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ALI MABUHA RAHAMAD: KEMBARA DI SARANG SENI ART EXPO MALAYSIA 2011 BASIKAL, BECA DAN LANCA: KENDERAAN SEBAGAI SUBJEK SENI MURAL IBRAHIM HUSSEIN DI UNIVERSITI MALAYA FINDARS AT WANGSA MAJU ART PROGRAMMES DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES FOR MALAYSIA’S VISION

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Jadilah ahli

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Keahlian pelukis akan menikmati faedah menarik seperti berikut : Dijemput menghadiri pembukaan pameran, menyertai program khas, bengkel, ceramah dan sebarang acara anjuran Balai Seni Visual Negara.

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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

Karya

seni yang bersifat kekinian sama ada di persada seni visual tanah air dan antarabangsa muncul dengan pelbagai jenis bentuk persembahan. Subjeknya juga diperluas dengan pelbagai komplikasi makna dan pernyataan. Objeknya pula bercampur aduk dengan pelbagai rupa dan bentuk.

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Kehadiran kenderaan untuk kepelbagaian penggunaan, mencetus inspirasi kepada seniman dalam menghasilkan ciptaan reka bentuk dan gambaran ‘kenderaan’ sebagai wadah baru kemodenan dan mesin sebagai mekanisma ketamadunan. Kenderaan yang merupakan bukti kemajuan menjadikan keperluannya sangat penting bagi setiap individu masyarakat serta menaikkan nilai dan taraf hidup sosial masyarakat dan ia juga sering menjadi tanda aras kejayaan seseorang individu melalui penjenamaan kenderaan yang di anggap lambang kemewahan individu.

Kenderaan sebagai subjek dan objek sering muncul dalam penghasilan karya seniman. Ianya seiring dengan kemajuan teknologi dan perkembangan intelektual dimana seniman mula mencari variasi dalam pembentukan karya seni mereka. Situasi ini berlaku sama ada dalam konteks dunia seni visual di Malaysia atau di persada arena antarabangsa merangkumi pelbagai bentuk seni.

Fokus kali ini terhadap kepenggunaan kenderaan ‘basikal’ sebagai subjek dan objek dalam perkembangan seni visual. Basikal merupakan sejenis kenderaan ringan atau sebuah mesin penggerak bagi memenuhi keperluan ringkas kehidupan manusia. Kegunaan yang terhad, tidak mampu untuk membawa beban melampaui keupayaan dan ianya sebuah keringkasan dalam penciptaan mesin. Keperluan sistem kayuhan beroda untuk memulakan pergerakan serta diimbangi dengan kudrat manusia untuk mengayuhnya. Manusia masih lagi sebagai nyawa pada ‘jasad mesin yang kaku’ dan persenyawaan ini membina suatu kebatasan teknologi yang harus berpaksikan pada manusia sebagai tenaga penggerak. Kini kenderaan menjadi keperluan penting bagi setiap individu. Kepentingan ini, menjadikan ia sebagai aset dalam pembinaan struktur ekonomi dan tamadun. Jika di Malaysia, kenderaan sebagai subjek dan objek muncul dalam beberapa karya seniman.

KENDERAAN ‘BASIKAL’ SEBAGAI SUBJEK Beberapa contoh karya oleh seniman tempatan dan antarabangsa sebagai kajian perbandingan di antara penggunaan dan intipati makna karya yang berbeza terhadap persamaan subjek iaitu basikal. Sebagai contoh karya ‘Woman and Bicycle’ 1952-1953 oleh William De Kooning salah satu penggunaan kenderaan ‘basikal’ sebagai subjek dalam gaya catan Abstrak Expressionisme. Dimana setiap subjek boleh dizahirkan dalam apa bentuk seni sekalipun.

Chow Chin Chuan 'Listless Afternoon' 1996 Cat air 76 x 102 cm 1996-096

KENDERAAN SEBAGAI SUBJEK DAN OBJEK DALAM KARYA SENI :

BASIKAL, BECA dan Lee Kian Seng “Pengemis dan Burung” 1966 Cat minyak 122.2 x 146.5 cm 1966-012

| BAKTIAR NAIM

Karya awal seniman Lee Kian Seng “Pengemis dan Burung” 1966, sebuah catan cat minyak merepresentasikan kehidupan seorang lelaki yang memungkinkan dirinya seorang ‘pengemis’ berdasarkan perincian karya. Fizikalnya sedang duduk di atas basikal mahupun beca dengan burung menemaninya seolah ada perletakan plot sedih, komposisi duduk dengan tangan lelaki tersebut diletakkan di atas lututnya seperti pengertian berehat atau melabuhkan keresahan atau intepretasi mengimbau ‘masa lalu’ atau ‘masa hadapan’.

