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RAJAAH:ART, IDEAS AND CREATIVITY
OF SULAIMAN ESA
YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2011
SENI VISUAL DAN HAK CIPTA 4
ORDINARY PEOPLE,
EXTRA-ORDINARY ARTISTRY
KEMBARA YUSOF GHANI
MALAYSIAS LEON LIM
SELECTED FOR AMERICAS
REALITY TELEVISION SHOW
Ambassador Dato Mohd Yusof Ahmad
Editor-In-Chief
Selamat kembali bersama
Bagi meneruskan momentum, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN)
dalam tempoh dua bulan yang lalu telah mempamerkan
beberapa buah pameran yang menarik dan penting bagi
perkembangan seni visual tanah air. Pameran solo Dr.
Sulaiman Esa yang lama dinantikan, dengan karya-karya
menarik beliau telah dimanifestasikan dengan mantapnya
melalui pameran RAJAAH: Seni, Idea dan Kreativiti Sulaiman
Esa (1950an-2011) yang diolah oleh kurator jemputan, Nur
Hanim Khairuddin. Pameran Joy of Living oleh Prof. Li Chi
Mao, seorang pelukis terkenal dari negara Taiwan yang juga
pakar lukisan kaligrafi Cina, mempamerkan koleksi-koleksi
dan karya beliau yang memukau, sebahagiannya bercirikan
Malaysia. Manakala kurator Faizal Sidek bersama dengan
kurator jemputan Nasir Baharuddin pula menampilkan
pameran bertajuk Seni Konseptual yang memperlihatkan
karya-karya terpilih dari koleksi Himpunan Tetap BSVN. Dan
bersempena perayaan Deepavali,
pameran bertajuk Cahaya telah
dijayakan oleh Kannan Thanapal
dan Mohd Azman Salleh, juga
menampilkan koleksi yang jarang-
jarang dipamerkan dari koleksi
Himpunan Tetap BSVN.
Pameran solo oleh Ali Mabuha
(Ali Rahamad), artis dari kumpulan
terkenal Anak Alam yang berjudul
Kembara di Sarang Seni akan
menyusul tidak lama lagi. Untuk
tahun 2012, pelbagai pameran
besar telah pun dirancang dan akan didahului dengan
sebuah pameran yang kami janjikan hebat dan menarik, iaitu
pameran solo Amron Omar bertajuk Pertarungan.
Saya amat berbesar hati mengumumkan bahawa pada
tahun 2012, BSVN akan mengadakan pameran biografi
solo pelukis abstrak tersohor tanah air, Abdul Latiff Mohidin.
Saya dan beberapa orang kurator telah pun mengadakan
perbincangan lancar bersama Pak Latiff dan amat teruja
dengan projek pameran ini.
Dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan lagi kepakaran kami,
BSVN telah menghantar Amerrudin Ahmad, Kurator Kanan
BSVN, ke Northumbria University di England untuk melanjutkan
pengajian peringkat Sarjana selama 18 bulan dalam bidang
konservasi. Ini merupakan pengorbanan yang besar kerana
kami akan kehilangan khidmat beliau untuk sementara waktu.
Namun ianya juga merupakan pelaburan untuk jangka masa
panjang kami. Saya juga telah menghantar kurator Rohana
Yusof dan Faridah Hanim ke Frankfurt International Book Fair
sebagai persediaan kami menganjurkan Malaysia Art Book
Fair pada bulan Disember ini. Mereka juga telah melawat
Muzium Seni Berlin dan lain-lain tempat berkaitan untuk
membuat kajian awalan mengenai Pak Latiff Mohidin.
Di ruang ini saya ingin merakamkan penghargaan saya
dan BSVN kepada Mohamad Izani Abd. Ghaffar, Timbalan
Ketua Pengarah (Pengurusan) yang begitu berdedikasi dan
cekap dalam menjalankan tugas beliau sepanjang 2 tahun
berkhidmat di BSVN. Beliau akan bertukar ke Kementerian
Dalam Negeri dan kami mengucapkan beliau
selamat maju jaya.
