Malaysian art now

TRANSFORMASI PERANAN: ‘KURATIS’

ART STAGE SINGAPORE
SOCIAL POLITICAL TRENDS IN
MALAYSIAN ART
INDIA ART SUMMIT
10
#

THE 14TH ASIAN ART BIENNALE

BANGLADESH 2010
 C O N T E N T S

Staff Writers :

Editor
07 Anugerah Seni Citra Kencana 2010:
Suzlee Ibrahim by Erry Arham
12-14 Baca dan Lihat: Nasir Baharuddin by Faizal Sidik
inc. 15
20
Rantai Art presents ‘Gravity’ by Wan Faizun Zafran
Interview: Jeganathan Ramachandram and Symbols-
Salam Sejahtera, Greetings and Salam 1 Malaysia! House of Natural Art by Kannathasan Thanapal
22-3 Transformasi Peranan: Kuratis by Faizal Sidik
I hope the New Year ushers glad tidings and positive beginnings for everyone. As for the 24 Malaysian Artist Abroad: Leon Lim
National Art Gallery, we ended 2010 by having a year-end-sale of selected merchandises
from the gallery’s shop as well as new and rare exhibition catalogues and books at Guest Contributers :
extremely affordable prices. Needless to say, the sale, especially our publications were
snapped up by the armful by art aficionados, book collectors, artists, academicians, 08-9 Art Stage Singapore by Rachel Jena
students and visitors. With such encouraging response, the gallery plans to organize an 10-11 Social Political Trends in Malaysia by Ooi Kok Chuen
arts book fair by the end of this year. We will invite institutions of higher learning from 16-17 India Art Summit: A report by Lina Vincent Sunish
the public and private sectors, galleries and other publishers of books on Malaysian arts 18-19 The 14th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh 2010
and artists to participate in this event. It will be the first book fair focusing exclusively on by Tan Seihon and Yap Saubin
the arts on a national level.
21 BSLN Sana Sini
Over Chinese New Year vacation in Jogjakarta, I had the pleasure of making the
acquaintance of Ibu Dyan Anggerani, Director of Taman Budaya Jogjakarta. I was given 25 BSLN Publication
a tour of Taman Budaya and introduced to some artists and was later hosted by prolific
26-7 What’s On
artist Nasirun at his beautiful home. I was pleased to be immersed in an atmosphere
of pure artistry. I believe there is much that our can co-operate and share with our
Indonesian counterparts. I am also especially impressed by their independent spirit, self-
sustainability and commitment towards their art and craft.
PUBLISHER
In order to better serve our clients and readers, is offering free advertisement Balai Seni Lukis Negara
National Art Gallery Malaysia
space in each coming issue for a duration of one year. This is to provide more
Ministry of Information,
opportunities for our artists, young and old to promote themselves, their artworks and Communication and Culture Malaysia
their services. Galleries, art activists, art shops, publishers and other contributors to the No 2. Jalan Temerloh
local art scene are also welcome to place ads or announcements in the next 5 issues. Off Jalan Tun Razak
53200 Kuala Lumpur
A reader’s feedback column will be added to gauge the interest and to receive MALAYSIA

constructive suggestions or criticisms in improving our newsletter.

P : 603 4026 7000
F : 603 4025 4987
Beginning with this issue we will highlight selected Malaysian artists based abroad under
the title ‘Malaysian Artists Overseas’. Our chosen artist for this issue is Mr. Leon Lim, www.artgallery.gov.my
who has been based in New York for almost 12 years. We hope to inform and update www.facebook.com\artgallery.gov.my
our readers the activities of their fellow artists abroad and inspire more of our Malaysian
artists to reach for greater heights in their artistic pursuits. l EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof Ahmad l
EDITOR Tan Seihon l ASSISTANT EDITOR Anis Amizan Hussein
Lim | DESIGNERS Nuzaihan Mustapa, Shamizar Rahim & Norhaslina
In this issue : Ahmad Kamsin l PHOTOGRAPHY Mohd Khazrul Sharuddin, Mohd
Yuzaini Ahmed, Mohd Adzim Abd Wahab l
• NAG’s assistant curators Kannathasan Thanapal interviewed veteran artist Jeganathan
Ramachandram while Wan Faizun Zafran shares with us the success of ‘Gravity’,
a multi-arts event organized by Rantai Art which was held at the gallery’s venue
recently.
can be accessed at www.artgallery.gov.my/senikini

Any feedback and comment please email to us at :

• Our regular staff writers, curators Erry Arham highlights an honor bestowed on one anis@artgallery.gov.my and tanseihon@hotmail.com
of our painter, Suzlee Ibrahim and the ever prolific Faizal Sidik writes about the
The publisher, National Art Gallery Malaysia,
works and the ideas behind Nasir Baharuddin’s conceptual, minimalists pieces and holds the copyright of all editorial content.
the definition of the term he coined ‘ Curatist’ (Curator-Artist) SENIKINI (ISSN : 1985-7233) is published six times
a year by National Art Gallery Malaysia.

• Academician and visual artist Yap Sau Bin and NAG curator Tan Seihon reports on All Rights Reserverd.
Copyright©2011 SENIKINI Malaysian Art Now
their trip to the 14th Asian Art Biennale in Dhaka, Bangladesh 2010. Printed in Malaysia.

• Our regular contributors Rachel Jenagaratnam shares with us her experience at the
Art Stage Singapore event while veteran art writer Ooi Kok Chuen gives us a short COVER :

introduction on the social-political trends in Malaysian art, dispelling the notion that “The Way It All Works” memaparkan
tema kekeluargaan dalam karya
Malaysian artists were not concerned with the socio-political situation of the country. instalasi ini, dengan gabungan buku,
I welcome the report on the India Art Summit by independent curator from India arca kertas, pop-up, potongan kertas
dan juga kolaj. Semuanya melibatkan
Lina Vincent Sunish. dunia kertas yang mana ia
merupakan salah satu alat komunikasi
sejak awal pembuatannya.
Finally, my heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the Young Contemporary Konsep harmoni yang dipegang
juga sebagai sokongan terhadap
Awards 2010 and may all achieve greater success in the years ahead. tampalan timbul haiwan-haiwan,
HASLIN `ISMAIL
sebagai satu keluarga yang The Way It All Works, 2010
membentuk satu komuniti lengkap. Di Campuran, kayu dan kertas
Mixed media, wood and paper
bahagian hadapan di bentuk kertas 171 x 122.5 x 122 cm
keras menjadi muka yang bermisai,
Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof Ahmad satu penonjolan terhadap ‘potret
dewasa’, yang juga melihat terhadap
Editor-In-Chief persepsi ketika kecil terhadap
bapa saya.
 ni
Se
an
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Pa
ah
bu
Se
koleksi seni

Art collections of former Malaysian Ambassadors

14 Mac -
24 April 2011

Balai Seni Lukis Negara

FEATURES
cooL stuff DESIGN
EVENTS
SOCIAL

Aesthetics Online Magazine issue 16 / February : www.aest.my

 07

SUZLEE IBRAHIM
MENERIMA ANUGERAH
TOKOH SENI :
ANUGERAH SENI
CITRA KENCANA 2010 l Arham Azmi

Satu Malam Anugerah Seni UKM 2010

telah diadakan pada 8 Januari lalu
bertempat di Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak
(DECTAR), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi,
Selangor. Anugerah Seni UKM yang telah bermula
pada tahun1994 telah mengiktiraf para seniman di
Malaysia yang diantaranya ialah Sasterawan Negara
Dato’ A. Samad Said dan Tan Sri Dato’ Jins Samsudin.
Manakala anugerah Anugerah Citra Kencana pula
adalah kelangsungan daripada Anugerah Tokoh Seni
dan mula diperkenalkan sejak tahun 2009. Penerima
Anugerah Citra Kencana sebelum ini ialah Dato’ Dr.
Johari Salleh (Tokoh Muzik) dan Dato’ Ismail Hutson
(Tokoh Bidang Seni Lakon).

Pada tahun 2010, Anugerah Seni Citra Kencana

telah diberikan dan mengiktiraf Tokoh dalam
Bidang Seni Tampak iaitu Encik Suzlee Ibrahim yang
merupakan seorang pensyarah dan pelukis Malaysia.
Anugerah tersebut telah disampaikan oleh Prof.
Dato’ Ir. Dr. Hassan Basri, Timbalan Naib Canselor
UKM. Pengiktirafan Tokoh Seni Tampak ini telah
membuktikan bahawasanya ia juga merupakan
bidang terpeting dalam cabang seni. Suzlee Ibrahim
dilahirkan di Kuala Terengganu pada tahun 1967
dan merupakan bekas pelajar Sekolah Menengah
Tengku Mizan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu dan
mendapat pendidikan formal dalam bidang seni
halus pada tahun 1987dari InstitutTeknologi Mara,
shah Alam (kini Universiti Teknologi Mara). Beliau
merupakan pelukis Malaysia yang sangat prolifik
dan sering mengadakan pameran di Malaysia dan
diperingkat Antarabangsa Diposisi Akademik, Suzlee
pernah berkhidmat sebagai pensyarah sambilan di
Fakulti Seni Lukis dan Seni Reka, Institut Teknologi Mara
dari tahun 1993 hingga1996 dan bertugas sepenuh
masa di fakulti yang sama (Universiti Teknologi
Mara) dari 1997 hingga Oktober 2009. Pernah juga
berklhidmat sebagai pensyarah sambilan Kokurikulum
Kesenian (Seni Arca) di Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (2002 – 2009) dan Visiting lecturer, ‘Program
Seni Budaya’, Pusat Perkembangan Profesional
INTAN, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur (2010). Kini, Suzlee
merupakan pensyarah tetap di Fakulti Seni Halus,
Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan
(ASWARA),Kuala Lumpur.
Respon beliau terhadap penganugerahan yang
diberi, katanya :
Gambar 1: Suzlee menerima Anugerah Seni Citra Kenchana 2010 daripada Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Hassan Basri sambil diperhatikan
oleh Dato’ Ismail Hutson dan Drs Rafie Haji Mohammad.
“Sepanjang saya melibatkan diri dalam
dunia seni lukis, saya tidak pernah terfikir
untuk mendapat apa-apa anugerah. Saya
melukis dan berpameran kerana minat dan
ingin berkongsi idea dan astetika yang ada
pada sesebuah catan yang saya hasilkan.
Apatah lagi anugerah Anugerah Tokoh Seni
yang diberikan oleh sebuah universiti
seperti Anugerah Seni Citra Kencana
ini. Anugerah ini merupakan satu
penghormatan kepada saya dan
pembakar semangat untuk saya bergiat
lebih aktif dan cemerlang di masa-masa
yang akan datang.”
Komitmen dan minat beliau di dalam bidang
seni lukis tidak perlu diragukan. Karya-karya
Suzlee pernah antaranya dipamerkan di
England, USA, Denmark, Jerman,
Perancis, Belgium, Itali, Brazil, Cuba,
Sepanyol, Kanada, China, Jepun, Argentina,
Greece, Poland, UAE, Australia, Bangladesh
dan juga Nepal. Beliau sering dijemput
sebagai penceramah, hakim pertandingan
melukis, kurator pameran dan sebagai
penasihat atau pakar rujuk dalam bidang
seni tampak. Suzlee juga merupakan ahli
ARG (Artists Respond Globally) yang
berpusat di Chicago, USA, dimana kumpulan
ini bergerak aktif dengan aktiviti-aktiviti
berpameran, dialog dan menghubungkan
pelukis dan penggiat seni di peringkat
antarabangsa.
Suzlee kini sedang dalam persiapan untuk
mempamerkan karya siri terbaru iaitu Siri
Sahara yang merupakan respon daripada
lawatan beliau ke Gurun Sahara pada tahun
lalu. Pameran solo yang ke 18 ini akan di
adakan di Muzium Seni Asia, Universiti
Malaya bermula pada 25 Febuari hingga 25
Mac 2011. Kebanyakkan karya Suzlee
kini berada didalam koleksi orang
perseorangan, galeri seni atau badan-
badan korporat baik di dalam mahupun di
luar Malaysia.
08

ART
STAGE
SINGAPORE

I was asked to share my thoughts on Art

Stage Singapore, an event I covered for
New Sunday Times, and as I mentioned at
the end of my article in the papers, the fair
was quite an experience.

The experience was, to be more specific,

an eye-opener. It was great to witness
international art events – and subsequently,
the art itself – coming closer and closer to
our shores and the appointment of Lorenzo
Rudolf as the Art Director of Art Stage
Singapore was undoubtedly a catalyst for
the fair’s success.

