarakat di luar sana untuk menyumbangkan tenaga dalam ruang kesenian visual di Malaysia. Program yang bertujuan ke arah mendidik masyarakat dalam memahami kepentingan seni visual dan dalam masa yang sama ianya dapat membantu Balai Seni Visual Negara menaik taraf memahami dan memenuhi kehendak pelukis tempatan, peminat seni dan masyarakat. Program sukarelawan yang diharap dapat menjadi titiktolak dialog dua hala kearah pembangunan minda yang lebih sihat dari persepsi seni visual.

Syarat-syarat dan garis panduan untuk program sukarelawan Balai Seni Visual Negara: •

Terbuka kepada yang berumur 18 tahun-60 tahun.

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Sukarelawan mendapat latihan yang melibatkan tenaga profesional dari Balai Seni Visual Negara dan juga melibatkan tenaga pengajar badan sukarelawan luar yang berpengalaman.

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Mendapat pengiktirafan sijil dari Balai Seni Visual Negara sebagai tanda penghargaan.

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Pihak Balai Seni Visual Negara menyediakan kupon makan dan minum dalam program sukarelawan di jalankan.

Sesi Perbincangan Pinjaman Dana Industri Kreatif di BSVN Satu sesi perbincangan bersama para pemohon Pinjaman Dana Industri Kreatif telah diadakan pada 6 Oktober 2011 (Khamis) di Balai Seni Visual Negara yang dihadiri hampir 80 orang wakil industri kreatif.

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Objektif sesi berkenaan sebagai satu platform untuk meningkatkan jalinan kerjasama dengan para pemohon dalam memberikan pandangan serta kritikan membina untuk menambah baik proses permohonan Pinjaman Dana Industri Kreatif dengan matlamat utama iaitu membawa impak positif kepada pembangunan industri kreatif.

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Penyediaan alat bantuan kerja oleh Balai Seni Visual Negara dan penerangan terperinci akan di berikan tentang prosedur dan tatacara kerja.

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Jawaban permohonan dan latihan akan di beritahu terus oleh pihak urus setia.

Antara-antara isu-isu yang telah dibangkitkan dalam sesi pertemuan dan lain-lain pandangan yang diterima berhubung Pinjaman Dana Industri Kreatif adalah: • • • • • •

Tarikh tutup permohonan sukarelawan seni adalah pada 30 November 2011. Borang permohonan sukarelawan seni boleh di dapati di ruang kaunter Balai Seni Visual Negara di alamat :

Kelewatan pemprosesan pinjaman Ketiadaan pengesahan pemprosesan Ketiadaan perincian justifikasi penolakan Kekurangan proses komunikasi Polisi pinjaman berhubung pembelian aset Isu-isu harta intelektual/hak cipta/ assignment royalty

No 2, Jalan Temerloh, Off Jalan Tun Razak, 53200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

PANASONIC KIDS SCHOOL ECO WORKS OF ART NATIONAL CONTEST 2011 JUDGING SESSION Panasonic News on the recent Panasonic Kids School Eco Works of Art National Contest 2011 Judging Session that was held on 13 October 2011 at National Visual Gallery Kuala Lumpur for information sharing. The line up of the works of art exhibits to be judged at National Visual Gallery Malaysia, produced by students age 10 to 16 years old.

Nine judges had a grueling time judging 16 works of art by students from Panasonic Kids School program at National Visual Gallery Kuala Lumpur on 13 October 2011. The works of art were submitted by students from both primary and secondary schools from the 10 schools in Selangor that took part in the pilot project for eco learning program.

The works of art are based on the concept of collage art, sculpture or innovation models using recyclable items or biodegradable materials.