Saya juga ingin berkongsi kenangan peribadi ketika bercuti
sempena perayaan Deepavali di New Delhi, India dimana
saya telah bertemu dengan pelukis Shamshad Husain anak
kepada pelukis terkenal M.F Husain di studio dan rumah beliau.
M.F Husain telah meninggal dunia di London pada bulan
Jun tahun ini dan beberapa pameran karya-karya beliau kini
didalam perancangan untuk dipamerkan di India dan juga
luar negara. BSVN juga telah baru-baru ini memulihkan 4 karya
beliau yang dimiliki oleh sebuah institusi swasta di
Kuala Lumpur.
Saya juga berpeluang melawat
National Gallery of Modern Art
(NGMA) dan bertemu dengan
pengarah muzium iaitu Prof. Rajeev
Lochan. Perbincangan yang
diadakan ini amat bermakna dan
beliau juga menyarankan untuk
mempamerkan lukisan Rabindranath
Tagore kepada BSVN sempena
ulang tahun Tagore ke-150, dan bagi
koleksi BSVN dipamerkan di NGMA. Semoga
perbincangan ini akan mewujudkan hasil
yang positif..
Selamat Membaca...
Welcome again to
Keeping up with our momentum, the National Visual Art
Gallery (NVAG) has in the last two months put up a number
of exciting and important exhibitions. The long-awaited
exhibition of Dr. Sulaiman Esa's works were beautifully
manifested in RAJAAH: Seni, Idea and Kreativiti Sulaiman
Esa (1950an-2011) curated by guest curator Nur Hanim
Khairuddin. Taiwans grandmaster of calligraphy and
inkwork, Prof. Li Chi Maos Joy of Living exhibition is a
delightful collection of mesmerising works, many with
Malaysian themes. A showcase of selected conceptual
artworks from the our national collection were
put together by Faizal Sidik in Seni Konseptual
with guest curator Nasir Baharuddin. And in
conjunction with Deepavali, an exhibition of
selected and hitherto seldom seen works from
our collection were put up by Kannan Thanapal
and Mohd Azman Salleh in an exhibition entitled
Cahaya.
Coming soon will be a solo exhibition by Ali
Mabuha (Ali Rahamad) of the famed Anak
Alam, entitled Kembara di Sarang Seni. And
for next year a number of major exhibitions are
being planned. First in line will be Amron Omars
Pertarungan which promised to be most exciting.
I am very pleased to announce that BSVN will also in 2012 be
hosting a biographical solo exhibition of Malaysias foremost
veteran abstract-painter Abdul Latiff Mohidin. My team and
I have had a number of good discussions with Pak Latiff and
we are indeed excited by the project.
In our effort to upgrade our expertise we have sent our senior
curator Amerrudin Ahmad for an 18 months masters degree
programme in conservation at the Northumbria University in
the United Kingdom. It is a big sacrifice to temporarily be
without his service, but it is a worthy long-term investment
for BSVN. I had also despatched curators Rohana Yusof
and Faridah Hanim to the Frankfurt International Book Fair in
preparation of our own National Art Book Fair in December,
as well as to the Berlin Art Museum to do preliminary research
on Latiff Mohidin.
I take this opportunity to record BSVNs and my personal
tribute and thanks to our outgoing Deputy Director-General
(Management and Finance), Encik Mohamad Izani Abd.
Ghaffar for his very efficient and dedicated service to BSVN
from the last two years. Encik Izani is transferred to the Home
Affairs Ministry and we wish him all the very best there.
On the personal front, I spent the Deepavali holiday season
in New Delhi and met up with artist Shamshad Husain, son of
famed departed artist M.F Husain, at his home and studio.
M.F Husain passed away in London in June this year and a
number of exhibitions of his works are now in the pipeline in
India and abroad. BSVN had recently restored four of his
paintings owned by a private institution in Kuala Lumpur.
I also visited the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and
meet its director Prof. Rajeev Lochan. We had a cordial and
useful discussion on their proposal to showcase Rabindranath
Tagores paintings at BSVN on the occasion Tagore's 150th
anniversary, and BSVNs collection being shown at the
NGMA. Let us hope some fruition will emerge from this.