Ismail Hashim 'Pandangan Basikal,Basikal Buruh' 1979, Hand Tinted Photographs 109x79cm, 1998.021

Manakala seni fotografi Ismail Hashim yang sinonim dengan teknik seperti ‘hand-tinted photographs’ dan kebiasaan subjek difokus secara dekat (close-up) oleh beliau seakan memaksa penonton berkonklusi terwujud makna disebaliknya.

Lensa kameranya tidak pernah lekang dalam merakam gambaran landskap rakyat yang menggupas pelbagai isu semasa dan tempatan. Karya “Pandangan Basikal, Basikal Buruh” 1979 menggambil gambar ‘tempat duduk basikal buruh‘ sebagai subjek utama dengan kepelbagaian jenis, rupa bentuk pandangan di dalam menyelami tema masyarakat. Bagaimana kehidupan seorang ‘buruh’ di sebalik fotografi yang di pertonton. Adakah kenderaan seperti basikal ini melambangkan status ekonomi seseorang lewat 1970-an di Malaysia? Kemiskinan dan pembangunan? Atau perhubungan ekonomi di antara keringat buruh membina jasa pada pembangunan negara? Atau terkandung prinsip dan estetika fotografi yang mempunyai nilai dan ‘basikal’ hanya sebuah objek untuk pembentukan subjek karyanya. Menurut Yeoh Jin Leng “...is a composition of well-worn bicycle seats formed or deformed in the process of performing their roles as supports in the wear-and-tear of labour.”1

Rujukan (1) Yeoh Jin Leng, South East Asian Art-A New Spirit,1997 (2) Nurhanim Khairudin, Article’ Life Cycle’ Industri, Insan dan Kesementaraan Hidup, Euforia, 2010 Katalog Norhaslinda Nordin, ‘Life Cycle’, 2008 Katalog Roslisham/Ise, ‘Keluar 90 Hari’ 2006 Katalog Ismail Hashim, ‘Yang ‘tu Yang’ ni’ This ‘n That art Photography and...by Ismail Hashim 2008 Katalog Suhaimi Fadzir RFTO Belleville 2010 Katalog BMS 2010 Semua Imej adalah Koleksi BSVN kecuali karya Suhaimi Fadzir dan Mohd Lokman Hakim Abdul Halim.

Karya Cangkul (1) ‘Siri Gerek’ 2000, oleh Rohaizad Saari, sebuah catan cat air dengan cangkul sebagai imej primer dan basikal atau nama panggilan ‘gerek’ di negeri utara tanah air sebagai imej sekunder. Namun basikal sebagai subjek yang menyokong signifikan ‘cangkul’ sebagai pembawakan makna, keduaduanya adalah peralatan untuk bercucuk tanam di kebun atau kenderaan ke kebun. Keringat ayah atau petani yang membanting tulang mencari rezeki atau sebagainya. Pengisian makna yang mudah dan mesra penonton tanpa perlu diterjemahkan terlalu dalam oleh penonton. Begitu juga dengan karya ‘Listless Afternoon’ (1996, Cat air atas kertas)-oleh Chow Chin Chuan, basikal sebagai subjek utama dengan perwarnaan yang agak terang dan komposisi perletakkan subjek di depan bingkai tingkap sebuah bangunan lama mungkin meruntunkan hati penonton ke arah menimbulkan perasaan hati (nostalgic mood) nostalgia.

Rohaizad Saari 'Cangkul(1) "Siri Gerek" 2001 Cat air atas kertas 77.5 x 105.5cm 2004.027

Roslisham Ismail (Ise) Spring Coming! (Keluar 90 Hari) 2007 Cetakan digital atas kertas 78 x 55cm 2007.048

adalah indeks kemanusiaan masa kini. Basikal memeri “kekampungan”, kereta “Kekotaan”, skuter “ kesuburan”, dan kereta sorong “keprimitifan” kita.

KENDERAAN ‘BASIKAL’ SEBAGAI OBJEK

LANCA Kenderaan seperti basikal sebagai subjek sering muncul dalam catan dua dimensional.