Ataupun boleh terus berhubung di Bahagian Penyelidikan dan Pameran, Puan Intan Rafiza di talian 03-40267015 atau email : intan@artgallery.gov.my

Pihak Balai Seni Visual Negara menawarkan sewaan Auditorium dan LCD Projector kepada semua agensi Kerajaan, NGO dan pihak swasta untuk mengadakan sesuatu acara atau program dengan kadar sewaan seperti berikut :

KADAR MENGIKUT JABATAN / AGENSI PERKARA

AUDITORIUM (kapasiti : 144 orang)

LCD PROJECTOR

MASA

AGENSI KERAJAAN

BADAN BUKAN KERAJAAN (NGO)

SWASTA

Min : 3 jam

RM 100

RM 120

RM 300

1 jam

RM 33

RM 40

RM 100

Sehari

RM 500

RM 650

RM 1500

Sehari

RM 150

RM 300

RM 500

* Tertakluk kepada kekosongan dan permohonan awal selewat-lewatnya 3 minggu sebelum tarikh penggunaan auditorium.

Permohonan boleh dibuat dengan menghantar surat permohonan kepada : Ketua Pengarah, Balai Seni Visual Negara, No. 2 Jalan Temerloh Off Jalan Tun Razak, 53200 Kuala Lumpur [u/p : Bahagian Khidmat Pengurusan]

Suchen SK (Freelance Photographer) www.suchens.com

/ tanseihon@gmail.com

CENTRES / GALLERIES / STUDIOS / OTHERS Hueman Studio (artworks and crafts) Add: No. 9, Jalan Tokong, 75200 Melaka,Malaysia.

Tel: 06-288 1795 Email: huemanstudio@yahoo.com Url: www.hueman–studio.com

ART GENERATION STUDIO 21-1, Jalan Damai Perdana 1/8D, Bandar Damai Perdana, 56000 Cheras Kuala Lumpur.

Tel/Fax: 03-9100 1597 Blog: baiduren-space.blogspot.com Email: art.baiduren@gmail.com

Relaxsee Gallery lot 125, lrg Kempas 1, Kampung Melayu 68000 Ampang, Slangor D.E Ismail Hj. Baba Naive Artist 017 883 0303 03-42533984

NEO POP ART (JERI’S STUDIO ‘55) Sitajeriazhari (Art Dealer) 220 Lorong Maarof Bangsar 59000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Studio : 03-2094 1537 Mobile : 013-3253 045

Natyavaruval Arts Workshop And Gallery Umi Natasya Pie 016-3766 181 25-2, Taman Setapak Indah Jaya Jalan Puah Jaya, Off Jalan Pahang, 53000 Kuala Lumpur.

Email: natyavaruval @yahoo.com

THE ART CAFE 54, Jalan Ss2/75 Petaling Jaya 46100 Selangor. christianlai.blogspot.com christiansartcafe.blogspot.com chris.theartcafe@gmail.com

CULTURE STREET ARTS & GALLERY (Gallery, Chinese Paintings Mounting, Mounting Material,Art Materials) 10C, 3rd Floor, Jalan Panggong, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel/Fax:03-2026 0292 Email: cs_arts@tm.net.my

Oriental Art & Cultural Center Kuala Lumpur (under the auspices of Elken Foundation) Tel: 03-7785 6363 Fax: 03-7785 9393 No 10 & 12, 2nd & 3rd, Pusat Elken, Jalan 1/137C, Batu 5, Jalan Kelang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur.

Duncan Tang Assistant Curator 012-297 3618 www.efoacc.org

SOCIETY OF INTERPRETERS FOR THE DEAF (SiD) The Community Service Centre for the Deaf No. 41A, Lorong Ampang, 540450 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel:03-2031 4599 Fax: 03-2078 6630

JOM

GLOBP Stoodio Animation/motiongraphics/editorial+concept illustration/charaterdesign globp@yahoo.com www.flickr.com/photos/myglobp

Jadilah ahli

EDEN ART STUDIO ART CENTRE, TEA HOUSE, COMMUNICATION CENTRE, ARTGALLERY

Block L6-3-9C, Pelangi Promenade, Jalan Pekan Baru 34, 41050 Klang, Selangor.

LEADER PORTRAIT ARTIST Abdul Hadi Haji Ahmad Lot 01.08A, Groud Floor, Central Market Annexe, Jalan Hang Kasturi, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.