Happy Reading...
nota
Editor's
notes
PUBLISHER
Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN)
National Visual Arts Gallery Malaysia(NVAG)
Ministry of Information,
Communications and Culture Malaysia
No 2. Jalan Temerloh
Off Jalan Tun Razak
53200 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
P : 603 4026 7000
F : 603 4025 4987
www.artgallery.gov.my
www.facebook.com\artgallery.gov.my
l EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ambassador Dato Mohd Yusof Ahmad l EDITOR
Tan Seihon l ASSISTANT EDITORS Anis Amizan Hussein Lim, Osmi
Hamidi | HEAD DESIGNER Shamizar Rahim | DESIGNER Norhaslina
Ahmad Kamsin l PHOTOGRAPHY Mohd Khazrul Sharuddin, Mohd
Yuzaini Ahmed, Mohd Adzim Abd Wahab, Intan Idarina Mohammad
Kusaiirry & Mohammad Hisyamuddin Ramli.
senikini is designed by Nuzaihan Mustapa
SENI KONSEPTUAL: KOLEKSI BALAI SENI VISUAL NEGARA | Faizal Sidek
10
Raja'ah: Art, Ideas and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa (1950-2011)
18-
19
A Boost To The Spirit Through 'Art For All' | Tan See Ling
MALAYSIA'S LEON LIM
Selected for America's Reality Television Show
24-
25
34
06
SEAH ZE LIN | Tan Hui Koon
12
Ordinary People, Extra-Ordinary Artistry| Tan
Sei Hon
14-
15
Wong Siew Inn | Ooi Kok Chuen
21
KL Sketchers at UM's Museum of Art | SH Lee
08-
09
WASPADA PADA KARYA| Jazmi Mohamed Sharif
10
Kembara Yusof Ghani | Zuriyadi Sarpin
27-
28
ANNIKETYNI MADIAN | Intan Rafza
12
YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2011 | Baktiar Naim
16-
17
Psychotherapy: from Couch to Clay | Hazel Mc Clure
22
28
35
07
SENI VISUAL DAN HAKCIPTA 4 | Bed Samat
13
A.B.Ibrahim | Rahimidin Zahari
20
C O N T E N T S
can be accessed at
www.artgallery.gov.my/web/guest/senikini_bsln
www.facebook.com/senikini.bsln
senikinibsln.blogspot.com
Any feedbacks and comments please email to us at :
anis@artgallery.gov.my and tanseihon@gmail.com
The publisher, National Visual Arts Gallery Malaysia,
holds the copyright to all editorial content.
SENIKINI (ISSN : 1985-7233) is published six times
a year by the National Visual Arts Gallery Malaysia.
All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2011 SENIKINI Malaysian Art Now
Printed in Malaysia.
RAJAAH : Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman
Esa [from 1950s 2011] is a solo showcase of
works by Sulaiman Esa, one of Malaysias most
distinguished artists. This exhibition is meant to give
the contemporary public an opportunity to review
the shifts not only in forms but more importantly in
processes, ideas and contexts that underscores each
and every series of works created by Sulaiman Esa
over a period of 50 years.
RAJAAH: Seni, Idea dan Kreativiti Sulaiman Esa [dari
1950-an-2011] dirancang sebagai sebuah pameran
persis retrospektif yang menghimpun sejumlah karya
yang pernah dihasilkan oleh Sulaiman Esa, salah
seorang seniman tersohor tanah air. Ia bertujuan
memberi peluang kepada khalayak masa kini
menyelami bukan cuma perubahan bentuk tetapi
yang lebih pentingnya peralihan proses, idea dan
konteks yang melatari setiap siri pengkaryaan beliau
sepanjang tempoh 50 tahun.
www.artmalaysia.com.my
Malaysian Artist Abroad : Tan Ru Yi
SONG OF SOUL | Juwita Abdullah
SHAHRIL NIZAM | Jerome Kugen
Deeper Than Words | Rina Shukor
AND
Well, what does that mean for your art?
My art is my baby, with its own soul. People who look at
my art relate to it in different ways. But if it touches them,
they will find their own song. It might be a French song, a
Japanese song, a song of a streetworker or a professor or a
kids song but if the work catches them then there is a song.