Known as the inventor of Art Basel

Miami Beach and the co-creator of
ShContemporary, his appointment garnered
a lot of attention and gave Singapore the
props to present Art Stage Singapore with
credence on the art circuit.
The fair’s location added to its plush and
trendy image. Held at the Marina Bay Sands,
one of the island’s newest developments
featuring a 5-star hotel and casino, the
art fair found itself a prestigious home that
matched its characteristic as an up-and-
coming element on the art circuit.
It opened its doors on January 12 and
the sheer size of the art fair was one to be
reckoned with. The partitioning walls of
each gallery evoked a sense of grandeur;
exhibitors came from all corners of the
globe (26 countries to be specific); and the
art – oh, the art – well, that requires a whole
paragraph on its own.
There were historical gems like Picasso’s, which
had serious collectors salivating; galleries
surmounted logistical issues and presented
artworks of gigantic scale; artworks flitted
between the traditional and the modern (like
one produced on an iPad); T Venkanna, a
performance artist from India, had to leave
the fair before its end, as the nudity in his
performance violated a Singaporean law; and,
there were a bevy of works by big names like
Chris Levine, David LaChapelle, and Ai Wei Wei
that elevated the entire fair, giving regional
collectors and audiences a shot at the major
leagues.
Artists like Takashi Murakami – complete with
a celebrity-worthy entourage – even made
an appearance at the fair’s vernissage, and,
the fair’s guestbook also saw the likes of Zeng
Fanzhi, Yoshitomo Nara, T.V. Santhosh, Jitish
Kallat, Shen Shaomin, Agus Suwage, Ronald
Ventura, Wim Delvoye, and I Nyoman Masriadi,
altogether driving home the point that Art
Stage Singapore is set to be Asia’s next big
thing after ART HK.
I missed the hoopla of Art Stage’s opening
night, but arrived on the second day of
the fair, paying particular attention to the
Malaysian galleries that had made the
cut for the list of exhibitors, some of whom
had secured additional Project Booths –
experimental spaces where the works of a
single artist or work could be showcased – for
themselves.
Of all our local exhibitors, Valentine Willie
Fine Art (VWFA) had the largest showing
at Art Stage Singapore. An all-woman
theme permeated their main booth under
the theme Poetics of Time and Space,
where they featured a selection of works
by Amanda Heng, Geraldine Javier, Mella
Jaarsma, Nona Garcia, and Simryn Gill. And,
what further positioned the gallery as the
go-to source for the best in Southeast Asian
contemporary art were their two project
booths. One featured a video by our very
own Chris Chong (BLOCK B), and the other,
documentation of the performances of
Melati Suryadormo.

The Southeast Asian theme also prevailed at

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA), who exhibited
a miscellany from the region. The opening
of their new space in Singapore coincided
with the fair and became one of its fringe
 09

l Rachel Jena

The entire work served as a vehicle to

comment on cultural values, whilst exhibiting
the works of young artists Haslin Ismail,
Rozana Musa, and Izat Arif. Artworks by the
trio were interspersed with groceries, much
to the confusion of the art-intelligentsia, and
selling items like kaya, bread, and tidbits
alongside these artworks could have been
read as a subversive poke at the commercial
aspects of art fairs.

Kedai Runcit 12, however, contained a far

more crucial lesson: it questioned the very
In effect, this illustrates the curatorial hand meaning of art itself. By displaying Haslin’s
in all aspects of the art fair. And, whilst such elegant paper-cut works alongside packets
commanding art and project direction could of instant noodles, letting Izat’s drawings
easily be misused to promote particular compete with colourful product labels, and
agendas or overtly project the emphasis housing Rozana’s adorable little ceramic
of one individual or group, in this case, it cupcakes in old-fashioned glass biscuit jars,
ensured a balanced distribution of galleries audiences were not only transported to the
from East and West and that quality for Art vestiges of their youth, but also propelled
Stage’s inaugural outing was of nothing but to consider trajectories in art like the notion
the highest calibre. of the readymade. Like Andy Warhol’s
Campbell soup tins, what is art - a pot of
events, whilst at the fair itself, RKFA gained kaya or a painting?
Wei-Ling Gallery was also subject to this
great interest for the works of Natee Utarit
“quality control”. Ivan Lam’s large glossy
and his Project Booth featured a young Thai On a whole, Art Stage Singapore had all
paintings attracted the attention of Rudolf’s
artist, Kedsuda Loogthong, whose poignant the components of a success art fair. Big
team and the gallery duly transported a
work featured personal letters from her family names, precise organization, and even
handful of Lam’s artworks to the fair. Their
in the Southern town of Songkhla. A regional the superficial additions like champagne
showing in Singapore embodied Lam’s latest
art institution secured its future and this is sponsored by Veuve Clicquot made
body of works, the full spectrum of which
only evidence that art fairs like this are vital all the difference. Combined with a
will be shown at his solo exhibition, Together
exposure for artists, particularly younger ones. world-renowned Art Director with stirring
Alone, in Kuala Lumpur this month.
credentials, there was little to detract or
TAKSU, with bases in Singapore and KL, downplay the critical value of the artworks,
12, led by artist Shooshie Sulaiman, only
featured artworks by Norberto Roldan. A but instead all the right ingredients to make
had a Project Booth, but together with her
small, but impressive showing under the the international art world sit up and take
team, produced one of the most attention-
header The beauty of history is that it does notice of Art Stage Singapore.
grabbing elements of the fair itself: a highly
not reside in one place, the choice of
realistic ‘kedai runcit’. The quintessential
Noberto Roldan was, as I learnt, a decision
store was built entirely from scratch and
made by Rudolf’s curatorial team.
characteristics of original ones were
duplicated with mind-blowing authenticity.
10
SOCIAL-POLITICAL TRENDS
AS recently as November 2005, blogger
(Small Acts)-arts critic Dr Carmen
Nge lamented the lack of Social Realism and
art activism in Malaysian art. “Malaysian art is
self-involved, preferring to languish in its own
ivory tower … never directly immersed in the
conflicts of the present day.”
But socio-political works can be found in
Dato Chuah Thean Teng’s works - Breaktime
(woodcut, 1936) and Kampung Life
(linocut, c. 1940).
Teng, as the world-acknowledged batik
art founder is called, also did several anti-
Japanese woodcuts under the pseudonym
Choo Ting during the Japanese Occupation,
as did Yong Mun Sen. Others like artist-
playwright John Lee Joo-For, who had
migrated to Australia in 1973, revisited the
wartime trauma decades later in comics-like
narratives.
At the turn of the 20th Century, artists of
Chinese descent closely followed political
upheavels in China, from the May Fourth
Movement of 1919, in reaction against
imperialism and feudalism, to Mao Zedong’s
1942 formula of Social Realist art.
Two icons of Social Realism art in the
National Art Gallery collection are Lee Boon
Wang’s Worker and Lim Yew Kuan’s Night
Arrest. Both were stalwarts of the Equator
Art Society founded in Singapore in 1956.
The society was avowedly nationalist and
anti-colonialist, and had its paternity in the
Arts Association of Chinese High School and
members included Chua Mia Tee, Lim Mu
Hue, Tan Tie Chie, Dr Lai Kui Fang and
Koeh Sia Yong.
LAI FOONG MOI - Sansui Woman, 1967 Oil Paint, 90 x 60 cm
LIM YEW KUAN - ‘The Arrest’, 1954 Oil paint, 116.5 x 142 cm
LEE BOON WONG - ‘Worker’, 1955 Oil Paint, 82.5 x 96.5 cm
Social Realism never caught on because
of the leftwing stigma and propaganda zeal,
which is said to stifle imagination
violations in the aftermath of the Operation
Lalang political crackdown (1987) was held
at the National Art Gallery’s Creative Centre.
and creativity. It featured works by Bayu Utomo Radjikin
(Warbox), Wong Hoy Cheong (lalang) and
Even Datuk Ibrahim Hussein had recorded Raja Shahriman Aziddin (Killing Tools)
injustices and inhumanity in works like Lebai
Malang (corruption) and the Sabra and Hoy Cheong consistently churns out works
Chatila massacre. with trenchant socio-political barbs, from
suburbia irony to a new wave of migrant
More subtle social commentary can be workers (Migrant Series). ‘What About
found in the works of Lai Foong Mooi’s Sansui Converging Extremes?’, curated by him in
Woman and Kuo Juping Indian labourers and 1993, brought together a slew of socially
Cowherds, while M. Salehuddin, Abdullah charged works and performances.
Ariff and Idris Salam dealt with social themes
Kok Yew Puah’s works dwells on the
changing youth landscapes, while the
installations of Zulkifli Yusoff, Tan Chin Kuan
and Noor Azizan Paiman question socio-
historical constructs.
Chin Kuan, Chuah Chong Yong and Chai
Chang Hwang are Chinese-educated artists
whose works touch on the marginalisation
of Chinese in opportunities in education,
employment and business. Newer social
problems are addressed in the works of artists
such as Loh Bok Lai, Ooi Kooi Hin and Phuan
Thai Ming.
Kow Leong Kiang’s Hey Mr Foreign
Speculator, Leave Our Country Alone (1998),
which won the Asean Art Awards in 1998,
is a poignant take on the Asian economic
contagion, and Wong Woan Lee’s Wong
Woan Lee Someone Forgotten (1999) looks at
the predicament of old age.
Hamidah Abdul Rahman unleashes a
series of feminist works that question religious
strictures on women.
Matahati, a loose co-operative of former
ITM students formed in 1989, engages in
the issues of the day and the past, in a
in their cartoons contributions to the print multiplicity of styles and media. The works
media. Latter-day cartoonists of note are by Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Ahmad Fuad
Rejabhad (Rejab Had), Lat (Datuk Mohamed Osman Ahmad Fuad Osman, Ahmad Shukri
Nor Khalid), Reggie Lee and Zunar (Zulkiflee Mohamed, Masnoor Ramli Mahmud and
Anwar Ulhaque). Hamir Soib @ Mohamed are a significant
bellweather of the changing times.
ZULKIFLI MOHD DAHALAN - ‘Shops’, 1973, Acrylic on canvas, 157.5 x 267 cm
Then there is the phenomenon of the two
‘Zuls’ - Zulkifli Mohd Dahalan with his forked
stick figures in purgatorial pursuits and Dzulkifli
Buyong with his sinister psychological mini
dramas involving children.
An important factor is the critical
imperative and the pungent immediacy of
issues. Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam and
Kung Yu Liew use photography montage
and collage respectively to comment on
diverse subjects. Nirmala flays against social
injustices, war and famine while Kung Yu
makes photo installations to mock unsavoury
cultural rites (Cheng Beng Festival).
An exhibition questioning human rights
TAN TEE CHIE - ‘Back Lane’, 1953, wood cut, 38.5 x 43.5 cm
 NIRMALA SHANMUGHALINGAM - ‘Beirut II’, 1983, Oil on canvas, 122 x 122 cm
11

IN MALAYSIAN ART
l Ooi Kok Chuen

REVIEW
J. Anu consistently explores the Indian
condition with great irony, more recently in

EXHIBITON
his MY GOD IS MY TRUCK solo, while Chang
Fee Ming’s recent VISAGE uses collage
elements in references to vexing political
events.

At the height of the Reformasi protests

spearheaded by the sacked Deputy Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Artis Pro
Active organised the APA exhibition involving
several senior artists at a vacant shoplot.
Artist Laureate Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal
was also at the forefront with protest works
such as ?, while I-Lann Yee’s disoriented and
disenfranchised water buffaloes can be seen
as symbolic of the Hindraf street agitation.

In the wake of the eviction of squatters

of Kampung Buah Pala, better known as
Penang’s High Chaparral, some 14 artists
including Tan Lye Hoe, Koay Soo Kau and
Chong Hon Fatt made a visual record
of the place.

As befitting the time, most young

artists prefer an art of engagement,
empowerment and interactivity. So you get
Lost Generation Space organising Bangun
(2009), a multimedia community arts festival
involving clan jetties in Penang. There were
performances, installations, photography,
music and exhibitions.

In Youth Lens, street kids in Chow Kit were

let loose after being equipped with cameras
and basic knowledge. In November 2010,
another group put together a community
mapping project called the Chow Kit Kita
CHUAH THEAN TENG - ‘Break Time’, c. 1936,
Festival for street children, and more recently, Wood cut, 16.5 x 13.5 cm
there’s Arts-Ed with its historical survey of Balik
Pulau in Penang.
KOW LEONG KIANG - ‘Mr. Foreign Speculators Stop, Damaging
In Literature, Social Realism can be found Our Country’, 1999, Acrylic on canvas, 83 x 183 cm
in the works of K.S. Maniam (The Cord), Datuk
Usman Awang, Datuk Shahnon Ahmad
(Ranjau SePanjang Jalan), Datuk Samad
Said (Salina) and Tan Sri Samad Ismail.

In Photography, there are Sultan Ismail

Nasiruddin, Ismail Hashim, Eric Peris, Wong
Kou Fou (Iban tribes people), Hari Ho and
Chan Kin Wah (old tenants of Central Market
and Petaling Street respectively), Colin
Nicholas (indigenous people) and Victor
Chin (handicapped children).

So, there you are, our artists are not blithely

producing hunky-dory works oblivious to the
conditions and grievances of the day.