Ini menandakan kehadirannya bukanlah satu kehairanan kerana ianya kandungan dalam persekitaran hidup. Seniman juga sebahagian daripada persekitaran dan kenderaan menjadi subjek mudah untuk diterjemahkan ke dalam karya bagi seniman. Bagi Roslisham Ismail (Ise), karya bertajuk “Spring Coming!” (2007, Cetakan digital atas kertas)-merupakan rentetan peristiwa harian ketika menjadi residen artis ke empat (AHC Visual Arts Residency Awards 2006, Australia) pengungkapan karya melalui teknik kolaj dengan penggunaan imej dan teks daripada pelbagai jenis bahan bercetak samada majalah, tiket, peta muzium, pelekat dan poster. Ianya menjadi sebuah penceritaan naratif seniman, merekodkan sesuatu yang boleh dikatakan sebagai buku lakaran (artist sketchbook) yang merangkumi ‘pemikiran seniman semasa menghasilkan karya’ yang meliputi tajuk, catatan, tarikh, masa, dan tempat. Imej wanita moden berbasikal, landskap ceria persis illustration dan inspirasi budaya popular (popculture), hasilan kolaj dari majalah dan tulisan tangan seimbang dengan peranan teks menterjemahkan kekuatan subjek mendorong perletakkan makna bagi karya tersebut.

Keupayaan mentafsir pelbagai intepretasi kenderaan sebagai subjek membuatkan ianya muncul sebagai simbol dan metafora bukan sahaja saling bergantungan di antara manusia dan mesin yang menjadi sebahagian pembinaan teknologi, pengkelasan taraf sosial dan perbedaan ekonomi.

Bagi pelukis Norhaslinda Nordin, idea mengenai “kesementaraan hidup” menjadikan kepelbagaian kenderaan sebagai subjek dalam siri catan “Temporary” dan“ Life Cycle” 2008. Imajan basikal digarap berselang seli dengan imajan lain seperti kereta, kapal terbang, bangunan lama bersama aroma bitumen, akrilik, karat zink dan teknik jahitan membentuk rupa kenderaan yang menyarankan kemajuan teknologi dan estetik kultural signifikan terhadap era pemodenan dan konsumerisme. Dimana kemajuan seringkali membina jurang perbedaan ekonomi di antara rakyat serta memaksa kapitalisma menjadi sistem menggali keperitan masyarakat, malah ianya bergerak pantas seiring dengan perkembangan ketamadunan dalam kanta pembangunan material.

Menurut Nurhanim Khairuddin “...kenderaan menyimpul taraf sosial, status kemewahan, kedudukan dalam hirarke kelas “leisure”, kewujudan dan imej diri dalam kehidupan seharian.”Kelajuan” dan “Keselesaan”

Basikal sebagai objek di dalam karya bukanlah perkara baru tetapi menarik untuk dilihat bagaimana seniman senang bereksperimentasi dengan pelbagai ‘kenderaan’ dan fungsinya bukan lagi di jalanan malah kini dipamerkan di muzium-muzium seni ternama dunia.

Kenderaan melambangkan status dengan kuasa dan keupayaan membeli individu. Begitu juga dengan karya “Forever” 2009 sebuah seni instalasi oleh seniman terkenal China, Ai Wei Wei, objek basikal dipasangkan saling berhubungan (interconnected) di dalam lingkaran bulat yang terbentuk hasil jalinan antara satu sama lain. Basikal sangat signifikan dan menjadi simbol status bagi orang-orang Cina namun perubahan masyarakat kini berorientasikan kereta-kereta mewah mengikut selera hari ini.

‘Riding Bikes ’ 1998 sebuah arca awam di Berlin, Jerman oleh Robert Rauschenberg. Nyata basikal telah menjadi objek baru dalam pengkaryaan sebagaimana Rauschenberg meneruskan legasi Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell dengan pembinaan teori ‘ready-made’ Dada.

Beca 1970an Campuran 139 x 190 x 127cm 2001.021

Melihat kembali objek seni dan monumental dalam Koleksi Himpunan Tetap BSVN. Dua buah beca (merupakan transisi daripada basikal) dari Terengganu ini yang mempunyai lukisan kotak beca yang dihasilkan oleh Ahmad Fuad Osman dan Dahlan Sulaiman menggunakan cat enamel di atas kepingan kayu yang merekodkan aktiviti, landskap, dan budaya di sana. Ciri-ciri mendekorasi itu sudah muncul dalam menghias kenderaan seperti beca yang bertindak sebagai pengangkutan ringan kepada masyarakat.

Karya ”Messenger @ Passenger” oleh Mohd Hafiz Yahaya berunsurkan ’parcipatory art’ yang memerlukan interaksi penonton untuk mengemudi karya iaitu Lanca (binaan baru dengan bahan ready made) melihat keseluruhan pameran BMS 2010 serta inspirasi berdasarkan kepada kepentingan pertandingan Bakat Muda Sezaman di dalam menjana perkembangan seni visual di Malaysia. Penyataan Hafiz, ”Audien diperlukan untuk menggerakkan karya (lanca) di dalam ruang pameran BMS. Audien juga boleh memilih untuk menjadi pemandu (messenger) atau penumpang (passenger).