All these songs will merge into a choir, which in our example,
will sing the song of the fisherman's soul, each in their own
tune.
If I dont see a fisherman in your work?
I dont create a replica of a fisherman. I create a work
which expresses my feelings about the fisherman. How
could anybody with different experiences have the same
feelings as me? If my art catches your eyes and touched
something inside of you, then it would mean that you have
caught its vibes, you too can sing the song which Ive heard
from my baby just like the story about the African woman.
If I ask you to sing a song about your own soul and at
the same time ask your friends to sing a song about your
soul, I am sure there would be differences though it is
about the same soul. It is the same principle with works of
art. If my sculptures of the fisherman can make a man in
Timbuktu sing a song of a crocodile then I have moved this
man trough my vision of a fisherman and even though he
sings a different melody, my work is then re-presented with
another song.
In this country, we talked a lot about the concept of
1Malaysia. I think our artists have gone far beyond that.
They have heard the songs of the universe and they have
created and continue to create in the spirit of these songs
for the present age as well as the coming future.
I thanked the artist and imagine the choir who will sing for
Zul's babies. Babies that began their lives in Malaysia
but have touched people around the world, regardless of
their nationality, their age or profession. Each song will have
its own tune, character, rhythm and melody and when
joined together they form a circle around a piece of art
being created here on the Malaysian soil. Closing my eyes,
I picture millions of circles surrounding the artworks of many
artists, connecting the world today and tomorrow.
Zul Idris exhibits his work from 7th till
30th November from 10.00 am to 6.00
pm at Lobby Utama, Balai Berita, The
New Straits Times Malaysia BHD, 31
Jalan Riong, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
*Juwita Abdullah is German residing in
the island of Langkawi, Malaysia for
about 20 years. She studied law and
economy, but has since retired from
her profession.
Well, your exhibiton is entitled Song of Soul, Why ?
You see, there is a tribe in Africa. When a woman in that
tribe is pregnant, she gathers some friends around her to
pray and meditate, until they hear the 'song' of her unborn
child. In their belief, it is the soul of the child transmitting
the song to them. The women will try to be attune tothe
song, to catch, memorize and sing it out loud so that they
can later teach it to their tribe.Eventually, this song will be
sung by their community when the baby is born and during
the initiation of the child into adulthood. This song will also
be sung during difficult times faced by the child and finally
when the soul of the child is departing this world. I was
deeply impressed when I learnt of this.
You see, as an artist, something resonates with my soul. It
can be something really small, but if the call from within is
strong, it sometimes leads to the point where I may even
forget where I put my keys, money and everything around
me. I become obsessed with creating works based on this
feeling, to purge it so that I can be at peace again. If you
relate this to the story about the pregnant women in that
tribe, I guess you could say that I have heard THE song and
I am busy searching for the soul that sang it. Since I am a
visual person, I would naturally transfer what Ive heard
into a sculpture or a painting.
Ok, too fast for me. I asked the artist to give me an example.
You look at the fisherman with their faces rugged by the
wheather. Their life is hard and it is a daily fight for survival to
win the battle against the sea while maintaining the boats
and their fishing nets. They are the heroes of my childhood
and remain so till this day. When I look at their boats, into the
faces of the fishermen, I am moved and overwhelmend to
the point where I might even forget things..(like where Ive
left my keys) It is because when that song comes to me
so strongly, there is nothing more important than to create
the baby, the soul of this feeling. So it is times like this that
I start investigating, sketching, painting or create sculptural
works. If I am lucky and I did my meditation well, my baby
will be born, the form which materialiszes the spirit, the
soul of all the fishermen in this world, who with their little
boats are trying to make an honest living catching fish.
If I relate this to the story about the pregnant African
women again, it is I who is now pregnant with a song and I
have to get to the soul and to bring the baby out so that
people around me can join me in singing the song.
I like the idea of this African tribe. In our life, while growing
up and growing old, our soul must battle many challenges
but we are also blessed with many good things as well. I
think, before I were to leave this world I would like to hear
and sing a song, which bears the scars, celebrates the
achievments and that gives thanks to the happy moments
in life. I would want that song to grow during my life and to
tell the story of my soul on earth.