CHAI CHANG HWANG - ‘Siri Pelukan II : Budaya Tuan BAYU UTOMO RADJIKIN - ‘Bosnia’, 1994, oil on
Punya’, 1992, Acrylic on canvas, 171 x 122.5 cm canvas, 127 x 97 cm
All images courtesy of National Art Gallery

SAMSUDIN WAHAB -
‘Self Portrait as a Patriot’
2009
Print on Paper
79 x 118 cm

SIEW LEE WONG - ‘The Reformasi Series’ (selected pieces) 2001/ 2005, woodcut, 41 x 30 cm
12
NASIR
BAHARUDDIN :
BACA DAN
LIHAT l Faizal Sidik
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Baca dan Lihat’, Teks komputer, foto dan objek, 38 x 44 cm (20 pcs),1995
Nasir Baharuddin boleh dianggap
sebagai seniman ‘gelombang’
kedua yang dikenali begitu komited dengan
aliran konseptual dan minimalis selepas
pengiat seni apa yang dikenali ‘The New
Scene’ pada sekitar tahun 1970 an di
negara kitayang mana kelompok ini cuma
mengetengahkan persoalan-persoalan
dalam pembuatan atau penciptaan
karya seni. Pengkaryaan seni mereka
menitikberatkan karya yang pelbagai
dimensi dalam membina sistem tanda.
Mereka juga membuat pendefinasian
semula antara catan dan arca dalam
membahagi dan mengkombinasikannya
semula dalam mencipta pendefinasian
baru terhadap identiti, falsafah seni, estetik,
status terhadap kategori-kategori seni dan
penerimaan seni. Mereka mengistiharkan
konsep dan ideologi yang radikal dimana
bertujuan untuk mencabar, mengali semula,
perlakuan nilai estetik dalam seni lukis
kontemporari Malaysia
Karya Nasir Baharuddin yang bertajuk ‘Baca
dan Lihat’ dihasilkan pada tahun 1995 ini
mempunyai 20 buah bingkai yang bersaiz
44 x 38 sentimeter setiap satu yang disusun
boleh dianggap sebagai instalasi dinding
atau ‘wall installation’ menggunakan
pelbagai bahantara seperti teks komputer,
foto dan objek antaranya pita kaset, jangka
lukis, minyak, kulit kerang, foto imej lampu,
akar kayu, speaker, sudu,foto gerbang
masjid, penutup lubang saluran air, cip,
kompas, pembaris, duit syiling RM 1, 10 sen
dan 20 sen.
‘Baca dan Lihat’ merupakankarya koleksi
terkini dalam perolehan Balai Seni Lukis
Negara 2010 yang kini terpilih untuk di
pamerkan di dalam pameran ‘ABC: Antara
Bahan Campuran’ iaitu sebuah pameran
yang menghimpunkan karya-karya koleksi
seni lukis negara yang menggunakan
campuran bahantara dalam karya seni
dari tahun 1990 an hingga kini. Karya ‘Baca
dan Lihat’ pernah dipertontonkanbuat
pertama kalinya di dalam pameran ‘Art
& Spirituality’yang dilangsungkan di Balai
Seni Lukis Negara juga pada tahun 1995
dan kemudian menerima jemputan untuk
diterbangkan ke Eropah Timur pada
pameran Malaysia Contemporary Art In
Prague di Manes Gallery, Prague, Republik
Czech pada 1998.
Konseptul minimalis yang beliau bawa lebih
menekankan sesuatu idea daripada pembentukan
rupa. Pengkaryaannya selama lebih 20 tahun
cenderung bermain dengan dunia tanda atau
apa yang dikatakan sebagai ‘sign’ Selain itu idea
daripadanya akan mencadangkan bahasa dalam
sistem visual dan pengisiannya menggunakan
aturan geometrik dan metodologi.Ferdinand de
Saussure ahli linguistik dari Swiszerland pernah
memperkenalkan ini dengan mengkategorikannya
kepada dua iaitu ‘signifie’ (penanda) dan ‘signfian’
(penanda) iaitu yang terdapat di dalam buku beliau
yang bertajuk ‘Course in General Linguistic’ dengan
mengatakan:
“Bahasa adalah suatu sistem tanda yang
mengekspresi idea-idea (gagasan-gagasan) dan
oleh kerana itu dapat dibandingkan dengan
sistem tulisan, huruf-huruf untuk orang bisu dan
pekak, simbol-simbol keagamaan , aturan-aturan
sopan santun, tanda-tanda ketenteraan dan
sebagainya. Namun itu semua hal yang sangat
penting dalam keseluruhan sistem tersebut. Suatu
ilmu yang mempelajari tanda-tanda kehidupan
dalam masyarakat bersifat dapat difahami. Hal
itu merupakan bahagian dari psikologi sosial
atau berkaitan dengan psikologi umum. Saya
menyebutnya sebagai semiologi (dari bahasa latin
semion: tanda) Semiologi akan menjelaskan unsur
yang menyusun suatu tanda dan bagaimana
hukum-hukum itu mengaturnya”(1)
Menurut Nasir etiologikal atau asalan daripada
itu representasi visual yang timbul dalam bentuk
gambaran semulajadi dan penataan objek itu akan
menghasilkan sistem terhadap fenomena visual. Ia
bermaksud untuk menstrukturkan aturan pada sistem
kehidupan melalui garisan dan ukuran sebagai
sifat dan keperluan diri terhadap penerokaannya
yang penuh dengan keanehan. Penerokaan ini
mempunyai kaitan dengan teori sistem kehidupan
yang mana sistem manusia akan diintergrasikan atau
dipersatukan dengan aturan semulajadi.
Menurut beliau lagi teori sistem kehidupan
menjelaskan kepada kita bahawa dunia ini terdiri
daripada sistem-sistem yang berjaringan diantara
satu sama lain dan mempunyai hubungan diantara
bahagian-bahagian secara keseluruhan dimana ia
memberi maksud suatu pengertian. Hidupan dan
organisma saling memperlengkapkan naratif visual
pada jaringan semulajadi dan struktur kesejagatan
yang hidup didalamnya pada kedua-dua peringkat
iaitu ‘sub-atomic’ dan ‘inter-galactic’. Kita dapat
melihat perihal ini melalui jarak antara, tingkah laku
dan elektron pada tahap ‘sub-atomic’ yang memikul
bebannya sama juga yang ada pada bintang dan
planet di alam ini
Dalam penulisan katalog oleh Harun Abdullah
Coombes yang bertajuk ‘The Islamic Spirit: Social
Oreintation in Contemporary Malaysia Art’sempena
pameran ‘Art & Spirituality’mengatakan bahawa
karya Nasir Baharuddin sebagai representasi tenaga
baru dalam pengkaryaan seni berkonsepkan
Islamik dari segi penggunaan media yang lebih
kontemporari. Pilihan beliau yang memilih surah 96 Al’
Alaq (Iqraa) yang bermaksud:
“ Bacalah dengan nama tuhanmu yang telah
jadikan. Ia jadikan manusia dari sekepal darah.
Bacalah kerana tuhanmu itu yang amat mulia.
Yang mengajar dengan (perantaraan) qalam.
Ia telah ajar manusia apa yang mereka tidak
tahu. Sayang! Sesungguhnya manusia itu suka
melewati batas. Lantaran ia melihat dirinya cukup.
Sesungguhnya kepada Tuhanmulah tempat kembali.
Tidakkah engkau fikirkan (bagaimana baiknya)
jika ia (berjalan) atas pimpinan? Atau ia menyuruh
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Baca dan Lihat’ (Jarak dekat) Teks komputer dan
pensil, 38 x 44 cm
(manusia) berbakti? Tidakkah engkau fikirkan
(bagaimana jeleknya) jika ia dustakan dan
berpaling? Tidakkah ia ketahui bahawasanya Allah
melihat? Ingat! Sesungguhnya jika ia tidak berhenti
nescaya kami sentak jambulnya. Jambul yang
dusta, yang derhaka. Maka biarlah ia panggil
tentera (kami) yang gagah. Ingat, jangan engkau
taat kepadanya , tetapi hendaklah engkau sujud
dan berhampir berdiri”.
Didalam Al-Quran dipilih sebagai ekspresi motif
terhadap kedua-dua ketajaman dan kekuasaan.
Kepada manusia yang tidak pernah kenal Al-
Quran ayat ini adalah disampaikan oleh Malaikat
Jibrail kepada Nabi Muhamad yang diketahui
tidak tahu membaca didatangi oleh peristiwa
sebegini. Iqraaadalah bahasa Arab yang
bermaksud ‘bacalah’. Surah ini sering dikaitkan
dengan pendedahan ilmu dan kuasa ilmu
pengetahuan itu sendiri.
Nasir menerangkan beliau memilih untuk mengalih
bahasa surah ini di dalam bahasa Melayu
sebagai penegasan latarbelakang karya ini yang
beridentitikan Melayu/Islam. Beliau kemudiannya
membina tema terhadap penghantaran ilmu
pengetahuan dengan menggunakan objek
untuk mengambarkan pemindahan Perkataan
Suci (Divine Word) kearah realiti kehidupan
harian (objek), yang memperkasakan manusia
sebagai khalifah. Surah ini sendiri mengingatkan
kita daripada penyalahgunaan anugerah Tuhan
yang menciptakan kita. Karya ini merenungkan
kepada kita persoalan hubungan antara daya
pancaindera dan daya akal manusia dalam cara
kita melihat objek.
Wajah teks itu sendiri merupakan objek persepsi
yang diolah dalam melihat sepintas lalu antara
objek dan teks. Kekaburan itu memberi kepada
suatu konflik mata untuk mengambil keputusan
diantara mana pilihan ‘persepsi’ yang menjadi
pilihan. Beliau berharap agar audien ‘mencari’
apa yang dimahukan oleh mereka.Karya beliau
membawa audien untuk ‘berinteraksi’ dengan
cara melihat dan melihat atas keputusan dirinya
sendiri mengenai apa yang dilihat. Secara asasnya
karya itu sendiri mengajak penonton untuk
berinteraksi atau berkomunikasi.
Persembahan karya ‘Baca dan Lihat’ ini bukan
sahaja spesifik kepada format tradisi segi empat
konvensional malah karya ini boleh disusun
mengikut psikologi ruang dimana ia mahu
 Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Unity’ , Tali dan cat, 152 x 135 cm, 1984
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Baca dan Lihat’ (Jarak dekat) Teks komputer
dan kompas, 38 x 44 cm 13
dan bahan semulajadi. Maksud beliau disini
adalah untuk memperlihatkan kepada
kita dengan lebih dalam dan lebih tenang
hubungannya dengan kita. Sehubungan
dengan itu dalam sistem teori kehidupan,

REVIEW
ianya menjelaskan kehidupan di alam ini
cenderung untuk mengatur setiap tahap
kerumitan dalam jaringan, corak dan struktur
yang muncul terbit kelihatan kacau yang
tanpa kebebasan dan arah. Kefahaman
terhadapnya akan membabitkan pemikiran
setiap tahap dan kepada keseluruhan sistem

EXHIBITON
kehidupan organisma dan tingkah laku
manusia.