Maksud ‘messenger’ bererti seseorang yang bersusah payah membawa audien yang terdiri dari pelbagai bidang sama ada seni atau tidak untuk melihat senario seni tampak yang dipersembahkan dalam BMS di Malaysia.

Manakala ‘passenger’ (mungkin audien) pula merupakan audien yang boleh duduk selesa di atas tempat duduk lanca yang beralaskan bantal empuk yang cuma duduk berpeluk tubuh sahaja sambil dibawa mengelilingi ruang pamer BMS.” Namun peluang menyertai atau merasai kehadiran makna karya ini terbatas dek kerana pengunjung masih tidak berani/segan/ tidak tahu menggerakkan karya sebegini seperti kehendak makna oleh seniman dan memungkinkan keberkesanan pemahaman umum mengenai ’objek seni’ semestinya tidak boleh di sentuh, di naiki, di duduki dan sebagainya.

Tema ‘perjalanan’(journey) dapat di interpretasikan terhadap karya Suhaimi Fadzir iaitu ‘Kansas City Kuala Lumpur’ yang kini sedang di pamerkan di Florence Biennale, Itali. Suhaimi yang sinonim dengan penggunaan bahan ready-made yang sarat dengan penggunaan teknik kolaj serta assemblaj olehnya serta perahan resepi dari pasca moden yang disulami elemen kultural tempatan, menjadikan perbezaan karyanya di kancah seni visual Malaysia. Basikal ‘tua’ sebagai objek major yang dicantumkan dengan catan dinding dan dikunci erat dengan ‘padlock’.

Perhubungan secara simbolik dengan objek basikal yang memangkinkan ‘suatu tujuan, pengalaman dan destinasi’ dengan jalinan teks yang jelas menyoroti sebuah perjalanan di antara Kuala Lumpur ke bandar Kansas, USA. Perhubungan interaksi di antara cita-cita dan citarasa, bagaimana seorang Malaysia melihat keterujaannya terhadap kota besar yang mewah dan elitis sebagaimana ‘basikal tua’ secara simboliknya (melihat dalam konteks tempatan) menyarankan perbezaan status ekonomi, menyimpulkan harapan, transisi pertembungan budaya serta elemen nostalgia seperti mengimbau rindu pada tanahair dari seorang penghijrah. Selain jatuhbangun, berada di atas dan di bawah seperti menyirat makna kehidupan sentiasa diduga dengan cabaran dan dugaan persekitaran, teknologi dan Pencipta. (Tuhan Yang Maha Esa).

Sementara itu, karya pelukis muda, Mohd Lokman Hakim Abdul Halim (Hakim)“ Re-born of Hercules After Decade : Make It U-Turn” merupakan titik tolak persoalan mengenai perbuatan ‘patah balik’ yang difikirkan kembali sama ada ianya benar dan relevan dalam penentuan satu objektif atau misi. Bagi Hakim, ianya sebuah respon terhadap tema pertandingan Terbuka Pulau Pinang ‘Hilang Seketika’, dimana basikal tua sebagai ‘objek’ yang diubah dalam kedudukan seperti pusingan ‘U’ (U-Turn) dengan fizikalnya secara visual dapat dibezakan dalam dua konteks masa (dulu dan kini),(terbiar dan terpelihara),(cantik dan buruk) bersama kekuatan dan perhubungan intrinsik, memori pelukis tentang nostalgia zaman kanak-kanak memberi kesan terhadap pembinaan karya ini. Seolaholah Hakim cuba mengembalikan kelahiran kembali basikal tua berjenama Hercules ini sebagai kenderaan harian, trend terkini, hobi eksklusif atau hanya sebagai manifestasi terhadap pemuliharaan sebuah objek untuk menzahirkan kewujudannya kembali dan pembinaan makna baru baginya.

Kenderaan sebagai subjek dan objek dalam karya seni bukanlah metode baru dalam penghasilan karya tetapi menarik perhatian melihat bagaimana perhubungan akrab di antara jalinan manusia dan mesin menjadi penggerak dalam semua faktor pembinaan kesenian budaya, infrastruktur dan ekonomi.

YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE

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Below are excepts from the exhibition catalogue with the guest curator’s essay by Nur Hanim Khairuddin and guest writer Ooi Kok Chuen.