Email : hadi365@gmail.com www.hadiportrait.blogspot.com

ALAYSIAN ASSOCIATION OF M CREATIVITY & INNOVATION macri empowering simple ideas Tel:03-2282 7028 Fax: 03-2282 7028 Email : www.macri.com.my Lot A-28-10, Menara UOA Bangsar, No 5 Jalan Bangsar 1, 59000 Kuala Lumpur.

SCULPTUREATWORK (M) SDN.BHD. www.sculpcureatwork.com Studio: 108 Lorong Maarof, Bangsar Park, 59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-22836936 Fax: 03-22835936

NURIDAUS ENTERPRISE (SPECIALIST IN COPPER TOOLINGS) Blok L22-505, Persiaran Pandan, Pandan Jaya, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

-FULLY HANDCRAFTED019-334 7877 018-268 1880 018-287 7883

CHEAP SENG POTTERY SDN.BHD. (Ceramic Design, Glazes Mixing, Plaster Mold Design, Sculpture) Factory & Seramic Studio: Lot 2269 Jalan Bercham, 31400 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel: 05-547 8936 Fax: 05-547 5040 Email : artstudio39@yahoo.com

Tel: 03-2161 8860,2161 8502 Fax: 03-2162 1504

Gerai OA -Indigenous Peoples StallContact us: Reita Faida Rahim (coordinator) Email: geraios@gmail.com buy online: www.elevyn.com/shop/geraioa

Dijemput menghadiri pembukaan pameran, menyertai program khas, bengkel, ceramah dan sebarang acara anjuran Balai Seni Visual Negara.

Menikmati *diskaun 10% ke atas hampir kesemua barangan di Kedai Galeri merangkumi bahan-bahan melukis, penerbitan dan cenderamata.

Menerima maklumat terkini melalui SMS. Menerima warkah Balai Seni Visual Negara, SENIKINI : Malaysia Art Now, percuma untuk setahun (enam keluaran).

Nama dan alamat pelukis akan dimuatkan di dalam rangkaian laman web direktori pelukis Balai Seni Visual Negara.

Wan Faizun Zaffan : faizun@artgallery.gov.my

Untuk penggunaan ruang Peti Seni BSLN bagi tujuan menjalankan aktiviti-aktiviti yang berkaitan dengan seni visual, sila majukan surat permohonan ke pejabat Ketua Pengarah Balai Seni Lukis Negara. Penggunaan Peti Seni ini tidak dikenakan caj.

To apply for the use ( art studio, experimental and other art-related activites) of NAG's Peti Seni (3-6 months) please write to the Director-General of National Art Gallery. Peti Seni is available free of charge.

AChiBuu Handmade Blog: http://achibuu.blogspot.com Website: www.achibuu.com Contact: huichyet@yahoo.com

bibichun (freelance designer, illustrator +graffiti artist) bibichun@gmail.com www.bibichun.com

edenartstudio@gmail.com

Mouth & Foot Painting Artists Sdn. Bhd. Lot 327, 2nd Ampang Park Shopping Centre, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, P.O.Box 12431, 50778 Kuala Lumpur.

Keahlian pelukis akan menikmati faedah menarik seperti berikut :

Let’s Handmade a.hippies@gmail.com Miss Ireen Handmade www.missireen.blogspot.com www.missireen.110mb.com

Thangarajoo @ Mr. Raj (Artist-Children's book illustrator-Art Tutor) Conducts art classes at stucent's home.

Call- 012 3467872 Email: jootha@gmail.com/ jootha57@yahoo.com.

Please visit:www.flickr.com/pjotos/thanga4

www.urban-cr3atures.com Motiongraphics/printgraphics+interactive/ clothing/toys/web+characterdesign/illustration/ typography/animation/event/C.G effects/music/ sound/publication. www.projectboxie.com urbancr3atures.blogspot.com

D.I.Y / Freelance / SERVICES Chekri Mansor (Free lance caricaturist, cartoonist, painter and musician) chekrimansor@gmail.com http://chekrimansor.webs.com/

Panda Eyes Handmade Wen Yi (Graphic Designer) hata-knight@hotmail.com http://www.pandaeyesdiy.blogspot.com

Ambriel Craft -handmade from the heart(Handmade Cards, Custom Made To Order, Home baked, Custom Bake to Order, Wedding Invitations, Thematic Party Cards, Thank You Cards, Corporate Gifts.)