Nasir memisalkan kita semua adalah ‘sistem

terbuka’ sebagai hidupan organisma
atau kumpulan organisma yang hidup.
Mengajak kita berfikir seketika tentang
kecelaruan kreativiti dan aturan tindakbalas
kebiasaannya pula adalah kespontanan
timbul daripada suatu yang dilihat berada
didalam kecelaruan yang lain pula. Beliau
mengatakan impak peranan seseorang artis
itu amatlah besar dan jika kecelaruan yang
memainkan peranan dalam memunculkan
aturan (karya), sebagai artis menurutnya
kita boleh bermula dengan melihat apa
yang dikatakan sebagai konteks kecelaruan
itu sebagai permasalahan artistik dalam
satu pandangan yang baru. Sebaliknya
tambahnya lagi dalam melihat kecelaruan,
kita boleh bermula dengan memerhatikan
bagaimana ianya menjadi lebih teratur dan
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Dari Satu Kewujudan’,
melihat corak alam sebagai asas kepada Campuran, 135 x 152 cm, 1984
penyelesaian masalah. Untuk kearah itu
mungkin boleh dilakukan dengan mengenali
dan pengkaryaan mengikut aliran alam
dalam memunculkannya dan melihat Dari segi penganalisaan pengkajian Nasir
sebarang penyelesaian yang kita cipta ini, ia memperlihatkan alam semulajadi
itu boleh membuka penyelesaian baru dan sistem kehidupan adalah dibina
pulaterutamanya dalam aturan sistem yang berdasarkan perhitungan yang abstrak
sukar difahami lagi merumitkan dan tingkah dan penghasilan ilmu pengetahuan
laku manusia sememangnya tidak dilatih sebagai fenomena visual atau objek.
untuk melihat atau memungkinkan sesuatu Terhasil daripada teori etiologi (iaitu
itudalam memahaminya. bagaimana sesuatu perkara itu berlaku)
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Still Life’, Teks Komputer atas kertas, 36 x 43 cm (4 pcs), 1999 yang mana ‘objek sejarah’ itu timbul,
Dalam pendekatan metodologi pula (dalam bahasa visual, misalnya seperti
Nasir memokuskan kepada 2 pendekatan bentuk dalam garisan) diambil sebagai
pertama teori sistem kehidupan dan teori komponen pembentukan ‘neurosis’.
etiologi iaitu pengkajian bagaimana sesuatu Pendekatan psikologi ada pengkajian
diperletakkan. Ia juga boleh di susun secara vertikal atau itu terjadi, dalam hubungannya dengan terhadap kegelisahan manusia dan
horizontal mahupun susunan seperti dalam permainan matematik dan disiplin yang lain. (perkataan keanehan, imaginasi dan realiti dan
bahasa silangkata, setiap petakan berkaitan rapat dan yang biasanya banyak digunakan dalam fenomena antara sedar dan tidak
mempunyai maksud dengan petakan yang lain. ‘Baca bidang perubatan dan teori falsafah, sedar. Oleh yang demikian analisis ini
dan Lihat’ boleh dikatakan sebagai kesinambungan dimana ia digunakan khusus untuk merujuk menyatakan bahawa proses alam dan
idea daripada karya sebelumnya iaitu “Still Life” pada pengkajian bagaimana sesuatu perkara itu sistem kehidupan adalah mempunyai
tahun 1999 yang menggunakan medium kertas dan teks berlaku, atau malahan alasan yang terhasil sistem yang menstrukturkannya,
komputer yang telah dipamerkan di dalam pameran disebalik keberlakuan sesuatu, dan dalam mempunyai abstraksi alamiah yang
‘Imbasan Bakat Muda Sezaman’ pada tahun itu. penggunaannya dalam bidang falsafah, merubah asas pengetahuan dan aturan
fizik, psikologi, pemerintahan, perubatan, kewujudan semua fenomena visual dan
Untuk memahami karya ‘Baca dan Lihat’tidak lengkap teologi dan biologi ia merujuk kepada sebab penciptaan manusia.
sekiranya kita tidak dibawa bersama untuk melihat penyebab terjadinya pelbagai fenomena.
dan mencungkil semula perkembangan pengkaryaan Apa yang ditemui dalam penemuanini
beliau sebelum ini bagi membantu kita dalam Secara dasarnya metodologi ini timbul kata beliau lagiini adalah berdasarkan
membuat interpritasi kembali karya-karya mutakhir atau berlaku daripada mekanisma proses sistem alam semulajadi dan
beliau. Penulisan ini juga akan menyelusuri bagaimana pembuatan tenunan tradisional dengan manusia, yang di bangunkan daripada
proses pengkaryaan beliau berlaku terutamanya menggunakan aturan dan sistem pengiraan pembentukan baru interpritasi. Apabila
kesannya terhadap karya ‘Baca dan Lihat’ dengan sebagai ekspressi artistik. Ianya adalah pembentukan ini telah dibentuk,
mengali kembali pernyataan pengkaryaan beliau kesinambungan daripada antropologi ianya bukan lagi merupakan proses
dengan membahagikanya kepada beberapa proses visual yang bersifat mistik yakni transformasi pengembangan yang berkenaan
sepertisumber literatur, metodologi, analisis, penemuan sistem kehidupan kepada dunia digit dengan sejarah, namun lebih kepada
dan penerapandalam pengkaryaan. dalam konteks epistimologi visual dan proses pengulangan yakni dimana idea
Komitmen beliau terhadap pengkaryaan yang maksud. Dalam kata lain, proses ini daripada pengulangan itu menitiberatkan
bernafaskan seni Islam berkonsepkan idea bukanlah adalah adaptasi daripada representasi pembentukan keesaan dan subjek
baru dalam seni lukis di Malaysia ia telah mula diterokai kebudayaan serantau, terutamanya ‘penting’. Bagi beliau ia lebih terfokus
oleh beliau sejak tahun 1980 an lagi dalam pameran dalam teknologi tenunan seni halus dalam dan ‘tidak tetap’.Ianya bukan berkenaan
pertandingan Bakat Muda Sezaman 1984 dengan karya praktis kontemporari. Proses tenunan ini dengan ubah dan gerak, dimana
beliau yang bertajuk‘Dari Satu Kewujudan’ dan satu lagi diadaptasikan dalam kata bagaimana prosesnya bersifat sejarah, tetapi ia lebih
‘Unity’ telah mula menampakkan idea-idea ke arah ini. proses lapisan itu dibina, yang mana setiap kepada pengulangan dan bergerak.
satu unit dibuat perkiraan. Pada Nasir alam pengulangan adalah
Penteorian literatur pengkaryaan seni Nasir berkait
rapat dengan apa yang dikemukakan oleh James Metodologi kedua beliau merujuk kepada
Miller dalam“Teori Sistem Kehidupan” yang popular seni bina Mario Botta, dimana perancangan
pada sekitar tahun 1960 an. Miller menanggap dalaman dibangunkan dengan grid dan
sistem kehidupan sebagai set yang kecil terhadap menyarankan lapisan kerataan, Dalam
semua sistem.Sistem kehidupan adalah membuka perihal ini, ukuran asas digunakan. Cara
sistem organisasi diri yang mempunyai sifat yang pengukuran dibina daripada ciri-ciri yang
istimewa dalam kehidupan dan berinteraksi dengan dibentuk daripada digit angka dan garisan
persekitarnnya. Peralihan ini berlaku daripada empat segi, kemungkinan yang terhasil
perubahan kuasa material. Sistem kehidupan boleh daripada bentuk bulatan dan segiempat
menjadi mudah sama seperti sel tunggal atau yang bujur. Karakter garisan jika diamati adalah
kompleks sebagai satu persatuan yang unggul. suatu yang wujud dapat dirasakan dan
disentuh atau apa yang disebut ‘permukaan
Nasir mengatakan pemikiran kita sering tidak tampak’ bertindak sebagai pemetaan dan
menghiraukan nilai dan keperluan spritual dan menghasilkan illusi. Tujuannya bukanlah
pendekatan saintifik dalam membuat interpritasi visual. untuk membentuk permukaan sebagai
Minda kita sering tertarik akan tarikan ketepatan yang permukaan itu sendiri, tetapi permukaan
ada dalam sains matematik yang bersifat ‘abstrak’ itu adalah dimunculkan dan diambil alih
terhadap doktrin keEsaan yang terletak pada aturan sebagai ‘objek tampak’ melalui lapisan
sistem alam, dimana ia mempercirikan keseragaman rupa dan grid. ‘Permukaan garisan’ itu
yang memberi penghormatan pada masa dan ruang. adalah gelombang bukan sahaja ciri-ciri
Ianya adalah penerokaan fizikal alam yang berbeza yang merubah namun adalah satu eksplorasi
daripada sifat keindividuan yang memerlukannya terhadap pencarian yang lebih spesifik
dan mencipta ruang kondusif sebagai renungan dan kepada alam dan perubahan didalamnya.
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Self Scripture’, Kayu, Tali dan Photo
meditasi dengan menggunakan bentukan geometrik, 168 x 160 cm, 1994
14
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Visual Independent’ , Campuran,
122 x 122 cm, 1995
merupakan konsep perubahan itu sendiri,
dan ia merupakan satu kepercayaan kearah
satu struktur dimana pembentukannya
berasal daripada sesuatu kemunculan
terhadap apa yang diniatkan. Ianya
berkenaan ‘sesuatu’ dan mistikal sifatnya.
Samada pembentukannya berasal khusus
daripada bentuk digit angka atau bentuk
ukuran, sebagai skema dan dimensi,
semuanya adalah objek pemetaan itu
sendiri. Dalam kata lain, ianya adalah
pembentukan matriks pengetahuan sebagai
‘asas kepada pengetahuan’
Hasilnya penerapan pengkaryaan jelas Nasir
dihasilkan dengan menggunakan unit asas
sistem pengiraan dalam membentuk imej
pada bentuk empat segi kepada empat
segi. Segi empat bereaksi sebagai latar
depan dan ruang fizikal 2 dimensi yang
tersirat. Refleksi daripada pembentukan
yang boleh di rasa dan di sentuh ianya
akan menghasilkan cadangan imej yang
kosong dan kerataan pada pengulangan
dalam pembentukannya. Tindak balas
aktiviti pengulangan adalah sebagai
pengucapan semula secara visual terhadap
masa dan ruang dalam aturan membentuk
logik pada komposisi terhadap fizikalnya.
Daripada formula visual ini ia diharap untuk
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Portrait of a Line’, Campuran, 168 x160 cm,
2008 (Koleksi Shalini Ganendra Fine Art)
Nasir Baharuddin, ‘Dot On Dot’, Campuran, 152 x 168 cm,
2008 (Koleksi Shalini Ganendra Fine Art)
menyarankan metodologi baru dalam
pembentukan sesuatu itu dengan melihat
aturan alam dan sistem kehidupan sebagai
unit objek dan kewujudan penciptaan.
Kesimpulan
Walaupun apa yang dibawa oleh Nasir
agak ‘berat’ yang boleh dikelaskan dalam
kategori heavyweight untuk dimengertikan,
sebenarnya ia memerlukan ‘pemBACAan’
dan ‘pengLIHATan’ yang mendalam
terutamanya kepada mereka yang
2 WATA N
JA
KO
UNTUK T JARINGAN DAN
Jangkamasa dan jadual
kontrak adalah pada bulan
Februari - April 2011 /
Mei - Julai 2011 /
Ogos - Oktober 2011 /
Setiap hari Sabtu dan Ahad
[Kecuali hari cuti awam]
Bayaran Tenaga Pengajar :
RM 800 sebulan /
2 jam sehari Sabtu & Ahad
Kertas cadangan bahan pengajaran
mestilah merangkumi :
Pengenalan dan asas sejarah seni
Pengetahuan dalam sejarah pelukis
dan penggiat seni dalam module
pengajaran. Mempunyai tajuk,
tujuan dan objektif, hasil akhir
pembelajaran serta rujukan yang
jelas dan fokus
Tenaga pengajar bertanggungjawab
menyediakan bahan pengajaran
kepada pelajar untuk setiap sesi.
mempraktikkan penggayaan seni formalis
namun beliau telah membuka satu lagi
lapangan yang jarang-jarang diterokai oleh
artis disini seterusnya memberi sumbangan
besar dalam memperkayakan falsafah
seni halus di rantau ini dan ‘membetulkan
niat’ artis kita dalam pembuatan seni
(art making) mereka agar tidak melihat
nilainya dari aspek komersialisasi sahaja.
Kebanyakan karya Nasir termasuklah
karya ‘Baca dan Lihat’ini sebenarnya
menyarankan idea, setiap petakan
karya ini adalah istilah-istilah semacam
ditandakan (konsep), kod-kod, ikon-
ikon dan indeks. Pengkaryaannya tidak
berminat untuk menengahkan isu atau
pengkaryaan yang bersifat memori
historikal, karyanya membawa kederiaan
kita ke dalam merenung kembali
penciptaan seni itu sendiri sebagai
apa yang dikatakan sebagai ‘sains
imperialistik’ iaitu ilmu sains yang dapat
diterapkan dan dipergunakan untuk
berbagai bidang kehidupan yang
lain sebagai ‘tanda’ memahami
media massa, budaya popular, dan
kehidupan seharian dengan lebih
baik dan lebih bermakna.
Rujukan
Arthur Asa Berger, Tanda-
tanda dalam Kebudayaan
Kontemporer, Pt Tiara
Wacana Yogja,
Yogjakarta, 2000.
Harun Abdullah
Coombes ,The
Islamic Spirit: Social
Oreintation in
Contemporary
Malaysia Art,dalam
‘Art & Spirituality’,
Balai Seni Lukis
Negara, 1995
Nasir Baharuddin,
Artist Statement
dalam www.
visualcrackers.
blogspot.com
S O N G
E N A G A
N
AR
PENGAJ ENDIDIKAN
P
BAHAGIA LAMA 3
BULAN]
AK SE
[KONTR
Syarat-syarat tenaga pengajar :
Mempunyai sijil-sijil yang berkaitan dalam bidang seni
atau menceburi bidang seni tidak kurang daripada 3 tahun.
Berpengalaman sebagai tenaga pengajar untuk
kanak-kanak berumur 7-12 tahun, remaja berumur
13-17 tahun dan golongan orang kurang upaya (OKU).
Bersikap tanggungjawab, berdikari dan berdedikasi.
Sijil-sijil yang berkaitan, kertas kerja dan biodata
lengkap tenaga pengajar boleh dihantar kepada :
Bahagian Jaringan dan Pendidikan
Balai Seni Lukis Negara, No. 2, Jalan Temerloh,
Off Jalan Tun Razak, 53200 Kuala Lumpur
[u.p Encik Mohd. Razmi Ab Rashid]
Atau email : razmi@artgallery.gov.my
Pertanyaan selanjutnya : 03 4026 7000
Tarikh akhir penghantaran permohonan
adalah selewat - lewatnya 28 Januari 2011
 15

Rantai Art adalah satu organisasi

seni yang tidak berasaskan
keuntungan bagi menggalakkan penyertaan
orang ramai terhadap seni. Rantai Art
mewujudkan satu tempat awam bagi
meluahkan ekspresi medium dan berkongsi
karya seni dimana ianya dapat memberi
faedah kepada orang ramai. Rantai Art
dicipta melalui rangkaian pereka-pereka
muda, artists, ahli muzik, pelajar, tech geeks www.rantai-art.blogspot.com

RANTAI ART
alike yang datang dari pelbagai latar
belakang. Ini adalah satu platform bagi
mempamerkan bakat-bakat muda seperti ini
dalam menonjolkan seni moden agar dihargai
dan ini adalah apa Rantai Art maksudkan.

Bagaimana ia bermula….
l Wan Faizun Zaffran
Organisasi ini bermula pada tahun 2006
dimana pada awalnya mereka cuba
mendapatkan maklumat melalui laman web
dan rangkaian sosial untuk mereka berkongsi
mengenai keghairahan seni bersama.
Oleh yang demikian, mereka memutuskan
untuk menubuhkan satu festival seni yang
merangkumi seni persembahan, seni fotografi,
seni kontemporari, seni arca, seni filem dan
puisi. Rantai Art mendapat sambutan hangat
pada Disember 2006 apabila acara pertama
mereka telah mendapat perhatian umum.
Dengan jangkaan yang besar, festival seni ini
telah menjadi acara seni tahunan sehingga
hari ini.

FESTIVAL RANTAI ART 2010 | GRAVITY

Bagi tahun 2010 dengan tema GRAVITY, ia

berasaskan lokasi festival iaitu komuniti ini
telah memilih Balai Seni Lukis Negara (BSLN)
sebagai lokasi yang strategik. Ini kerana BSLN
merupakan pusat tarikan seni dan kegiatan
seni di sekitar ibu kota. Berpandukan tema ini
juga, ia cuba menyatukan beberapa jenis hasil
karya untuk di pamerkan selain persembahan
pembacaan puisi, muzik, akustik, bengkel
penceritaan, bengkel fotografi, lomografi
dan banyak lagi aktiviti seni yang lain. Antara
nama yang terlibat mengadakan bengkel
pada festival kali ini ialah seperti Sue Anna Joe,
Lomokids, Komuniti Frinjan, The QUMS Actors
dan ramai lagi. Komuniti ini juga cuba menarik
minat orang ramai dan generasi muda untuk
mendekati seni. Idea dari proses penyatuan
rakyat dan seni, maka pada kali ini Rantai
Art telah menganjurkan Rantai Art Festival
2010|GRAVITY.

Festival Rantai Art 2010 ini telah berlangsung

selama seminggu bermula 20 hingga 26
Disember 2010. Buat julung kalinya Rantai.Art
pada kali ini dikira amat berjaya kerana sejak
dimulakan pada 2006, kini setelah 5 tahun ia
masih kekal utuh tanpa ada sebarang fasa
‘hibernasi’. Seramai hampir 1000 pengunjung
yang hadir sepanjang festival ini berlangsung.
Selain persembahan yang menampilkan
anak-anak muda yang berbakat, festival ini
tidak akan meriah jika tiada aktiviti jualan
seperti ‘flea market’ di Anjung Aras 1, BSLN.
Sebanyak 34 gerai jualan telah dibuka bagi
memeriahkan festival ini. Antara yang terlibat
adalah Airplane Systm Malaysia, Pepatun
Artwork, ChiickyFox™ , Giffy, Reportfolio
Republic Studio, LocoLove, Handmade Item
Shifa Mahmud, Modish Mode House, Pieces
Of Key, Sparknique, 84cube, Hippietized yang
menampilkan pelbagai jualan aksesori, muzik,
cupcake termasuk pakaian berjenama.

