Me And My Parents As Zapatistas Zakaria Ali Prior to painting this work, Dr Zakaria Ali had just finished studying

art in Texas, USA and furthered his studies at the Universidad de las A eri!as, Pue"la, Mexi!o# Mexi!o was a very unlikely !hoi!e for ost Malaysian artists "ut it was situated just south of Texas and its "e!koning appealed to his artisti! senti ent# $e "raved hi self, learned Spanish and went over there to study Mexi!an art, traditional and odern# The way art was respe!ted and revered in all layers of so!iety in Mexi!o tou!hed hi # Artists there had a !lear role in the so!iety and what he saw and learned for ed his ideas of art to a large extend# During a revolution in the %&'(s, Mexi!an artists were tasked with re!ording histori!al events on urals for the edu!ation of the asses# Most !o on people !ould not read or write, "ut they !ould understand paintings and artworks# Art !ould "e used as a powerful tool in edu!ation ) a deep reali*ation leading to a future life as a professor of art, artist, novelist, art historian and art !riti! with a do!toral degree fro $arvard University# +hile resear!hing on the peasants, revolt against the -uare* regi e, he was deeply oved "y their spirit of struggle against foreign oppression who had owned their lands for !enturies# The revolt was led "y a native . iliano Zapata, one of the ost revered national heroes of Mexi!o in odern ti es# $e was a realist, a pra!ti!al revolutionary who sought for li"erty, agrarian rights, politi!al and e!ono i! e an!ipation of the peasants in southern Mexi!o who were ostly living in severe poverty# The painting depi!ts Dr Zakaria and his parents dressed up as Zapatistas or followers of Zapata with a Mexi!an "a!kdrop under a !lear "lue sky# The work !learly refle!ts Dr Zakaria,s deep love and fas!ination for Mexi!o, the people there and their !usto s and !ulture# $aving assi ilated their live into his and experien!ed their "eauty, he yearned to see his parents "y his side, perhaps even fighting for freedo as no"le Zapatistas, whose ideology was understood "y Tun A"dul /a*ak in his esta"lish ent of 0.1DA# $en!e, the painting is a for of 2su"li ation3 where he a!hieves his wishes, al"eit in an i aginary real or ro anti! world# As with 1atiff Mohiddin and his 4er an expressionis , Dr Zakaria !a e "a!k "ringing along Mexi!an ele ents and figurative painting, !onvin!ed that this is the "est way to test his own artisti! skills and allow viewers to understand his essages# Touted as one of the ost uni5ue paintings in the history of Malaysian art, Me And My Parents As Zapatistas is a !al realisti! painting of three figures, two of who o!!upy so e of the dearest positions in his heart# 6t ay look !o onpla!e, "ut a great deal of thoughtful deli"eration and experiential transfor ation has gone into for ing the work# To appre!iate it further, it is helpful to know how Dr Zakaria works# 0ro his own words 5uoted in www#penang7artists#!o , he says8 2The o ent we apply the painted "rush to

!anvas, we are engaged in a onologue of un!ertain e phasis# .a!h stroke is a de and, a plea, a la ent, and a !o pro ise, all of whi!h are ade half expe!ting to "e diso"eyed, denied, ignored, and re"uked# The agony of un!ertainty often !lai s endless hour of sleep# +aking is no "etter "e!ause y !hildren have re inded e that y lips 5uiver when 6 paint, a sure sign that things are less than s ooth "etween e and y !anvas, "etween the paint 6 ix and the ixed up ideas in y head# Many paintings dis!ontinued years ago are relu!tantly signed "e!ause of the pressure of a forth!o ing exhi"ition, or of the re5uest of "uyer who has paid# Those still left unsigned ean si ply that the !anvas and 6 have de!ided to delay striking a deal, a perpetual stand7off#3 /enowned artist, art !riti! and historian, the late Piyadasa has this re ark to add, 2Seen within the new glo"alising !ontexts of the 4lo"al 9illage and the new re!ognition of ulti7!ultural realities today, this work assu es new eaning# Zakaria Ali,s approa!h to defining his identity and the Self see ed to have gone against the ore rigid and senti entalised atte pts ade "y other Malay76sla i! artists of the sa e period, who had self7!ons!iously atte pted to retreat to the an!ient grasslands of the Malay76sla i! past in order to assert their :Malay7ness,8 Zakaria Ali,s notion of Self, as is refle!ted "y this work, see s ore !os opolitan in its orientations and u!h ore !onfident#3 ;Masterpieces from the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, p %<=>