43, Jalan Bp2, Bandar Bukit Puchong, 41720 Puchong Selangor.

Tel/Fax: 03-8060 3795 Blog: http://ambrielcraft.wordpress.com Email: audrey@ambriel.com.my

I LOVE UNIQUE GIFTS http://iloveunique.blogspot.com email: aimeili55@yahoo.com (Emily Ng)

Shahril Nizam Ahmad (Freelance Illustrator) Email: shahrila@yahoo.com Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/shahrila/shahril_ nizam.html Nazmi (Professional Photographer) nazmi_photo@yahoo.com

Yus Usratika@Luqman Husaini (Writer/composer) yusratika@yahoo.com yusnistone@yahoo.com www.usratika.blogspot.com

Heroes Sticker + Heroes Apparel heroesticker@gmail.com heroesapparel@gmail.com heroesapparel.webs.com mudah.my/herosticker facebook.com/heroesapparel

Pyanz Henna Arts & Crafts Pyan Shariff (Henna Artist) 012-297 9588 Email:pyanzhennaart@yahoo.com Website: http://pyanzshariff.webs.com www.pyanzhennaart.com Studio: Blok A8-G-25, Jalan Mewah 4, Pandan Mewah, 68000 Ampang, Selangor.

Fax: 03-4291 1588

Khor Hui Min (Writer) khor.hm@gmail.com khorhmin@yahoo.co.uk (Writing, Editing, Proofreading, Project Coordination, Brochures Articles, Corporate Profiles, General/Technical Reports, Websites/Interactive, Lyrics Translation, Children’s Books etc.)

Michael Chuah Design (character designer/comic book artist) chuahshihchung@yahoo.com www.michaeldesign.com The Seamstress http://seamstresses.blogspot.com Syahirah Suhaimi: 013-6282 2417 Sumarni Suhaimi: 013-3730 602

KLOBOT www.comeandharmeme.vox.com myspace.com/klobot comeandharmme@gmail.com

WISEZONE-Innovative Photography GARY CHEW (Photographer) Tel/Fax: 03-7980 2210 Fax: 03-7984 0959 Email:wisezone_innovative@yahoo.com

Play & Expressive Arts Andrew Ng (Play & Art Therapist) Tel : 012-361 8596 -Founder & Director of Play & Expressive Arts -Conducts Parenting Seminars, Play Therapy Workshops & Training in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong & China.

Elements Creations- hand crafted ceramics 48 Lorong Nikmat 2, Taman Gembira Jalan Kuchai Lama 58200 Kuala Lumpur. nikicheong33@yahoo.com

Colorss Clay Accessories www.colorss88.blogspot.com chia_li_huei@hotmail.com

SUPPLIERS / SERVICES / BOOKS /

'Everyone is Awesome' Ummi Creative Designer Phone: 03-6038 6377 Email: everyoneisawesome@gmail.com

Selvan Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd Specialised in convenience/newstand concept stores. Exclusive distributors of foreign magazines and books. tel: 603 4042 2339 email: selvan39@streamyx.com

Kufi On Kanvas Yushafizal Yunos kufionkanvas@gmail.com 012-252 5644

On Target Training Sdn Bhd -books, posters, manuals, simulation software, E-book,E-learning, educational dvds, Interactive Cd-Roms, customized content development.

VALERIE YAN CREATIONS Valerie Yan ( Illustrator) Rainie_yan@hotmail.com http://valeriecreations.blogspot.com Nurgajir@Gajir (Tempahan Nama Dalam Tulisan Jawi Lukisan Atas Kanvas) 017-366 9290 http://gajirkaligrafi.blogspot.com -Oil Painting -Abstrak -Seni Khat Tan Chee Hon Artist @ photographer 85B, jalan tiong nam, 50350 Kuala lumpur.