16
Ketna Patel - painted Tata Nano car, part of ‘Stop! Indians ahead’ art project
January 20th to 23rd 2011 saw
the third edition of
the India Art Summit™ underway in Delhi,
India. The country’s first and largest modern
and contemporary art fair in India, it is the
focus of much discussion because of the
responsibilities automatically thrust on it –
those of projecting a pan-Indian artistic
position within the international circuit of
art fairs, providing a neutral platform for the
mingling of artists, collectors and gallerists,
also creating a setting for the theorizing of a
contemporary Indian art history.
The fair itself has grown immensely from
the previous edition in 2009, when the
mood was still wary in the aftermath of
the economic downturn. This year saw 84
galleries from 20 countries participating in
the show, presenting the work of more than
500 artists. Structured booths arranged in a
large quadrangle housed myriad works –
paintings, photographs, sculptures, mixed
media installations, and prints – generating
diverse and distinct reactions amongst the
viewers, as is the case when such a variety
is available. Besides the main hall of booths,
there was an open air sculpture park with
large three-dimensional works, a video
lounge presenting the work of international
video artists, and several simultaneous
- A REPORT
l Lina Vincent Sunish 2011
All images courtesy of AISHWARYAN. K.
crowds at the Summit
INDIA
ART SUMMIT
Subodh Gupta - view of work at Summit entrance
art initiatives developed by individuals or
groups that were meant to bring about an
interactive engagement between the art
works and the public. These took various
forms, from a live blog ‘Project Feedstation’
by artist Abhishek Hazra and Foundation
of Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) that
published an ongoing commentary on
the Summit, to a live street art project by
contemporary French artists L’Atlas and Tanc
supported by Alliance Francaise de Delhi.
There were more than forty art and art history
students interning with the participating
galleries and the Summit management
working on a range of interactive art walks
and also helping visitors to navigate the
displays and spaces.
The Speakers forum was also one of the
larger attractions, with the inclusion of
internationally acclaimed speakers including
Anish Kapoor (Artist), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Co-
Director of the Serpentine Gallery, London),
Homi Bhabha (Director of the Humanities
Centre, Harvard University), Sheena Wagstaff
(Chief Curator, Tate Modern), Urs Stahel
(Director and curator of Fotomuseum,
Winterthur), Hou Honru (Director of Exhibitions
and Public Programmes, San Francisco
Art Institute) and established Indian art
historians, curators, art practitioners, gallery
directors, critics and cultural theoreticians
– among them Geeta Kapur, Saryu Doshi,
Jyotindra Jain, Ranjit Hoskote and Peter
Nagy. The panel discussions touched upon
a range of subjects, from the making of
Indian modern and contemporary art and
its presence on the international art circuit;
infrastructure building and art policy; arts and
philanthropy; the changing roles of curators;
art collecting; and dialogues with various
artists on the challenges and perks of art
making and its reception.
™
The Summit draws artists, students, gallerists,
patrons and the general public (many first-
timers) in large numbers, not only from Delhi
but from all over the length and breadth
of India. It is perhaps the one event that
allows for the viewing of a rough historical
progression of Indian art, with representations
of art from several generations of artists
both late and practicing. It brings together
all mediums, conventional as well as
experimental and allows all these to be
viewed outside the confines of the gallery
spaces. The inclusion of galleries exhibiting
contemporary western art allows for parallel
studies to be made in the growing
global art scenario.
The art market in India is geographically
centered, with the political and economic
capitals of Delhi and Mumbai functioning
as locus points. These cities have the best
infrastructure to support the network of art
makers, displayers, purveyors and buyers of
work in terms of the primary and secondary
markets and access to foreign markets.
The Summit allows gives primary access to
galleries and artists from smaller peripheral
cities from the south or north east and is also
becoming a model on which smaller fairs are
being planned.
The brainchild of Ms. Neha Kirpal, who has
over 8 years of experience in the creative
industries, art marketing and management,
the Summit is expected to become a one-
stop destination for Indian art globally.“…
It has catapulted India to be the epicenter
of the burgeoning Asian Modern and
Contemporary art..” she says.
What the Summit has succeeded most in
doing is unifying the varied and individually
operating sectors of the Indian art world,
(be it academic, commercial, or practice
oriented), and producing an atmosphere
conducive to a creative dialogue that
succeeds in bringing art closer to a
viewing public.
Lina Vincent Sunish 2011
lina.sunish@gmail.com
 My work experience has included numerous part time
17
jobs and consultancies in illustration, design, teaching,
research and curation. I have taken active part in all
other projects undertaken by both Jackfruit and A.R.T.
From May 2007 to January 2008 I handled all Jackfruit and
A.R.T projects in Mumbai, as I was residing there. I write for
Art & Deal, Contemporary Art Journal Mumbai, and am

REVIEW
regional editor for Art Fair magazine. ‘Art Walk’ was my
column in a Bangalore weekly ‘Bangalore Bias’ between
2006 – 2007. My writing has been published online in www.
mattersofart.com; www.citizenmatters.net; I have an
ongoing paper titled ‘Printmaking in South India’ which I
intend to convert into an exhibition and workshop. I have
traveled through India, the United Arab Emirates and

EXHIBITON
Italy, and am an active Rotarian.

LINA VINCENT SUNISH

General display

Gigi Scaria - work in Sculpture park

Mansoor Ali, ‘Dance of Democracy ll’, sculpture park

18TH ANNUAL
FREEMAN
FELLOWSHIP
PROGRAM FOR
ASIAN ARTISTS
Sponsored by the Freeman Foundation,
ten fellowship awards for mid-career
artists from China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand
and Vietnam.

[facebook] [twitter] [wordpress] [youtube]

April-1-2011 deadline

www.cutoutmag.com ©2011 Vermont Studio Center | PO Box 613 | Johnson, VT |

05656 | (802) 635-2727 | www.vermontstudiocenter.org
18
THE 14TH ASIAN ART BIENNALE
BANGLADESH 2010
REVIEW
EXHIBITON
“That which fails to illuminate the intellect,
and only keeps it in the obsession of some
delusion, is its greatest obstacle.”
___________________________________________
As there was only one flight from K.L to
Dhaka departing at 10.30pm daily, we
arrived in the wee hours of the morning.
Our tired looking guide was obviously not
pleased. He had also waited for us the day
before, due to some misunderstanding with
different time zones which one must admit,
the fault was not his!
We left the airport greeted by armies’ mostly
of old vehicles, ‘classic’ cars and rickshaws,
with their incessant honking and jostling for
space in the already tightly crammed roads.
The scene reminded one of the streets of
New Delhi, India almost 10 years ago. It was
a trip down memory lane for seihon.
Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh gave
first time visitors the impression that it’s a
tough place to live. For the duration of
our stay, we were bombarded daily with
news coverage of political strife, economic
disparities and social conflicts. The murder
of a union leader by thugs during a political
procession, partly caught on tape was also
aired repeatedly over the news.
The weather didn’t help as it was pouring
for days resulting in parts of the capital
incapacitated with floods and traffic jams.
When it’s not raining, the weather is very
much similar to Malaysia or K.L in particular
on any other day. Among the most populous
nation in the world, there were the usual gap
between the ‘filthy’ rich and ‘dirt’ poor, the
desperation and apathy in the always busy
streets, the reckless flouting of traffic rules
but solemn observation of public functions
etc. Lest we be taken by the ‘3rd-world
country’ impression painted, Bangladesh
through India, was the spiritual birth land
that gave the world the great Bengali poet
and patriot Rabindranath Tagore (1861-
1941)who was also the first non-European to
be awarded the Nobel prized for literature
in 1913. Bangladesh was the little David,
who fought and triumphed over their
goliath of a neighbor Pakistan, in the brutal
Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, losing
a whole generation of their intelligentsias,
professionals as well as civilians, martyred
on their path to independence. Bangladesh
A visitor taking a closer view at one of the winning pieces of artworks by a
Bangladeshi artist...
l Tan Seihon and Yap Saubin
is also the epitome of religious tolerance and
acceptance, where four main religions of their
populations are observed and celebrated side by
side in official functions.
In short, Bangladesh, as a relatively ‘young’
country with the deep trauma of struggle and loss
still fresh in their collective memories is a country in
a dynamic state of flux and discrepancies, which
brings us to the biennale.
“I do not put my faith in institutions, but in
individuals all over the world who think clearly, feel
nobly and act rightly. They are the channels of
moral truth.”
___________________________________________
Organized by the Bangladesh Shilpakala
Academy, with strong official support and
involvement (the heavily secured event was
launched by the Prime Minister, Madam Sheikh
Hasina) the Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh,
now in its 14th year, elicits pertinent questions
and provokes strong reactions that were mostly
expressed privately.
There were the disproportionate quality of works
submitted, the weak curatorial aspect or the
lack of it, the layout of the exhibition space and Some of the photo-realist paintings submitted by the South Korean
the overall direction. Since its inception back in representatives for this exhibition...
1981, the biennale was considered an important
and fledging platform for many Asian countries
to showcase their best. It was a source of pride
The Japanese, South Koreans and a handful of video
to be able to participate and exhibit along other
art with installations by Bangladeshis and others
Asian giants in staking a claim in contributing
were the saving grace. The chief reason for both
to the modernity project through the visual arts
of our attendance there was the seminar entitled
and Malaysia had participated in almost every
‘Contemporary Asian Art: New Realities, New Space’.
biennale held in Bangladesh. A short list of
There were the usual country presentation about
Malaysian artists who’ve in the past participated
each other’s art scene, some research papers etc.
were Zainal Othman, Choong Kam Kaw, Kok Yew
It could have been more engaging if the audiences
Puah, Ponirin Amin, Ismail Abdul Latiff, Abdul Latiff
were made up more of art academicians, critics and
Mohidin, Lee Kian Seng, Long Thien Shih, Sulaiman
students instead of mostly foreign participating artists
Haji Esa, Anuar Rashid, Syed Tajudeen, Chia Yu
who were impatient to visit galleries, studios as well as
Chian, Yusof Ghani, Awang Damit Ahmad, Loo Foh
other touristy activities! (The Japanese artists and their
Sang, Juhari Said, Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir and
compatriots did not even bother to join any of the
numerous others.
activites and gatherings that were part of the schedule)
Though last year it received many participation,
Aside from the usual accolades and the overtly
the biennale was unable to attract or appeal to
optimistic forecast of the future of Asian art, particularly
more progressive local visual artists and foreign
Indian Contemporary Art by mostly gallerists, there
ones judging from the numerous mediocre works
were no critical dialogue and feedback regarding
on displayed.
pressing issues such as challenges to the definition,
 content, context and practices of Asian
contemporary art today in relations to the
title of the seminar.
Interesting questions such as how far the role
of ethnicity, traditional and contemporary
culture and politics had conveniently made
modern art ‘Asian’ (what makes Asian Art
‘Asian’?) or vice versa and is this strategy
not just another outlet for nationalistic pride.
Looking back at the history of modern 19
Bangladesh, the significance given to its
modern art event is interesting. The idea
The works of three Malaysian visual artists were specially selected
of art serving a social – political function is by the National Art Gallery to take part in the 14th Asian Art
evident when a newly liberated country Biennale. Their works were chosen based on their excellent track
leads, organizes and participate in an art record and their commitment to their art.
event such as the Asian Art biennale.
We wondered, were our senior artists who

still relevant or even exciting in today’s
REVIEW
participated in the past impressed by the
perceived high regard the Bangladeshi
government had for the arts as important
vehicles to disseminate nationalism? Were
they inspired to proceed in such a direction
and in favor for the nationalizing our modern

Wakirul Rahman, Bangladeshi artist who is based in Berlin and friend at
the Dhaka Art Center.
circumstance, was not forth coming. Could
this be due to the tight schedule and also the
language barrier? Perhaps.
All this though have not escaped the more
critical and globalised eyes of the younger
generation of Bangladeshi artists. A handful
of them, now our new acquaintances,
observed that institutional involvement
had a regressive effect. The whole event
was seen to be dominated by officials and
administrators (propagating nationalistic
narratives through the arts) even senior
artists and activists (with their insecure
need to preserve their so-called legacy
as founders and early supporters of the
biennale) which was believed to have over
the years contributed to the decline of the
biennale, becoming less dynamic, safe and
predictable and probably led to its inability
to draw serious participation from around
the region and beyond. According to them,
there was indeed a need to honestly relook
or, to stipulate now and again what are the
contemporary art practices in Asia, and how
Bangladesh’s Asian Art Biennale can play an
effective and decisive role in the future and
EXHIBITON
arts or instead opted for the modernization
of our national arts? On the other hand, has
the impact and consequences of official
and institutional involvement been studied
and compared with other biennales and
triennales organized by other countries
around the world?
Chang Yoong Chia, ‘One Day…..’ Oil on Ceramic plates, 15.5cm x
The outcome of our visit and participation 15.5cm x 2cm (x5), 2006
had been most interesting and definitely an
Born in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Chang Yoong Chia is a full-time artist
eye opener. It had not only widened the living and working in Kuala Lumpur. A diploma graduate from the
horizon of our perspectives in these areas Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA), majoring in painting (1993-1996)
but also raised critical questions in relation Chang Yoong Chia consistently produces works that pushes the
to Malaysia’s own modern art practices and boundaries of formal art discipline and definition. He has been
institutional impingement (through policies) involved with numerous art exhibitions and projects in the country
in regulating the areas of art and culture. For and abroad. He is known for his unconventional use of materials
and subject matter. His works sometimes falls under the Magic
some developing countries, official support
Surrealism category, but Yoong Chia has successfully eluded
is pivotal in developing the art scene and being pigeon-holed in any single art category or genre. For more
industry, while others may prefer a laissez- information, please visit www.changyoongchia.net
faire approach. The many participants whom
we’ve spoken to at length have differing
opinions about approaches and solutions to
the obstacles back in their country in regards
to the issue of art etc, but one thing that all
agreed was the need to be proactive in
working towards the betterment of their art
scene and support for their artists.