The Malaysian artist Zul Idris will be having his solo exhibition
of sculptures and paintings at the Balai Berita, News Straits
Times in Kuala Lumpur in November 2011. I managed to catch
up with him and saw his works while he was busy making
preparations for the exhibition at his home in Langkawi. So
here is my interview with him.
| JUWITA ABDULLAH
06/page
Exhibitions :
22 Sept-10 Oct 2010
Deadlines, Group Exhibition, Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
20 Jan-20 Feb 2010
Contemporary Rhetoric, Group Exhibition,
Valentine Willie, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
4 Aug-29 Aug 2009
New Malaysian Artists: Our Own Orbit, Group Exhibition, Tembi Con-
temporary, Yogyakarta
23 Jul-2 Aug 2009
Between The Lines, Group Exhibition, Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
10 Dec-23 Dec 2008
Cabinet, Group Exhibition, Valentine Willie, Bangsar Baru, Kuala
Lumpur
3 June 2008-18 June 2008
Contemporary Picturebook Illustrations in Germany and Malaysia,
Group Exhibition, Kuching State Library, Sarawak
29 May 2008-15 June 2008
Out of Line, Group Exhibition, The Annexe Gallery,
Kuala Lumpur
Projects :
2009
Cerita Rakyat dan Kisah Dongeng Malaysia & Jerman, illustrations
ISBN 978-983-068-388-1, ITNM-Goethe Institute, Malaysia
2007
If Only, written and illustrated by Shahril Nizam
ISBN 978-983-43488-0-9, Gores Press, Kuala Lumpur
2007
Malaysian Politicians Say The Darndest Things,
compiled by Amir Muhammad, illustrations by Shahril Nizam
ISBN 978-983-43596-0-7, Matahari Books, Kuala Lumpur
To see more works by Sharil, Please visit
shahrilnizam.blogspot.com
Thirty two year old Malaysian artist and fine art graduate
from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of
Melbourne) Shahril Nizam has for the past three years
been exhibiting his drawings and paintings in some of
KLs more youthful galleries to often gushing approval
from the art clique. Little wonder. Anyone who has
managed to glimpse Shahrils dense, intricate creations
can attest to their hypnotic visual power. His subject
matter ranges from the fantastic to the grotesque to the
abstract. Theyre sometimes comical, with figures that
reference childrens picture books. But his most stunning
pieces are his vortices in charcoal, filling the canvas
like deep space and textured like weathered granite.
His deliberately overworked lines are both sensuous
and oppressive, disturbing and poetic. They haunt and
delight the imagination equally, as though HR Giger and
Aubrey Beardsley met for a picnic in a dream.
To find out more about what made Shahril tick, I emailed
him some questions about his approach to art, his
inspirations and thoughts about the art world in general.

JK: When seen as a whole, your work as an artist and
poet seems to exist in a dreamworld of symbols and
metaphors. How and where did this come from?
SN: I think it comes from a primal need to communicate:
a thought, an emotion or something that needs to be
expressed outwardly, without being too literal and in your
face. I believe that unobtrusiveness and ambiguityin
terms of expressionwould best describe how I normally
choose to interact (through my work). This, in a way,
leaves things open to personal interpretation, thus
allowing the viewer to become an active participant,
not just in discovering the meaning behind a piece of
painting or the written word, but something about his or
her self through introspection and self-analysis.
JK: Some people may say that "introspection and
self-analysis" are asking a lot from the viewer,
especially in a society that's increasingly giving
itself over to a culture of instant answers and instant
pleasures. Would you say your work is anathema to
that?
SN: That's true, and I won't kid myself into believing
that my work speaks to everybody, especially in terms
of content and outreach. Having said that, I make
these so-called obscure pieces of work with the
added mindfulness that they serve to communicate
a very limited, private 'vocabulary' to an equally
limited number of (analytically inclined) observers.
I'm pretty much aware of the fact that the general
masses won't see the point of fleshing out an idea or
an image in such a cumbersome, archaic manner,
when one could just as easily receive instant
gratification via electronic media.