‘KEMBARA DI SARANG SENI’, or ‘JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF ART’, has a very meaningful connotation to Ali Rahamad, an established local artist also known as Ali Mabuha.

‘Journey’ and 'art' are two words particularly synonymous to him, as they have become two most significant aspects throughout his life.

For approximately four decades, Ali, like a bird flying away from its nest in search of a better place, has undertaken a series of journeys from a humble village in Muar to a lively city of Kuala Lumpur, and from there, to nearly all over the world. He travels to search for and realise his artistic identity, his true self, his soul’s essence, and his sense of love and humanity.

‘I could still recall several lines of a Tagore’s poem quoted by Latiff, in Dewan Sastera if I’m not mistaken. This little note that Latiff penned especially for me as if to remind me that a journey will help us discover and recognise our true selves”.

‘As artists, just like musicians, writers or other types of people involved with arts, we should develop our originality in terms of techniques, themes, subjects and so forth. For instance, I could not simply declare myself a musician even though I have been playing guitar for 25 years as a form of self-entertainment. In order to create originality in our art, we must be really skillful and truly believe in whatever we do. We must keep on searching, must continue with our experiments, and never stop at one position. We should never feel satisfied with whatever achievements we have enjoyed so far.’

As an artist, Ali has no high-falutin ambitions. He is doing only what comes naturally and what he thinks ought to be expressed and articulated, in his own inimitable way. In an interview with Asiaweek (November 2, 1979), he said: “I just wanted to be myself, to paint, travel and to be free.”

“Anak Alam was started by four brothers – Latiff, Mustaffa, ‘Jo’ and I. Usman Awang (1929-2001, the poet, later ‘Datuk’) was our half-brother,” Ali reiterates.

Anak Alam was more like a colony of artists; it was not in any way an art movement. As mentioned by Ismail Abdullah, Anak Alam did not advocate any major or minor ideas, and nor were its members by any means naive. Its movement was not confined to only one particular idiom, medium, iconography, mentality, dogma or style of art.

War Series (1999-2002) Mixed Media on Canvas

According to some people, Anak Alam was a creative process, or even a theater of life. It was, as stated by a certain journalist, a place where its members shared their feelings and sensitivities, where love, freedom and imagination came together to produce one unified meaning. Their studio-cum-residence, though looked such a mess from outside, was vibrant with a diversity of activities. They held art exhibitions, poetry readings, print and sculpture workshops, theatrical plays, strange-looking installations and unusual performances. Various people went there: visual artists, writers, cartoonists, students, theater activists, ordinary people, famous figures such as Usman Awang, perhaps politicians too.

MANIFESTASI GENERASI ANAK ALAM (ditubuh pada 1 May 1974)

Blue Flame Mixed Media on Canvas 102 x 78 cm 2011

di sekeliling kami mesin-mesin mulai berkuasa, manusia-manusia menilai sesuatu di atas hitam dan putih semata, dan kebenaran hanya, diperuntukkan kepada satu sumber yang telah ditentukan terlebih dahulu, dan kesenian satu hobi yang ditampalkan kepada status hidup. di sekeliling kami berguguran kata-kata tentang ’seni’ dan ucapan-ucapan terhadap seni dari orang-orang yang tidak mengenal apa lagi punya apresiasi terhadap seni. dan di sekeliing kami kehijauan mulai bertukar kepada batu-bata dan kaca dengan debu yang dipaksakan kepada kami menyedutnya tiap detik waktu. dan dikeliling kami tali dan jaring birokrasi semakin menceruti gerak langkah dan tutur kata sehingga kami merasa kehilangan diri dan realiti.

kami generasi anak alam. dengan kesedaran di atas dan dengan cinta yang hangat kepada seribu warna dan kebebasan kemanusiaan menyatakan kehadiran kami dalam satu tenaga seniman untuk berkomunikasi dengan alam keliling dengan warna bahasa dan garis bentuk sebagai pengucapan kami yang dikenal oleh manusia sejagat. generasi kami adalah wadah kegiatan dan kesanggupan di mana idea dan imaginasi seniman diterapkan dengan kejujuran dan sifat kebenarannya. semua seniman dari cabang seni yang merasakan getaran dan keharuan yang sama dengan manifestasi ini adalah saudara-saudara kami yang satu wadah. tidak ada perbatasan keturunan, warna kulit, kepercayaan, usia, jantina dan ukuran rambut bagi generasi anak alam.