Participants of the biennale from the Asian, South-East Asia and the Middle-
Aznan Bin Omar, ‘Ikan Tongkol (Tongkol Fish)’ Aluminum and
Eastern region...
wood, 72 x 62 x 30 cm, 2010

This is the challenge facing the younger
generation of visual artists and the art
community at large and it will be interesting
to see how they will respond, react or
engage to such circumstances in
time to come.
___________________________________________
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer
to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color
to my sunset sky.”
Indonesian painter Deddy Paw infront of his work..
Born in 1973 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Aznan Omar received his formal
art education majoring in sculpture from the MARA Institute of
Technology (1992-95). He went to complete his MA studies in
Art as Environment at the Manchester Metropolitan University,
Manchester (2008). An active participant in many group exhibitions
and winner of numerous awards, Aznan’s sculpture works are witty
expressions of sharp observations that works as a commentary on
the socio-political situation of the country. He is presently a lecturer
at the Fine Art Department at UiTM Seri Iskandar, Perak.
For more information about the artist, please visit
http://aznan-omar.blogspot.com

(All quotes by Rabindranath Tagore)

Haslin Bin Ismail, ‘A Portrait of Radiance’ Altered book,

The memorial built to honor the fallen patriots of the 17.7 x 11 x 2 cm, 2010
liberation war of 1971.

Hailing from Muar, Johor, Haslin bin Ismail was born in 1984
and completed his undergraduate studies in Fine Art from the
Universiti Teknologi MARA (2005-2007), Selangor. He is a full-time
artist working in various mediums and produces works that are
contemporary in style and content. A versatile artist, Haslin’s
works are known for their meticulous details, psychoplogical
underpinnings and bold imageries that both challenging and
astounds. He recently won the Young Contemporary Awards,
organized by the National Art Gallery Malaysia. He can be
reached at jiwapanas04@yahoo.com
20
JEGANATHAN RAMACHANDRAM AND
REVIEW
SYMBOLS-HOUSE OF NATURAL ART.
KANNATHASAN THANAPAL INTERVIEWS THE MAN BEHIND
EXHIBITON
THE ARTIST AND HIS WORKS
(Kannathasan) What made you chose the path of
an artist as a career?
(Jeganathan Ramachandram) My father was a
musician and my initial love for the arts started with
music and later street theatre which was staged
by my elder brother and his students. I have always
been interested in observing people and after
school I started doing portraits of friends, family
members and Indian film stars as a hobby. Funnily,
it never struck me that I too, could be an artist one
day. Just like many other teenagers of my age, I
tried out for other jobs.
I had gone for an interview for a partime sales
assistant job in the then Anthonian Bookstore, while
waiting for my MCE results. During the interview
the manager asked me a simple sales calculation.
I went blank and I couldn’t answer! Failing the
interview and feeling lost, I was taking a walk
near Lebuh Ampang when I chanced upon a
signboard, “Art Exhibition by Artist Chandran”.
That changed everything, I walked in and seeing
the works, a strange confidence set in, that I
could also draw and started drawing portraits
and scenaries. It was the job opportunity as an
illustrator in Preston Publishers that gave me the
first tag, Artist! Soon I was painting and doing little
commission works. It’s the acceptance from the
local art field which made me believe that I could
take up art as a career.
(K) Which local and foreign artist inspired you and
perhaps even influenced your works?
(JR) I had a thing for Latiff Mohidin’s works and
have been a great lover of Haji Omar Rahmat’s
calligraphy, Loong Shee Seng’s illustration and
“Jeri”Ahmad Azhari’s “Popart”! Omar Rahmat’s
patience greatly influenced me and Loong’s fine
illustrations were a great learning for me. Jeri on
the other hand influenced me greatly with his
“thinking out of the box” style. Though we were
all then working in the graphic section of The New
Straits Times, it was more like a fine art department
where we were exploring various styles.
As for the foreign artists, Marc Chagal is my
favourite! I like his symbolism and the dreamy state
that he presents his subjects. In India, I copied the
style of many masters and was greatly inspired
by M.F.Hussain, the Cholamandal artists and
traditional Indian sculptures.
(K) You studied visual arts in India, could you
share with us the experience there and what is so
distinctive about Indian Art?
(JR) I had gone to India to join in an art college
but just after two months I decided to become
an apprentice under a master sculptor instead.
I wanted to learn the Indian way. This form of
learning which is also known as “Gurukulam”
allowed me to get closer to the master and soon
I stayed with his family. It was a great experience.
There was no formal learning here and I was even
given free food and lodging. It was more of an
apprenticeship.
I studied granite sculpturing under master sculptor
Thangavel Achari, wood carving from Munusamy
Achari and traditional painting from Babu
Surender. I also took up music lessons under Vidvan
Arjunan and was also exposed to the different
ideologies in different religious beliefs which helped
me understand and appreciate the sciences that
produced arts of different cultures. I also spent a lot
of my time in art museums, libraries and performing
theatres.
There is one distinctive feature though, that is
very unique in Indian Art. If you just paint, you
would be called a painter! Only one who has an
understanding in music, philosophy and the visual
arts is seen as a wholesome artist.
(K) When you started your career as a young artist
back in Malaysia, did you have any message and
particular audience in mind that you wished to
addressed through your work?
(JR) It was very difficult then to be a fulltime artist
and after just a year of struggling to survive, I re-
joined New Straits Times in 1985 and continued my
passion in my free time until I left to start my own art
studio. I have always been interested in the Indian
community and did works that expressed the social
and religious perspectives that I believed would
create awareness and unity among people.
(K) What are the challenges/ obstacles an artist will
face and what advice do you have for them?
(JR) Obstacles and challenges are the very
rudiments in the journey of an emerging artist.
How else are you going to express yourself when
everything is easy and comfortable? You would
see great art coming from nations which went
through many crises. To me an artist is a “recorder
of time” and the art community should work
towards building a strong cultural pillar that would
help in the nation’s development.
(K) Why aren’t there many Malaysian Indians
involved in the visual arts?
(JR) Though the Indian civilisation was at its peak
in India, the Indians who came to Malaysia were
the working class Indians. They brought along bits
and pieces of the performing arts to entertain
themselves and were contented placing the arts
as merely a relaxation tool. This habitual practice
stayed long and a career in Art was something
the parents could never hear from their children.
The best of the Indian community are doctors,
engineers, lawyers and accountants.
But things have changed now. More and more
Indians are coming into the art scene and just
recently we showcased 19 Indian artists for
the first time.
(K) What is the concept and intention behind
Symbols-House of Natural Art?
(JR) I started this space in 2004 after noting that
there were very few Indian artists in the art scene.
I knew art has a way of moulding a community
and to do my bit, I started the Symbols House of
Natural Art. Though many people have mistaken it
to be a gallery space, the very intention is to have
a studio space for Malaysian Indians of all walks
of life to experience an art atmosphere. In 2009,
we started Symbols Art Club which had two art
exhibitions to date, numerous outdoor art sessions
and workshops. With 25 members, this club’s main
focus is to create awareness particularly among
the Malaysian Indian Art Community.
(K) The strong aspects of Hindu spirituality in your
works are undeniable. Can you comment on this?
(JR) Art is an expression of the inner self, an
expression that has come with years of believing a
certain practical ideology. I have learnt to believe
that there is a unity beyond the skin, a borderless
perception and a freedom which is so complete
in the spiritual context. It is always inspiring to see
a Malay artist’s works inclined towards the Malay
culture and religion, the Chinese engrossed in
painting about their community and being a Hindu
by birth it is only natural that I project spirituality
from the Hindu perspective.
(K) You received the Juror’s choice award in the
Young Contemporary Awards competition in
2002 for the work entitled “Fall Out in the Garden
Of Life” (1998) which is now part of the National
Art Gallery’s permanent collection. What was the
concept behind that painting?
(JR) I still think that the work was a little bit
misunderstood as the symbolic representation
which I had applied, gave an impression to many
that I was drawing an Indian Goddess and religious
symbols. As much as I feel, there is nothing wrong
in drawing an Indian goddess; though that was not
the case in that particular work. The actual story
behind the painting is a theatrical representation
of mother Earth and anti-nature! It was the dance
portrayal of Mother Nature protecting and
defending her children while stopping the ‘anti-
nature man’ from creating further destruction.
(K) Any thoughts, comments or suggestions about
the future of Malaysian art?
(JR) Installation art, the interactive medium of the
present era is now sweeping the world and is slowly
seeping into the Malaysian Art scene. Emerging
artists should take this seriously and evolve out of
the “painting box” and see art with a thinker’s cap.
An installation artist is needed to play many roles
unlike a painter who is placing forms into a canvas.
The role of installation art demands that the artist is
also a writer, painter, sculptor, musician and many
more. His ultimate work must communicate, make
people feel and allow them to respond to it.
I was recently at a show in the National Art Gallery
where 30 artists had displayed their installation skills.
My only concern is Installation art of the present
and future should happen intelligently natural
and artists should have very minimal limitations. I
coined the term ‘intelligently natural’ as installation
is various ideas put together and without the apt
knowledge and skills, one would find it difficult to
completely immerse in it. There is plenty of room for
improvement, considering that it’s just the start of
the era which I’m sure we can overcome in time. It
is my opinion that interactive art has come to stay
and we have to evolve out of beautiful pictures
and move ahead to take our country into the
International art scene!
For more information about Jeganathan
Ramachandram and Symbols-House of Natural Art,
please visit : jegaramachandram@blogspot.com
 ABILYMPICS
Pihak Majlis Pemulihan Malaysia telah bekerjasama dengan
BSLN SANA SINI
Balai Seni Lukis Negara dalam menganjurkan Pertandingan
Abilympics (berasal daripada perkataan ‘Olympic of Abilities’)
merupakan pertandingan kemahiran vokasional dan leisure
skills bagi golongan OKU kategori lukisan. Tajuk lukisan/
karya (mengikut yang ditetapkan oleh pihak penganjur 8th
BAKAT MUDA SEZAMAN 2010
International Abilympics) ialah ‘Flowers and Passion’ yang
telah diadakan pada 29 Januari 2010 di Lobi Balai Seni Lukis
Bakat Muda Sezaman (BMS) atau the Young
Negara. Penyertaan pertandingan adalah terbuka kepada
Contemporaries Awards (YCA) merupakan sebuah
semua Orang Kurang Upaya, dan pemenang tempat
pertandingan seni lukis berprestij yang diperkenal dan
pertama berpeluang mewakili negara ke Korea Selatan.
dianjur oleh Balai Seni Lukis Negara(BSLN) sejak 1974 lagi.
Pertandingan ini pada mulanya bersifat jemputan sahaja
dan kemudiannya dibuka secara umum kepada semua
para pelukis di Malaysia.

Syabas kepada pemenang-pemenang anugerah BMS

2010 dan kepada ahli juri serta semua yang terlibat dalam
menjayakan pertandingan yang bertaraf nasional ini.
BSLN berharap pemenang-pemenang tahun ini akan
menjadi pengkarya ternama dalam mermartabatkan seni
visual negara dan ke persada antarabangsa
disuatu hari nanti.

LAWATAN YB SENATOR
DATUK MAGLIN DENNIS
D’CRUZ,TIMBALAN MENTERI
PENERANGAN, KOMUNIKASI DAN
KEBUDAYAAN KE BSLN
Pada 25 Januari 2011 (Selasa) Balai Seni Lukis Negara telah
menerima kunjungan Lawatan di Auditorium dan galeri-
galeri pameran BSLN oleh YB Senator Datuk Maglin Dennis
D’Cruz, Timbalan Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan
Kebudayaan ke BSLN. Lawatan ini adalah salah satu lawatan
rasmi Timbalan Menteri melawat semua agensi Kementerian
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permohonan beserta dokumen-dokumen yang
diperlukan kepada :