Email: tchon75@gmail.Com picasaweb.google.com/tchon75

Office-03-77859716 Fax-03-77859718 email: arull@ottlearning.com.my HAVEN (something for everyone) Lot S211 (2nd floor) Promenade, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, 1 Lebuh Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. tel: 03-7727 3541 email: getcrafty@craft-haven.com www.crafty-haven.com

Clarity Enterprise (wholesale & retail keychains, accessories & art pieces) No. 21 Lorong 9/115C, Taman Jaya, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel/Fax: 03-7875 9195 Email: clarityenterprise@gmail.com

Design Art Books Lot FF-07, The Waterfront @Park City 5, Persiaran Resident, Desa Park City, 52200 Kuala Lumpur.

Email: deendab@gmail.com Tel: 03-6280 7876 Fax: 03-6280 7875

BASHEER GRAPHIC BOOKS AT BORDERS Lot – 216-B, Third Floor, The Gardens Mid VALLEY Lingkaran Syed Putra 59200 Kuala Lumpur. www.basheergraphic.com www.basheercityroom.com

Internasional Art Services(M)Sdn Bhd -mover and transportation of artworksJerry (Supervisor) Tel: 03-7846 5821 Fax: 03-7846 1944 Email: internationalartservices@jim.com.my

THE ART SHOP (Art Material, Technical Drawing Instruments, Stationary) No 65, Jalan Negara, Taman Melawati, 53100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-4108 8322 Fax: 03-4107 8036 Wholly Owned By Hi-Scan Wholesale Sdn.Bhd.

Leong Brothers -Artistic, Frame Specialists and Designer, Glass Dealer331 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, 50100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel/Fax: 03-2691 3941 Tel: 03-2692 2116

ART.FRIEND (Complete range of Art, Graphic & Craft Materials, and Stationary) Tel: 03 2284 7777 Fax: 03 2284 7577 email: kl_eng@artfriend.com.sg Lot T-213, Third Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur. www.artfriend.com.sg

KHAI LIEN SILK SCREEN SUPPLIERS (M) SDN.BHD. 132, Jalan Selar, Taman Bukit Riau, Batu 3 ½, Jalan Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-9283 7032 Fax: 03-9285 1035 Email : kailien@po.jaring.my www.khailien.com.my We supply: Inks, Machineries & Equipment, Other Silkscreen Materials, Advertising.

WS ART & FRAMES CENTRE SDN. BHD. (Art Gallery, Conservation & Custom Framing, delivery & Installation of Artwork.)

No 34, Jalan Dang Wangi, 50100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2698 0132 Fax: 03-2692 7520 Email: wsartctr@msn.com A member of: PROFESSIONAL PICTURE FRAMERS ASSOCIATION(USA)

Perniagaan Hai Kuang Sdn. Bhd. -Supplies all kinds of screen printing, pad printing,materials, equipment machinery and stencil making service.

Head Office : No. 51, Jalan Dato’ Haji Eusoff, Damai Komplek, 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-4042 9569, 4042 0071, 4041 9493, 4041 9479 Fax: 03-4042 2467(ADMIN) , 4042 3425(SALES) Email: haikuang@tm.net.my SOLE DISTRIBUTOR IN MALAYSIA (The Most Famous in Silkscreen Printing Industry)

Contemporary Art in George Town as well as Mr. Lim's first major work in his home country.

Recently, Mr. Lim's transformative portrait of Julian Assange was featured in the 2010 TIME Magazine’s “Person of the Year” issue, which was printed in over 28 million copies. Mr. Lim is currently exploring the dispositions and aftereffects of creation, evolution and abstraction, working with the elements of fire, water and sunlight.

In an interview with New Straits Times, one of the major Malaysian newspapers, Lim said,

NEW YORK – September 5, 2011 – Leon Lim broke into the world’s leading television and entertainment industry that is making him Malaysia’s first artist and Asia’s first deaf star to qualify for the new second season of Bravo’s reality show series, “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” on NBC Universal, one of the America’s five major television networks, as well as Bravo’s first deaf star and contestant in its 43 reality shows including Top Chef, Project Runway and The Real Housewives. The show, “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” is a direct descendent of the juriedexhibition tradition which was greatly modified for a different age and culture, and became a staple of American museums through much of the twentieth century.