Puteri Gunong Ledang 11 Mixed Media on Canvas 147 x 103 cm 2005

Puteri Gunong Ledang 20 Mixed Media on Canvas 147 x 103 cm 2005

Aztec Series (2007-8) Mixed Media on Canvas

MANIFESTO GENERATION ANAK ALAM (formed 1 May 1974)

all around us are machines assuming control, humans making judgments purely in blacks and whites, and truth is but assigned to accepted beliefs from times before, and art a hobby attached to status. all around us are miscarriages of words about “art” and speeches on art from people who know not let alone appreciate art. and all around us the greens are transforming to bricks and glass with dust that compels us to gasp for each moment of time. and all around us the ropes and nets of bureaucracy

are restraining our walk and speech until we lose ourselves and the reality. we are the children of nature. with a consciousness and a love which warms to a thousand colours and which believes in the freedom of humanity to announce its presence in a single force of artists communicating with the environment with tonalities of language and design as our expression that is known by all humanity. our generation is a vassal of enthusiasm and readiness where the ideas and imagination of artists are embedded with honesty and qualities of truth. all art practitioners from all branches of arts who feel this tremor and turmoil and are with us in this manifesto are our comrades in the same vassal. with no divisions of ancestry, of skin colour, of beliefs, of age, of gender and length of hair in this generation of nature’s children.

(TRANSLATED BY WONG HOY CHEONG)

Twin Tower Series Mixed Media on Canvas 2008

JAPAN:Kingdom of Characters 20 Feb-20 March 2012 Gallery 2A

Balai Seni Visual Negara

www.artgallery.gov.my

26/page | ALEX GOMAR & NATASHA LOGAN

Researching the seemingly broad and important topic of art programmes in Malaysia, the first noteworthy observation is the apparent absence of any secondary literature on the subject. These programmes serve the purpose of nurturing the local and international artistic pace whilst supplying Malaysians with a medium for creativity. Such elements are paramount to the economic and cultural prosperity which Malaysia is seeking, and so the public and private spheres are beginning to appreciate more that these programmes are worth expanding and developing.

Malaysia has already proven its interest in visual arts.

In the last twenty years, Kuala Lumpur in particular has seen an increase in the number of gallery spaces emerging. Evidence for public provision is visible in Malaysia’s National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG), whilst the Petronas towers are home to the company’s own Galeri Petronas. Despite a slight setback in the art

www.shaliniganendra.com/residencies.html

eclectic individual styles. Artists, both international and regionally diverse Malaysians, may take inspiration from their new base and pursue interesting new creative avenues and fusions. Furthermore, intercontinental arrangements foster international communication and strengthen diplomatic connections between the parent and host countries.

Shalini Ganendra Fine Art (‘SGFA’) launches the 'vv'

www.rimbundahan.org www.artgallery.gov.my

market in recent years, there is an increasing emphasis on ‘investment value’-a questionable and dangerous focus. The Tourism Ministry is touting 'Art Tourism', albeit to a sceptical public audience. Parallelling this momentum, a greater prominence has been given to education in the arts in light of the private universities that have sprung up to satisfy demand.

These various developments in the art world are inspiring a number of artist-in-residence programmes, public lectures and art CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities, provided mainly by private organisations. The existence of these activities shows an institutional desire to foster the world’s, and Malaysia’s vision for the visual arts. A number of private galleries, mainly in and around the capital, are organising and accommodating such programmes.

There a numerous benefits to these programmes, appearing in terms of public and private advancement. For the established artists, the residency programmes represent the provision of appropriate tools, time and space with which to work. It is frequently understood that there will be an exhibition of the works which have grown from the dedicated residency period, gaining both gallery and resident publicity. In return the artists can usually expect accommodation, often at the gallery itself.

Many artists may find inspiration unavailable in their home setting, and the time and freedom is designed to allow a certain forum for experimentation.

More than this, the residency is designed to give the artists a pause for reflection in the hustle and bustle of everyday existence, and a respite from distractions which can dilute or disrupt the intensity of creation or thought.

Interestingly, these residencies develop more than just artistic expression. Many programmes are international in nature and in focus. Rimbun Dahan’s residency is “intended to encourage links between artistic communities in Australia and Malaysia” by accepting residents with Australian cultural backgrounds. The cross-cultural and cross-artistic dialogue which emerges often breeds intriguing and

in 2012, which will involve collaboration between an American artist and a team of Malaysian artists. The Gallery, which emphasises cross cultural dialogues, (whilst firmly exhibiting work that has a vernacular identity), also has an ongoing and successful nonprofit lecture program, the 'Vision Culture Lectures', that brings international cultural luminaries to Malaysia in a carefully structured programme. Having a multidisciplinary focus, the Lectures offer variety, having hosted Sir Roy Calne (surgeon and artist); Carol Cassidy (textile artist); Christopher Phillips (ICP Curator, NY) and others.

building practices. SGFA’s doors are opening to exciting and uninterrupted artistic experimentation in a relaxed suburban setting. It also hosts the ‘Exploring the East Residency’, designed to allow graduates and university students to develop curatorial and research skills, as well as giving them the chance to travel in Southeast Asia. This innovative residency fosters ties between the East and West, as the participants usually come from outside Asia.