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22
TRANSFORMASI PERANAN: ‘KURATIS’
REVIEW
EXHIBITON
Redza Piyadasa
PENGENALAN
Penulisan ini adalah anjakan
daripada sesi
dialog topik Transformation of Roles: The
Curatist (Curator Artist) di dalam Persidangan
Kurator Muzium Asia ke-5 atau The 5th Asian
Museum Curators’s Conference (AMCC)
yang telah diadakan di dua buah negara
iaitu Singapura dan Malaysia pada tahun
2009 di Rimbun Dahan. Dimoderatorkan
oleh Zanita Anuar bertujuan untuk
mengupas trend demikian dalam praktis
pengiat seni sebegini dalam arus perubahan
seni lukis semasa di negara ini.
Istilah ini dicipta gabungan daripada
perkataan artis dan kurator ia cuba
melihat perubahan praktis terhadap fungsi
seorang artis yang mengambil peranan
sebagai kurator. Kelahiran artis sebagai
kurator bukan sahaja sebagai mengisi
kelompongan apresiasi malah ia membina
dan membuka pendefinasian baru terhadap
kreativiti penciptaan artistik pengiat seni
sebegini.Transformasi ini berlaku kerana
kebanyakan institusi pendidikan seni negara
ini tidak mempunyai program sejarah seni
dan falsafah seni yang khusus seterusnya
menghasilkan pensejarahan seni yang
menyebabkan ketidakseimbangan dari
aspek praktis dan apresiasi.
‘Kuratis’ bukan sahaja berfungsi sebagai
kurator sesebuah pameran malah melebihi
daripada itu, pengkuratoran yang dilakukan
oleh kuratis mengambil kira daripada
aspek pengarahan artistik dimana artis
sebagai kurator lebih memahami apa yang
hendak disampaikan kepada khalayak
terutamanya dari aspek pendekatan
dan rekaan persembahan pameran dan
juga perancangan yang dirancang untuk
mencapai tujuan utama sesebuah pameran
itu dibina.
Jika di kaji kebanyakan pameran-pameran
yang dikuratorkan di negara kita adalah
mereka yang berlatarbelakang pendidikan
seni halus dimana mereka juga adalah
seorang artis pameran-pameran seperti
“Towards a Mystical Reality”, “Rupa dan
Jiwa”, “Rupa Malaysia”, “Manifestasi
Jiwa Islam”, “Seni dan Imejan” dan “Seni
Elektronik Pertama” adalah antara pameran
  artis seperti Redza Piyadasa, Suleiman Esa, Syed
(2) Manifesto ‘Towards a Mystical Reality’ (1972) oleh Redza Piyadasa
dan Sulaiman Esa
l Faizal Sidik
Ismail Zain Syed Ahmad Jamal
yang penting dan berjaya dikuratorkan oleh artis Di negara kita sejarah aktiviti pengkuratoran
yang mengambil alih peranan sebagai kurator sesebuah pameran seni boleh dikatakan bermula
dalam meningkatkan lagi penghayatan seni di
negara ini dimana pameran mereka masih lagi
diperbincangkan dan diperdebatkan sehingga
secara rasmi setelah penubuhan institusi seni
nasional Balai Seni Lukis Negara pada tahun 1958.
Namun peranan dan sumbangan artis sebagai
ke hari ini. kurator dalam perkembangan seni lukis Malaysia
mungkin tidak disedari oleh kita, mungkin juga
tiada perbincangan yang khusus dalam melihat
TERMINOLOGI sempadan memisahkan dua peranan ini iaitu
antara kurator institusi dan artis sebagai kurator.
Siapa itu kurator dan siapa pula ‘kuratis’? Disini saya meletakkan beberapa anjakan
Kurator secara tradisinya boleh didefinasikan mengapa tranformasi ini berlaku dan bagaimana
sebagai pembina, pemelihara, pengurus, ianya berfungsi serta kesan atau impaknya
pengusha, pengawal dan penjaga di institusi terhadap perkembangan seni visual secara
kesenian, kebudayaan dan warisan seperti keseluruhannya.
galeri, muzium, perpustakaan, dan arkib yang
bertanggungjawab ke atas koleksi institusi. MENCABAR KETERBATASAN INSTITUSI KEBUDAYAAN
Biasanya objek yang dipertangungjawabkan
dari segi permaknaan terma kurator ini adalah
objek yang boleh dilihat dan disentuh seperti
karya seni, artifak sejarah dan koleksi saintifik.
Sungguhpun begitu pendefinisian ini berbeza
mengikut tempat dan peranan. Di Britain
dalam istilah pemuziuman kurator adalah
pekerja perkhidmatan awam yang menjaga
kerja-kerja kontrak arkeologi yang menjaga
sumber kebudayaan sesuatu kawasan. Di
Amerika Syarikat pula istilah kurator digunakan
Hasnul Jamal Saidon
untuk jawatan ketua bahagian dan organisasi
kebudayaan, dan yang terkini dengan
perkembangan teknologi terkini skopnya
bertambah besar peranan kurator dalam
bidang pengkuratoran juga menjadi objek
kajian akademik dan penyelidikan ilmiah
di insitusi seni utama disana. Namun tajuk Bagi mereka yang terlibat secara langsung
pembentangan saya ini tidak memfokuskan dalam seni kini sudah tentu tidak boleh tidak
kepada kurator semata-mata tetapi artis akan bergerak terhadap zaman dimana mereka
sebagai kurator yang terlibat secara langsung berada atau apa yang dikatakan kontemporari
dalam seni kontemporari dimana mereka yang mengenalpasti dan mengakui model
berperanan sebagai orang yang membuat baru, pendekatan terkini dan kecenderungan
pemilihan, pembina dan penginterpritasikan untuk melakukan perubahan terhadap praktis
pameran karya seni sezaman dimana mereka kuratorial. Pembentukan peranan ini boleh
juga bertindak sebagai penerbit katalog atau dikatakan berkaitan dengan menidakkan atau
buku sebagai bahan dokumentasi. anti sejarah institusi yang menginginkan otonomi
dan mengikut citarasa sendiri dalam berpameran
Artis sebagai kurator atau ‘kuratis’ bukan satu dan berkreativiti. Artis sebagai kurator melihat apa
idea baru, ia mempunyai tradisi yang panjang yang terlepas pandang oleh kurator institusi, tujuan
sebelum ini. Dalam perjalanan sejarah seni mereka mengkuratorkan pameran dan menulis
sebelum ini cuma tidak dibincangkan secara sendiri konsep pameran mereka adalah salah satu
serius. Pada akhir abad ke-19 di Eropah tindak balas reaksi terhadap keterbatasan institusi
terutamanya di Paris yang menjadi pusat seni seni dalam memahami kehendak-kehendak
dimana artis memprotes juri salon dan institusi mereka ia seolah-olah mencabar had-had yang
yang konservatif pada masa itu iaitu ‘Paris Salon’ dibenarkan oleh pembuat polisi yang perlu
1863 dan mereka membentuk sendiri kumpulan mematuhi dengan peruntukan-peruntukan
avant-garde iaitu Salon des Refuses atau kebebasan yang dibenarkan.
‘pameran karya ditolak’ untuk mempamerkan
karya mereka diluar penentuan institusi seni.
Pada abad ke-20 di New York, tiga puluh tahun
kemudian, gerakan artist-run-centre atau pusat
seni yang digerakkan oleh artis mula menjadi
fenomena di seluruh dunia.
Artis sebagai kurator bukan sahaja
mengkuratorkan pameran malah mereka
berkemampuan menulis dan menghasilkan
buku tentang seni dengan baik artis-artis seperti
Joseph Kosuth, Ad Reinhardt, Frank Stella,
Donald Judd, Robert Smithson dan di sini pula
Ahmad Jamal dan Ismail Zain adalah antara
Wong Hoy Cheong
mereka dihormati terhadap sumbangan teks
penulisan-penulisan dalam pameran yang
dikuratorkan mereka sebelum ini. Kata-kata
mereka masih relevan dan masih diguna pakai
dan di petik dijadikan pembuka wacana untuk
menguatkan lagi hujah bagi mendekatkan
audien.
 23

REVIEW
“The arguments regarding curating as art,
or uber-curator as ‘author’, stems, therefore
from the lack of definition regarding the
limits of curating, and consequently troubling
the of the potentiallly unfettered power of
the agency of curation. The reverse of this,
the artist as curator, similarly emerges from

EXHIBITON
collapse of any viable distinction betwen the
work of artists and the work of curators, whilts
the professional and institutional distinction pembinaan seumpama ini yang boleh dijadikan model.
between them remains and in the process of Banyak pameran-pameran penting seni lukis dibina oleh
being professionalized further” (1) artis yang terlibat dalam penyelidikan umpanya pameran
‘Rupa dan Jiwa’ Syed Ahmad Jamal adalah daripada
Oleh kerana keterbatasan dalam berekspresi pengkajian beliau berkenaan dengan seni tradisional
ini dihalang maka artis sebagai kurator Melayu. Dapatan dan penemuan beliau itu didokumentasi
ini mencari jalan lain yang lebih sesuai dalam bentuk buku dan beliau sendiri mengkuratorkan
dengan misi dan visi yang ingin dibawa oleh pameran seni terhadap penerokaan pengkaryaan pelukis
mereka dengan bergerak secara kolektif yang mempunyai kesinambungan daripada seni tradisi.
atau membuka ruang alternatif atau artist Pameran seni konseptual ‘Towards a Mystical Reality’ oleh

ARTIS
run spaces yang digerakkan sendiri oleh koloborasi Redza Piyadasa dan Suleiman Esa adalah yang
artis secara solo dan berkumpulan dalam mengasimilasikan budaya Timur dan Barat dalam perspektif
mempamerkan karya sendiri dengan karya baru seni sebagai sebuah kajian saintifik dari sudut mental,
lain dengan tema dan arah dan hala tuju meditatif dan mistikal yang terdapat dalam falsafah Asia
yang sama. Antara ruang-ruang yang berhubung dengan amalan falsafah Taoism dan Zen yang
biasanya di gerakkan sendiri oleh artis meninggalkan pengaruh dan polemik sehingga ke hari ini.

=
sebagai kurator yang terdapat di negara ini
antaranya adalah Rumah YKP, Rumah Air PENUTUP
Panas, Lost Gen Space, yang diinspirasikan
bertujuan untuk menolak kewujudan Sedar atau tidak kebanyakan pengkuratoran pameran-