Mr. Lim, one of the fourteen artists, was selected from several thousands of artists from across the United States and around the world. Thousands of artists came to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles with their digital and hardcopy portfolios or art pieces and waited in a four-hour long line for hours for their chance to casting audition. The artists’ backgrounds range from recent art school graduates to emerging artists to artists with gallery representation and pieces in the permanent collections of internationally recognized museums, as well as their talents ranging from painting, photography, performance art, installation, multimedia, film, illustration and sculpture to come out for a potentially life and career-level-changing opportunity.

In the episodes of the reality show, the producers provided a certified interpreter who is fluent in American Sign Language and English Spoken Language for the installation artist Leon Lim for studio discussion with the artists and critiques and narratives with the judges.

With his participation in “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” Leon Lim embodies the new wave of Malaysian contemporary art and also is a leader in changing the perceptions of those among us who cannot hear and have native language – American Sign Language – by defying the radical ideology and traditional images of deaf people in the context of family, business, media, and the art world as a whole. He doesn’t believe that the inability to hear sound or music is a way to create an uncertain future or a poor life. Being deaf with sign language and being an artist are new culture and a source of great pride.

Mr. Lim has dedicated himself to increasing public awareness of art education and deaf education in

Malaysia as well as advancing the diverse narratives threaded through Malaysian Contemporary Art. Influenced, yet not limited by his deafness and strength, his career as an artist draws extensively from his experiences in both Malaysia and America.

Born in Kedah, Malaysia, Mr. Lim has been profoundly and proudly deaf since birth. His first language is American Sign Language. An alienated and isolated child growing up in a largely unartistc family, he drew and painted incessantly, inspired by the colorful covers of music cassettes-a fact he now finds amusingly ironic. Instinctively, his deafness motivated Mr. Lim to devise ways of telling a story through his artwork without speaking, reading, or writing. It is not a surprise then, that Mr. Lim believes that experiencing art first begins from seeing, opposed to reading description on a label or hearing a teacher lecture on the subject.

Mr. Lim left his family following primary school in Kedah, enrolling at the Federal School for the Deaf in Penang, the oldest deaf institution in Malaysia. At 14 he was living alone in a three-bedroom apartment in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, which further instilled a strong sense of independence. Seven years of living alone allowed Mr. Lim build his world without the need to hear sound or music. He went to New York as an international student after he was awarded four scholarships, including the prestigious Nippon Foundation Scholarship.

Mr. Lim received degrees from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and De Montfort University in the United Kingdom, and then settled in New York City to pursue his passion for art, design, photography, fashion, and film. He dabbles in a wide range of art forms including painting, photography, multimedia, installations, and performance objects, Mr. Lim's compositions explores various themes, namely heritage preservation and social segregation, communication barriers, intertwining realms of life and death, connections between nature and man-made objects, and the politics of identity and culture.

Mr. Lim's artwork has been exhibited in galleries, museums and major festivals including the Total Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the World Financial Center Gallery in New York City. Last year, in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mr. Lim was commissioned to create a new site-specific, landmark public art installation for the George Town Festival in Penang. His “The Last Chairs” exhibition marked Penang’s first public art in its new chapter on

"People generally cannot see beyond a deaf person’s senses. Many of them have hidden talent. All that is required is a little prodding, a push. Give them a little encouragement. They are not as disabled as you might think."

Cathy Rose A. Garcia of The Korea Times, wrote, 'Being deaf should not be seen as a hindrance to pursuing one's dreams. If anyone is living proof of this, it is deaf Malaysian artist Leon Lim'.

Bravo’s 10-episode reality show series, “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” will be airing on Wednesdays starting on 12 October 2011. This imaginative series is a creative synergy between the Emmy-winning producers Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, the Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress and executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker, and the creator of Project Runway, Eli Holzman and the executive producer Alison Benson.