Outside the metropolis of Kuala Lumpur there is a startling sparseness in such programmes. Penang appears to be the only other region in which any form of creative provision is immediately visible.

Malaysia has so much to offer in terms of space and inspiration - from the depths of the oldest rainforest in the world, to the beautiful beachscapes in Borneo or the rolling tea-plantations in the central mainland.

Yet the main source of residencies is in the capital.

ResArtis (www.resartis.org), a comprehensive website listing the world’s residencies, reveals that Australia has perhaps 20 times more opportunities than the under-represented Malaysia. Many of these Australian counterparts exist in rural locations, where the landscape is a source of intense spiritual and creative influence. In order to prevent Malaysian artists going abroad for residencies and even work, the art scene must adapt and expand to cater for its own talents.

Of course, not everyone can be the ‘artist’ in the strict definition of the word, where one makes a living by displaying or selling their artistic creations.

www.malihom-air.org

www.houseofmatahati.blogspot.com www.matahati-sageresidency.blogspot.com

The SAGER (South East Asian Art Group Exchange Residency) of the Ampang-based House of Matahati (HOM) encourages artistic connections with Indonesia and the Philippines by working with TENGARA Artland and Projectspace Pilipinas respectively. The residency “enables Malaysian, Indonesian, and Filipino artists to foster and strengthen regional ties, [entailing] 30days each in Kuala Lumpur, Jogjakarta and Manila”.

This same gallery is also committed to creating exposure for Malaysia’s up-and-coming talents. Its HOM Residency programme is designed for recent graduates and self-taught artists under 30 years old.

Happily, the number of residency programmes is slowly growing, with Rimbun Dahan’s establishment of an offshoot in the Penaga Hotel, Georgetown. Shalini Ganendra Fine Art has recently opened the innovative Gallery Residence, an award winning ‘green’ building that boasts contemporary rejuvenation of traditional

Nonetheless, thankfully certain galleries in Malaysia are making it possible for everyone to explore their creative side. Currently, they are organising lectures and forums allowing everyone to listen or participate in questioning established artists, whether it be an innovative Australian, making beautiful creations out of discarded materials, or a traditional Malaysian kitemaker, keeping alive the age-old styles. More often than not this occurs alongside the artist in residence programme-surely the best kind of art teacher. A public gallery in KL, Galeri Petronas, frequently gives visitors the opportunity to converse face-to-face with their artist in residence (though there has not been one for a few years), and the public can even attempt their own designs using traditional methods.

SGFA’s philanthropic programme ‘Art Hug’ is designed to expose under-privileged children to art and boost their creativity and confidence. The classes are often taken by the artist currently in residence or exhibiting at the gallery.

These kinds of provisions offer Malaysians a pocket of culture with which they may never again come into contact. Visitors to SGFA in July 2011 would have listened to a captivating lecture by Papua New Guinea-born expert Dr Susan Cochrane and Megan Djuramalwuy Yunupingu, a talented young artist from the isolated communities of the aboriginal

island of Elcho. It was a remarkable occasion for all those present, and part of the Vision Culture Lecturesproviding a unique and rare opportunity to hear an artist versed in the traditional Yolngu artistic styles.

But what if Mrs Djuramalwuy Yunupingu, as a childhood artist, was never given the chance to blossom? Education is a privilege sadly not available to all communities and for some, creativity is often forgotten in the effort to achieve even a minimal education. Considered a liminal discipline by many academic institutions, visual art is sometimes neglected even for those blessed with a good education. Understanding the statistic that the average Malaysian child will finish his or her education between the ages of twelve and thirteen, a focus on the arts must clearly begin early in life. This is where the art programmes play a very important part-like those of SGFA and StART Society, “an academy dedicated to serve the underprivileged children community, where the arts are used to bring healing and rebuild their self-esteem”. Such organisations contribute a vital opportunity for nurturing childhood creative expression through art classes.

An education in art fosters creative thinking and interesting ways of expressing oneself. These are fundamental skills needed for innovation in any field, and can be applied in any situation, be it finance, building contracting, or cuisine. An arts-based education provides one with the ability to challenge fixed and entrenched parameters within which people usually work. Government authorities are well aware of the benefits of creative thinking.