KURATOR
muzium dan galeri seni dan memaparkan pameran penting di negara ini adalah mereka yang terdiri
satu inovatif dan eksperimentasi seni terus daripada artis sebagai kurator. Pengkuratoran ‘kuratis’
kepada khalayak baru, ia bukan sahaja mempunyai pengaruh yang besar dalam pengkaryaan
dalam seni visual malah dalam muzik seni di negara ini selepas pameran dan saranan-saranan
(kumpulan muzik indie) menolak syarikat dalam tulisan mereka antaranya seperti Redza Piyadasa,
rakaman muzik pop dan juga teater (rumah Sulaiman Esa, Syed Ahmad Jamal, Ismail Zain, Hasnul Jamal
teater absurd) menentang persembahan Saidon, Nirajan Rajah dan Wong Hoy Cheong.
teater arus perdana.
Pameran ini memaparkan 68 catan dan
Kuratis bukan sahaja berpendidikan malah mereka
lukisan Magritte dari pelbagai media
PENEROKAAN CARA BARU DALAM MELIHAT merupakan artis yang ‘bijak’ yang bukan sahaja mampu
daripada 31 pelukis kontemporari seperti
membincangkan pengaruh sejarah seni, idea, konsep,
Richard Artschwager, John Baldessari, Vija
Pengarahan yang menarik membawa teori , estetik dan falsafah dalam pengkaryaan mereka
Celmins, Robert Gober, Jasper Johns, Jeff
penceritaan yang menarik perhatian
Koons, Ed Ruscha, and Andy Warhol.
audien, kurator seperti juga pengarah filem
atau lebih tepat lagi sebagai ‘pengarah
Pameran ini melihat perbezaan dan
pameran’. Di akhir abad ke dua puluh
pendekatan yang tanpa disedari yang
dan seterusnya memasuki abad ke-21
hadir dalam seni pop, konseptual dan
memperlihatkan ramai dikalangan artis mula
sensibiliti pasca moden merujuk idea dan
mengkuratorkan pameran yang menidakkan
imaginasi Magritte. Apa yang menariknya
peranan kurator institusi. Dalam melihat
pameran ini adalah reka bentuk pameran
potensi-potensi kreativiti dalam peragaan
Baldessari begitu bersahaja dan melucukan
sudah macam menjadi satu trend semasa
merupakan daya cipta baru dalam
di dalam acara-acara besar seni seperti
persembahan pameran dalam memahami
acara seni dwi-tahunan Biennale dan festival
dengan lebih mendalam pengkaryaan
seni kontemporari Art Fair pihak penganjur
Magritte dimana beliau menggunakan
menjemput artis sebagai pengarah seni atau
subjek awan yang begitu dominan dalam
kurator bebas mengkuratorkan pameran.
karya artis surealis itu di dinding dan lantai
Reputasi yang dicipta oleh artis sebagai
galeri seolah pelawat yang berada dalam
kurator dengan persembahan pembinaan Susyilawati Bte Sulaiman
ruang pameran ini terapung-apung di udara
pameran yang luar biasa
melihat karya seni di atas awan dan langit
dan idea yang menarik secara khusus malah dalam praktis seni secara umumnya.
yang biru.
menjadi perhatian khalayak ‘Kuratis kontemporari’ bukan sahaja mengenalpasti dan
untuk datang melihat. memperkenalkan pendekatan baru dalam pengkuratoran
PENEMUAN DALAM PEMBINAAN PAMERAN
malah mereka juga bertindak serba boleh ‘multi-
Pendekatan artis sebagai tasking’ sebagai juga pengkritik dan pentadbir seni yang
kurator agak berbeza merupakan satu transformasi peranan dualisme yang lebih
dengan kurator institusi padu dan berkuasa dalam sistem dunia seni (artis, kurator,
dari segi kreativiti. ‘Kuratis’ pedagang seni, kolektor) akan datang.
datang dengan idea
terlebih dahulu sebelum
mencari artis-artis yang Rujukan.
Niranjan Rajah sesuai dengan idea
beliau yang berpusatkan
daripada pemikiran beliau daripada aturan (1)Judy Rugg, Michele
pameran biasa yang berasal daripada Sedgwick, 2007. ‘Issues In
idea di studio artis. Mereka melawan Curating Contemporary Art
arah pendekatan konvensional dalam
berpameran dengan seboleh mungkin
and Performances’. Intellect
untuk meneroka sesuatu yang belum Book.
pernah dilihat oleh sesiapa dari segi rekaan
artistik peragaan. Pengunjung ke galeri (2) Redza Piyadasa,
atau muzium memasuki dunia baru kuratis.
Apabila ke galeri audien bukan lagi berada Nur Hanim Khairuddin
Sulaiman Esa, 1972. ‘Towards
dalam kehidupan biasa harian mereka, a Mystical Reality: A
mereka seperti berada di dunia lagi satu
Penemuan-penemuan baru bukan sahaja
Documentation of Jointly
ciptaan kuratis , dunia estetika dunia yang Initiated Experienced
berlaku di dalam makmal-makmal sains
tidak boleh diucapkan dengan kata-kata,
dunia gambaran. Sebab itu apabila anda
tetapi juga studio-studio artis sebagai pusat by Redza Piyadasa and
inkubator budaya. Boleh dikatakan artis Suleiman Esa’. Dewan
memasuki muzium atau galeri audien akan
sebagai kurator bertindak sebagai ‘saintis
ditawarkan dengan imejan aneh ciptaan
sosial’ yang mencari dapatan-dapatan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
artis.
daripada objek-objek yang dipamerkan.
Mereka penghubung antara dunia visual
John Baldessari seorang artis konseptual
dengan makna iaitu teks dan dialog, ia
diberi kepercayaan oleh Los Angeles
boleh dikatakan sebagai ‘jambatan’
Contemporary Art (LACMA) dalam
pengantara kepada penginterpritasian
mempamerkan semula karya pelukis
dan apresiasi oleh pelukis dalam kerja-kerja
surealis dalam pengkoleksian mereka.
produk pemaknaan atau ‘production of
Pameran Magritte and Contemporary Art:
meaning’ dalam menerangkan sesuatu
The Treachery of Images sebuah pameran
komentar, visi atau manifesto.
diadakan pada 2006 meneroka impak
pelukis Belgium Rene Magritte (1898-1967)
Di Malaysia ada beberapa sampel
terhadap pengkaryaan generasi pelukis
pasca-perang Amerika dan Eropah.
24 MALAYSIAN ARTIST ABROAD
REVIEW
EXHIBITON
Name : LEON LIM inspire your work?
Year of birth : May 26 projects in Malaysia. I am looking for investors
Hometown : Kedah / Penang
Education : Penang / New York
Current Base : New York
(SENIKINI) How long have you been
based abroad?
(Leon Lim) Almost 12 years
(SK) What made you decided to venture overseas?
(LL) I enjoyed drawing, painting and going to art tuition
privately during my childhood period. I told myself I
want to be an artist when I was 10. In 1996, I found a
lot of damaged and unwanted objects left on the
streets and irreplaceable shophouses destroyed in
George Town, I started to realize that none takes art or
history very seriously. I felt that Malaysia did not play a
role in the art world - creating jobs and opportunities
for artist and documenting artworks exhibited. I felt
that being an artist would be hopeless in Malaysia. I
decided to leave my homeland for New York to pursue
a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts and finding more opportunities
for building a career as an artist.
(SK) What were the initial challenges when you began
your art career in a foreign land?
(LL) Too many foreign and American artists in New
York!! I would say 50,000 artists in this city. New York
is the arts centre of the world. It is very competive,
requires you to be active in your career. It is very good
to have challenges because it helps you develop
interdisciplinary talents and drive you gain knowledge
about other cultures, languages as well as ethics.
(SK) What are the advantages of being based overseas
and how have those advantages nurtured your artistic
and creative talent?
(LL) It depends on what a country offers the artists.
Most countries don’t have what the art world needs.
But discovery of cultures, raw materials, and traditional
techniques are some of the ways that inspires artists and
influence their creative talents and unique works.
I lived in New York for more than 11 years, including my
academic years. New York has tons of art foundations,
galleries, museums (a museum doesn’t mean you see
only antiques and old things, Malaysia hasn’t advanced
the understanding of the word, “museum”), artistic
events, art studios, and theaters. There are various
opportunities to participate in events, to apply for art
grants and artist-in-residency programs, to socialize with
artists, curators, art editors, to visit new exhibitions at
museums and galleries, and to promote your artwork
as your brand, all in one city. That is where motivation
and inspiration for making a piece of artwork begin.
Another advantage of being an artist in New York is if
people get inspired strongly by your creative artwork,
your artwork would be featured in many renowned art
magazines and exhibited at one of the top museums or
galleries in New York. It becomes possible to promote
your works to a much wider audience.
As we are now in the age of globalization, artists are
about exploring new borders, finding new possibilities
in every field, and that is an opportunity to develop
creative works.
(SK) What are the differences in terms of
environment, working as an artist in Malaysia
and abroad?
(LL) With no galleries, no curators, no art
foundations, no collectors, no sense of
aesthetic, and no moral establishment for
the arts, being an artist would be hopeless
or meaningless although art classes and
art grants are provided. When poverty and
illiteracy are a country’s unsolved major
problems, art or artists are not a priority.
It happened to our country in the past
because I am the only one who understands
and loves art among my family and relatives
from both my paternal and maternal side.
What I’m creating today isn’t really what
I was creating when I was a child and
teenager in Malaysia. It doesn’t mean it was
negative experience. I really appreciate
what I experienced in Malaysia, USA and
around the world because this journey
transforms my work all the time.
(SK) What are some of the themes that
(LL) Collecting ‘everyday’ objects always
inspires me since I was kid. I have kept tons
of objects in my family home in Kedah, my
storage in Rochester, NY, my good friends’
homes in New York, and my apartment in
New York, NY. An object is part of a life story
that people don’t know how to appreciate.
Sometimes I feel the objects are a love
affair to my talent because the attraction to
everyday object is overwhelming.
Also, my recent works were inspired by the
intersection of my personal experience with
the social segregation and the politics of
modern alienation. Last year (July 2010),
I was commissioned by the Penang State
Government, George Town World Heritage
and Penang Global Tourism to create a
public art installation for George Town
Festival, to be inaugurated in conjunction
with UNESCO World Heritage recognition.
I incorporated old chairs, which were
unwanted and damaged that I found
around George Town, into my public art
installation. The installation introduces
unknown historical facts. It offers people a
chance to stop, to see and to reflect about
their own history.
(SK) What artistic works/projects are you
currently working on right now?
(LL) I have a big project this year. That is very
exciting but unfortunately I am not allowed
to share my new work with to public until
it is completed. I believe that it would be
appropriate to tell people about it when
the artistic work or project is done. I am still
applying to several organizations for my
other upcoming exhibitions. I hope to have
another exhibition in Kuala Lumpur this year
or next.
(SK)What were the most memorable/
unforgettable experiences you’ve had as an
artist working overseas?
(LL) “The 3(656)” and “Silent Story” were the
most unforgettable experiences I’ve have
in my career as an artist in foreign countries.
I was awarded and commissioned to do a
permanent art installation for a university’s
new building. That was my first time making a
permanent work. I worked on the installation,
“The 3(656)” for six months. I was told that
many students and faculty loved “The
3(656)” because it made them think critically
and analyze the relationships between the
numbers and the university. The other piece,
“Silent Story” which I first created for the John
F Kennedy Center in Washington DC, one of
America’s most famous centers for the arts,
got the attention of two renowned museums;
CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, China and
Total Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul,
South Korea. Those two museums selected
my work, “Silent Story” for international
exhibitions. It helped build my career further.
(SK) How often do you come back to
Malaysia? What are your typical activities
when you are back here?
(LL) I would visit my family in Malaysia only
once a year because I don’t have projecst in
Malaysia. I am still interested in doing artistic
and corporations who are interested in
seeing Malaysia become one of the leading
contemporary art centers. If I were offered
more opportunities to do artistic projects
to inspire Malaysians and foreigners and to
improve the quality of life in art communities,
I would frequently go to Malaysia.
(SK) What advice would you give to other
aspiring Malaysian artists hoping to
make it abroad?
(LL) I always encourage new artists and local
artists to do the four things that will develop
new talents and get their work recognized
internationally and locally; do research on
International funding for the arts and artist-
in-residency programs offered by many
countries such as Berlin, New York, Barcelona,
Shanghai, Tokyo, Florence, London, and
Paris; read art magazines and art news,
creating artwork with descriptions and right
materials; creating a portfolio website that is
convenient for curators, gallerists, art editors,
and art collectors from around the world to
see. There is the first important thing artists
need to know, which is to create artworks
relating yourself to a certain position that
has significance, for example, to recognize
your own position and condition, the relation
to your reality and who you are, where
you come from. Copying other country’s
art would misinterpret and misrepresent
Malaysian art.
Portrait Artwork of Julian Assange | Screenprint on colored
graphic art paper | 14 H x 12 W in inches | 2011
Richard Stengel, TIME’s Managing Editor, selected this portrait
artwork for TIME’s Person of the Year edition. Published 28 million
copies.
www.leonlimstudio.com
 BSLN Publication

ZULKIFLI YUSOFF ‘NEGARAKU’

INVENTORI HIMPUNAN
TETAP WARISAN SENI
TAMPAK NEGARA
2004-2009
1065 karya terbaru
Himpunan Tetap Balai
Seni Lukis Negara yang
telah diperolehi dari
tahun 2004 sehingga
2009.
300 Muka surat
1065 Gambar Karya
berwarna
ISBN: -
Katalog pameran ini merupakan
satu himpunan karya-karya
terbaru yang memperlihatkan
karya-karya berupa lukisan, kolaj,
gabungan kepelbagaian bahan
(mixed media) dan instalasi.
KEPADAMU KEKASIH
Selain memperlihatkan kepada
khalayak akan perkembangan
dan hasil karya terkini ianya juga
Katalog KepadaMu CHENG HAW CHIEN
Kekasih diilhamkan khas ALAM SENI / THE ART WOLD
akan memberi pengalaman
bersempena dengan BMS2010
baru kepada khalayak untuk
Kedatangan Ramadhan
meneroka kepelbagaian Sebuah katalog pameran
dan sebagai tanda Brosur pameran solo Dr. Cheng Haw
disiplin bahan dalam karya yang memfokuskan kepada
kesyukuran kepada Chien ini memaparkan memaparkan
seni rupa. Bersesuaian dengan pelukis muda yang bertanding
Allah Yang Maha Esa. pameran beliau yang ke 136. Melalui
jangka waktu pameran yang menghasilkan karya yang
Penerapan nilai-nilai pameran ini, pelbagai elemen seni
akan melalui sambutan hari bermutu tinggi dan mempunyai
murni seumpama lukisan, puisi dan kaligrafi dengan
Kemerdekaan 31 Ogos 2010 dan jatidiri sebagai seorang
ini diharap dapat cara menulis untaian-untaian puisi
juga sambutan hari Malaysia pelukis. Pelukis muda yang
menemukan para di terapkan di atas lukisan. Menerusi
pada 16 september 2010, berjaya dalam pertandingan
pelukis dan khalayak teknik-teknik yang unit beliau ini telah
pameran ini diharap mampu ini diberikan anugerah dan
dalam konteks wacana berjaya merintis aliran keseniannya
mengembalikan semangat insentif galakan. Pertandingan
keislaman yang boleh sendiri. Beliau belajar daripada
nostalgia, kedamaian dan ini mula diperkenalkan pada
ditarbiahkan dalam generasi silam dan memberi
menanam semula semangat tahun 1974 dan dibuka kepada
pelbagai arus dan kesedaran kepada generasi akan
perasaan patriotik kepada warganegara Malaysia yang
bentuk penghayatan datang.
khalayak yang datang melihat berusia dibawah 35 tahun.
samaada ilmiah
pameran ini.
mahupun kesenian. RM15 sekeping
ISBN 978-983-3497-51-5 RM30 satu set (3 jenis rekabentuk)
ISBN 978-983-3497-48-5 243 m/s
ISBN 978-983-3497-50-8
107 m/s
84 m/s
RM 75
RM 80
RM 20

AKAN !
NG ! BARU BARU
!
DATA
!
BARU

!
BARU

All publication can be purchased at the Gallery Shop located at National Art Gallery. For enquiries please email to osmi@artgallery.gov.my

RIVER ART PROJECT

presents

RIVER MEETS LIGHT 2011

Sg Pinang / Prangin Canal / Sg Klang (TBC)

Workshop presentation
in conjunction with the
International Day of
Action for Rivers
Date: 12 March 2011
Time: 8.45pm

Venue: Sungai Pinang at Junction of Lorong Kulit

(Beside Stadium Pulau Pinang)

Premiere performance in conjunction with George

Town Festival

Date: 29 to 31 July 2011

Time : TBC

Venue : Prangin Canal, Penang

The River Art Project Exhibition at MAP@Publika
Date : 15 to 28 August 2011
Venue : MAP@Publika, Kuala Lumpur

Workshop Performance
Date: 10 September 2011
Venue: along Sungai Klang, TBC

CONTACT :

OMBAK-OMBAK ARTSSTUDIO
RIVER ART PROJECT
Address Correspondence Address
1-5-6 Solok Paya Terubong
11060 Air Itam
Pulau Pinang
Email riverartproject2011@gmail.com
Phone Ho Sheau Fung (Penang) +6 012 404 5733
Alex Yong (KL) +6 019 322 2932
 A solo exhibition entitled CINTA by Bayu Utomo Radjikin, due to be opened on March 19, 2011 Saturday at HOM, Ampang. There will be 10 pieces
of charcoal on paper and 4 acrylic on canvas to be displayed on the exhibition. This special exhibition featuring Marvin Chan and Kow Leong
Kiang as a guest artist.
ON

More info visit houseofmatahati.blogspot.com

HOM
6A Jalan Cempaka 16,
Taman Cempaka,
68000 Ampang Selangor
WHAT’S

+6 03 9285 6004 (Office)

+6 012 373 6004 (Mimie)

Sutra Foundation
presents

Continuum
An exhibition of paintings and drawings by
Sivarajah Natarajan & Chelian

(25 March - 17 April 2011)

‘Stirring Images of the transitions and

transformation of Odissi to inspire
contemporary paintings with universal
themes’

Opening Exhibition
(by invitation only)

25 March 2011,
8.30pm (Friday)

Venue : Sutra Gallery,

12, Persiaran Titiwangsa 3,
53200, Kuala Lumpur

TO ADVERTISE IN PLEASE EMAIL TO... a n i s @ a r t g a l l e r y . g o v . m y

and tanseihon@hotmail.com

www.artmalaysia.com.my
 www.rimbundahan.org

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