However, I am more or less driven by an instinctive
(though somewhat selfish) compulsion which seeks
expression through apparent or latent symbols and
metaphors that are not uncommon to the general masses,
as they generally allude to emotions, circumstances and
issues that affect us allbe it trauma, death or disease;
love, desire, absurdity and excitement... Whether I am
able to successfully communicate to a wider, media
savvy audience through my work, is of course, an entirely
different matter altogether (something which i have very
little say or control over). This knowledge, in a way, frees
me from having to worry about cultural, communal or
social responsibility; i simply create, and if it communicates
something to someone, even at a subconscious level,
that's good enough for me.
JK: You've done illustration work for commercial projects,
including book covers and flyers. How different is that to
the more gallery-oriented "art" that you do?
SN: I'm not sure if there is a big difference between
commercial art and fine art or gallery-oriented art as
you've described it; art is art, good or bad. The validity
and material value of a piece of art is pretty much
subjective. The only difference I can think of is that the
former is usually created with maximum mass appeal
so that it can be commercialized and disseminated to
a wider audience while the latter speaks to whomever
it speaks to, though inevitably, they too become
commodities that are sold to a different subset of society.
A simpler answer would be that the first type of work pays
the bills, while the other, not as much (for me, at least).
JK: Sorry I think I didn't phrase the previous question
properly. I meant to ask you about the differences in the
approach? Do the commercial aspects of having to deal
with clients' demands or think about a mass audience
change the way you produce the work? Does it become
less introspective? Do you work less with traditional
medium and more with designing software?
SN: Does it change the way I produce the work? Yes, of
course. Does it become less introspective? Yes to that as
well. And for the sake of convenience, the use of graphics
software greatly eases editing and output, although I will
sometimes include hand drawn illustrations whenever
possible, for added warmth, substance and appeal.
JK: "[F]or added warmth, substance and appeal."
I find that quite revealing about our attitudes to art
as we how appreciate and value it. Somehow the
work becomes more precious and valuable and
human when it reveals evidence of the deliberate
hand of the artist. Your work in traditional media
certainly reveals this, with their intense and intricate
attention to detail. I'm curious as to your thoughts
on this.
SN: While I can't speak for other visual artists who
work with traditional media, I feel that it is only
human to want to leave personal markings and
flourishes that are distinct, thus appreciated for
their uniquenesslike little tokens or keepsakes
for posterity. Personally, I tend to appreciate
and gravitate towards works by artisans and
craftspeople who create objects of great value in
terms of quality and artistry. These works, produced
with such constancy and care by those who
receive little or no recognition for their labour,
exude a kind of vibrancy that I find lacking in most
contemporary, mass produced objects. In a way, I
am trying to emulate that old, hands-on approach
to art-making, in the hopes it this will add a bit of
weight to my paintings and drawings.
JK: Who are some of your favourite artists, those
who have inspired you in your search for your own
artistic vision?
SN: I have great respect for artists like Ahmad Zakii
Anwar, Jalaini Abu Hassan, Ron Mueck, Tamara
de Lempicka and Tsuguharu Foujita. Nevertheless,
during my childhood and formative years, I was
completely in love with the works of illustrators and
cartoonists such as Lat, Rejabhad, Dzulkifli Buyong,
Richard Scarry and Quentin Blake. I think a lot of
what I do now in terms of art-making can be traced
back to to the times when I used to imitate their
style of drawing, which is usually the case when
you're starting out and trying to discover your own
technique or artistic voice; your own pen lines and
brushstrokes, so to speak.v
JK: What are you working on at the moment?
SN: Not much aside from a commercial assignment
which I'd recently completed. However, I am
currently doing a bit of groundwork for what I hope
to be a series of figurative paintings based loosely
on the notions of boundaries, restrictions and bodily
constraints, that is, if all goes according to plan.
| JEROME KUGAN
07/page
The University Malaya Museum of Fine Art recently
organised its first-ever artistic event with the public.
Hosted in cooperation with Kuala Lumpurs first
sketching group, Facebook-based KL Sketchers, the
five-hour event was held in the campus of one of the
oldest institutions of higher learning in the country.