The education authorities have also made an effort in this direction as they scrapped restrictive UPSR and PMR examinations in 2010 in the hope that this would avoid producing students who were trained solely to pass exams and not think freely. The Knowledge-Based Economy (K-Economy), an idea launched in 2001, emphasises the fundamental role of critical thinking in an efficient workforce. It gauged the existing levels of Figural Creativity through collage-making, itself a visual art form. The 2008 study showed that children in Malaysia have the same artistic potential as their American counterparts-therefore there is no reason why this same smart thinking in life and business cannot be seeded from a young age.

However, the current education system focuses much more on vocational and science-based subjects. This in itself should be valued, since Malaysia is one of the leading innovators in physical sciences. Yet it can be detrimental to the study of subjects which enhance creative thought, which currently seem to have fallen down the list of the government’s priorities. According to a survey funded by Scripps College, California, a staggering 24% of people interviewed (a significant majority) had no confidence at all in Malaysia’s ability to reach Vision 2020’s projected target of developed-nationhood. This was in contrast to the 1% who believed Malaysia could reach this target. Many attributed this to the poor condition of Malaysia’s education, which was contributing to the negative brain-drain, as large numbers of Malaysians leave to study abroad, many never to return.

Art programmes currently go a little way to filling this socio-economic problem, but there is a considerable way to go. Currently they function on a small scale, receiving sufficient funds from private and public sources. However, many people would like to see funding greatly increase in an attempt to combat this brain-drain. Most of the art initiatives are privately funded and receive little support from the government, and sadly even corporate sponsors are moving away from support of the arts to focus more on environmental or educational programmes.

The creative future of Malaysia is of vital importance to the success of the country as a whole. Malaysia can focus on the future without losing sight of the traditional art forms which can be a valuable means for personal expression. Art programmes go some way to bringing the heritage - not only of the people in distant lands, but also of the Malaysian people themselves - back to Malaysians. These art programmes seek to guide traditions down new exciting avenues whilst endorsing a more widespread contact with artistic license. They represent the potential of Malaysia to achieve her goals by varying creative possibilities, as well as developing artistic styles, and are worthwhile for the sake of past, present and future.

With Compliments From

‘SAKSI DAN BUKTI : ANASSUWANDI DAN FAUZULYUSRI’

(NATIONAL COLLECTION) 8 Feb-7 May 2012 Reka Gallery Curators : Baktiar Naim & Syahrul Niza Zaini

‘PERTARUNGAN : AMRON OMAR’ 15 Feb-27 Aug 2012 3A&B Gallery Curator : Alizam Hassan

‘JAPAN: KINGDOM OF CHARACTERS’ 20 Feb-20 Mac 2012 2A Gallery Presented by Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur

‘THE LAST HARVEST : RABINDRANATH TAGORE’

28 Mac-6 Jul 2012 2B Gallery Presented by the National Gallery of Modern Art India

PHOTOS EXHIBITION

1 April-13 July 2012 2A Gallery Curator : Mohd Khazrul Sharuddin

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

(NATIONAL COLLECTION) 4 Apr-12 Nov 2012 1A Gallery Curators : Mohd Fairus Ismail & Ismail Yacub

‘KARTUN ’ORI’ EXHBITION

16 May-17 Aug 2012 Reka Gallery Curators : Syahrizal Zaihadi & Jazmi Mohamed Sharif

‘RAMADAN’

17 Jul-7 Dec 2012 2B Gallery Curator : Usnita Nasir

‘MEMBERS ONLY’

24 Jul-30 Nov 2012 2A Gallery Curators : Lim Ai Woei & Mohd Anuar Abd Aziz ‘THE MERDEKA SHOW!’ 28 Aug-28 Dec 2012 Reka Gallery Curator : Intan Rafiza

The National Visual Arts Gallery was established on 27 August 1958 under the patronage of Malaysia’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. Presently the NVAG, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia, aims to create awareness, understanding, appreciation of the visual arts and is the custodian of our national visual arts heritage.

EXHIBITIONS

‘DRAWING : WANITA’ 5 Sept-10 Dec 2012 3A Gallery 2012 Curators : Rohana Mohd Yusof & Hasimah Nyok ‘IKONIK’ (NATIONAL COLLECTION) 20 Dec 2012-12 June 2013 1A Gallery Curator : Bakhtiar Naim ‘ABDUL LATIFF MOHIDIN’ (A BIOGRAFICAL EXHIBITION) 26 Dec 2012-13 June 2013 2A&B, 3A&B Guest Curator : Tengku Sabri Ibrahim

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