Host, judge and art enthusiast China Chow lends her artistic grace to the second season of Bravo’s cutting-edge contemporary art competition. The judging panel includes Jerry Saltz, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated senior art critic for New York Magazine, and Bill Powers, the owner of New Yorkbased Half Gallery and literary art contributor. Simon de Pury, one of the art world’s leading figures and the world-renowned Chairman and Chief Art Auctioneer of Phillips de Pury & Company, adds his expertise as a mentor to the contestants.

The new second season of “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” is filmed in New York City under the watchful eye of art world elites. The fourteen upand-coming artists are ready to make their mark on the industry and battle it out for a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and a cash prize of $100,000.

Bravo’s first season of “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” averaged 1.37 million total viewers and 809,000 in the adult age 18 to 49.

How long have you been based abroad?

I was working in Singapore from since1995 but left for Japan in 2000 to pursue art.

What made you decided to venture overseas?

(Smile) hahaha ^^…

Tired of working for other people!!?

Before becoming an artist, I was a ‘Visualizer’ (Commercial Artist) in an advertising firm. When I was 24 years old, I imagined that I was going to be a famous art director or an Illustrator in an advertising firm one day as my training had prepared me. I was even awarded a ‘Best Studio man Award’ in 1999 but I had already secretly applied online to study in Japan the 6 months before and was just waiting for the admission approval. My decision surprised everyone around me, including my family. I had only 3 weeks to make preparations and resigned and left Singapore for Japan.

I guess, perhaps seeking the REAL ME was my main purpose for venturing overseas after recalling all those years living abroad.

What were the initial challenges when you began your art career in a foreign land?

At the beginning of my career, I had no doubt that I would have to learn and to do new things as well.

Because of these reasons, I got invited to participate in exhibitions with other fellow artists organized by one of my professors outside of the campus. The feedback was good, thus giving me the confidence to continue.

What are the advantages of being based overseas and how have those advantages nurtured your artistic and creative talent?

I don’t know whether what I have at the moment could be called advantages. For me personally, I had tried very hard to make my artworks closer to the Japanese but it just comes out distinctively. You might say I already have my own ‘colors’, ‘shapes’, culture and identity. And difference is a constant in my works. However, philosophy stimulates me in creating my works.

What are the differences in terms of environment, working as an artist in Malaysia and abroad?

I can’t really compare the differences between Japan and Malaysia because I have not kept up with the contemporary situation in Malaysia.

However, I personally feel that Japan has more opportunities for one to show one’s works to the public. There are long lists of art galleries and museum everywhere and art workshops for kids and adult are common.

What are some of the themes that inspire your work?

Since moving to Japan 11 years ago, I had lived in both urban and rural areas. I am constantly fascinated by my surroundings and have never stopped being inquisitive and curious about human reactions around me, especially critiques of fixed ideas, namely symbolic image associated with the social structure and appearances.

What artistic works/projects are you currently working on right now?

I will have an open-air group show in a park next week. It is a valuable challenge to exhibit precious works outdoors. The works itself has to confront the natural elements, including man’s destructiveness.

The longevity and sustainability of an artwork is still essential these days and must be taken into consideration.

Name : Tan Ru Yi Year of birth : 1973 Hometown : Kuala Lumpur Education : Nagoya Zokei University Current Base : Shizuoka, Japan

What were the most memorable/ unforgettable experiences you’ve had as an artist working overseas?

It happened at a recent group show in Nagoya.

A young man was grinning at my kinetic work ‘The Rubber Fan’ (2011) for more than 30 minutes!

How often do you come back to Malaysia? What are your typical activities when you are back here?

I used to come back twice a year but have nor been back since 2007. I usually gather with my family and friends. I also visit art galleries and the museum. I do ‘cultural research’ at the Mamak stores and hawker centers with my friends.

I have a few SNS friends who are artists on Facebook and they are my source of information about the Malaysian art scene. I think I will try to meet them in my next trip home.

What advice would you give to other aspiring Malaysian artists hoping to make it abroad?

First of all I believe, if one wishes to venture abroad, one need to double one’s efforts or to pour in more energy in what one does as compare to being based back home for opportunities to appear. In the case of Japan, it has a very unique culture, it is Asia but it is not. Secondly, never ever forget your reasons for going abroad.

Thirdly, ‘Let it be’.

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