The event began at the vicinity of the museum at
9am and lasted till almost noon. The sketchcrawl was
divided into three legs, covering from the compound
of the museum and the Economics Faculty to
the Science Faculty and ending at Dewan Tunku
Canselor.
According to the museum curator, Abd Aziz Abdul
Rashid, the event was the first-ever artistic event
organised by the museum after 33 years.
We hope to spur an interest among undergraduates
in art through sketching, he said. The programme
was also part of the artists-in-residence programme
with veteran watercolourist Maamor Jantan, and
nave artist Yusof Gajah.
Sketching allows us to capture the mood of the
place and with reference pictures, we can use the
sketching trip to translate our experience into larger
works within the comforts of our studios, he said.
For first-timer to outdoor sketching, Yu Wui Wui,
it was inspiring.
This is first trip and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learnt
much from the resident artists and fellow
sketchers, said Yu.
Watercolourist Maamor Jantan, who is known for his
Cakcibor (dragonflies) series, thrilled the sketchers
with his one-the-spot works.
You have to be daring when it comes to outdoor
sketching, Maamor said. Dont be afraid. Just do
it. With practice, you will become better each time.
What is important is to put your feelings onto paper, in
ink, pencil, watercolour, or any medium.
Sketchers also had the opportunity to see the other
side of Yusof Gajah, whose famous elephant nave
paintings have graced various media. Yusof showed
his impressionistic approaches to sketching using ink
at the start of the crawl.
| SH LEE
It is part of our intention as well as to promote
the Museum of Asian Art to the public. Not many
people know that the museum is an authority in
ceramics and that we are a reference museum
for it. Hopefully, through this activity with KL
Sketchers, the public will come to know about our
museum and visit it.
After a short breakfast reception, the sketchers
totalling about 20 made their way to the various
spots around the campus, starting with the
area around the museum. The sunny but breezy
weather was a bonus to sketchers as they worked
in the shade of the well-forested varsity grounds,
putting their work on paper, using pen, pencil and
watercolours.
For KL Sketcher EW Lok, the limited time spent
at each spot did not permit him to do larger
paintings, which he loved.
I had to resort to only using sketchbooks but I will
definitely return to do big paintings when I am
free, said the southpaw from Petaling Jaya who is
in his mid-50s.
KL Sketcher Hisham Salmin, who also came
prepared to do a large painting, said: I was
hoping to do one or two paintings. But never
mind, even small sketches are just as good.
However, for member Pang M.Y. from Kluang, who
arrived in KL the previous evening for the event,
the short time frame was no hindrance. I use a
moleskine booklet, so I can sketch a scenery quite
fast, said Pang who is fond of buildings.
KL Sketcher founder ES Tung said that although
the time frame was prohibitive to doing large
works, the trip provided sufficient materials for
sketchers to translate their experience into large
paintings later.
08/page
58-D Batu Ferringhi, 11100 Penang, Malaysia.
email enquiries@yahongart.com.my or sl_chuah@time.net.my
Tel (604) 881 1251
Fax (604) 881 1093
www.yahongart.com
Yahong Art Gallery is a short
walk from most of the major beach
hotels; approximately 20 minutes
from the Rasa Sayang Hotel, less for
those further down the beach. The
gallery is fully air-conditioned for a
refreshing respite from the heat and
to ensure a pleasurable visit. Hours
are from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm and
admission is free. For further
information, Please simply call
or email us.
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A surprise for sketchers was the attendance of
artist Khalil Ibrahim, who is very well known for
his figurative tribute to women and fisherfolk.
Kelantan-born Khalil also took time to do a quick
landscape of the in the vicinity of the museum.
For Indonesian student Rizky Astriningtias, 19,
who is pursuing her second-year degree in
estate management, the interaction between
sketchers was marvellous.
It allows me to enhance my skills and make
friends through sketching, she said. I do only
portraits at home but now I think I will try more
outdoor sketching.
For Alia Khalid, 20, a third-year chemical
engineering student, who is also a KL Sketcher
member, it was also her first outing with the
group.
This experience was great, she said. I waited
for over a month for it since I barely draw or
paint in the outdoors. I will definitely want to go
on future outings if there are no examination
and important assignments.
The campus sketchcrawl ended with a
presentation of letters of appreciation to
participants and culminating in a group
photography of the sketchers with their works.
UM Library chief Dr Nor Edzan Che Nasir, who
gave away the letters of appreciation, said
initially she was not aware of what sketchcrawl
was all about.
It was our first hosting of such an event and
I am glad it turned out very well, she said.
We hope to have more similar activities in the
future.
The University Malaya Museum of Asian
Art is open from Monday to Thursday,
9am to 12.45pm and from 2pm to 5pm,
and from 9am to 12.45pm and 2.45pm to
5pm. It is closed on Saturday, Sunday and
public holidays.
Admission is free. For details, call the
varsity at 03-03-7967-3805
Sentiasa peka dan berinteraksi dengan
rakan sepasukan ketika proses pemindahan
berlangsung; Jangan tergopohgapah,
kendalikan dengan tenang dan penuh
berhati-hati.
Memastikan tersedia ruang yang sesuai dan
selamat apabila sampai ke lokasi, dengan
tersedia pelapik yang sesuai untuk meletakkan
karya.
Elakkan lokasi pemindahan yang ada cahaya
matahari secara langsung, berdekatan pintu
untuk keluar masuk, berdekatan unit pemanas,
kawasan berisiko tinggi trafik, dan di kawasan
yang tidak selamat dan tidak berjaga.
Sebelum melaksanakan sesuatu perubahan
lokasi adalah penting untuk MERANCANG
dari segi jenis karya, lokasi dan perjalanan
karya. Tugasan sebegini boleh dilakukan
dengan mengenalpasti :
Senarai tambahan jika memerlukan
sebarang bantuan; contoh-seorang atau
dua untuk membawa karya atau memandu
arah troli, dan seorang untuk membuka
pintu, kenalpasti halangan serta memastikan
laluan bebas daripada orang ramai.
Objek atau lapisan permukaan karya sama ada
dua dimensi atau tiga dimensi mudah terdedah
pada kerosakan apabila berubah kedudukan
lokasi. Ia boleh berlaku secara sengaja atau tidak
disengajakan seperti kecuaian manusia mahupun
akibat kesan persekitaran. Pengendalian karya secara
cekap adalah penting dilatih dari segi sikap dan
dimantapkan dengan kemahiran.
Mengenalpasti laluan dan kaedah
pemindahan karya dengan berbincang
dengan rakan kumpulan sebelum memulakan
kerja supaya proses pemindahan karya
berjalan lebih lancar.
Memastikan laluan selamat dan tiada
halangan daripada sebarang gangguan
sebelum pemindahan dilakukan.
01
02
Balai Seni Visual Negara telah mengumpul
karya pelukis tempatan dan antarabangsa
sejak 1958 lagi. Adalah menjadi hasrat BSVN
untuk mempamerkan semula koleksi-koleksi
yang penting dalam himpunannya sebagai
rujukan dan tatapan umum. Pameran Seni
Konseptual: Koleksi Balai Seni Visual Negara
adalah sebuah pameran koleksi terpilih
yang dibina untuk membawa penonton
kepada satu bentuk seni yang dinamakan
seni konseptual, iaitu persembahan bentuk
seni yang menekankan pada persoalan
konsep dan idea dalam pengkaryaan.
Pameran yang dikuratorkan oleh Faizal Sidik
dan Nasir Baharuddin ini akan berlangsung
hampir 6 bulan iaitu daripada 9 Oktober
2011 hingga 26 Mac 2012 di Galeri 1A,
Balai Seni Visual Negara. Sehubungan itu
sebuah penerbitan buku akan dihasilkan
memuatkan tulisan kedua-dua kurator
dan juga penulis jemputan Fuad Arif bagi
menggali dan menyelidiki mengapa seni
itu dikatakan sebagai seni konseptual,
persoalan-persoalan dasar mengenainya
dan impaknya dalan seni lukis di Malaysia
pada hari ini.
Pengkaryaan seni konseptual dalam seni lukis moden dan
kontemporari Malaysia boleh dikatakan bermula daripada
pengaruh pengkaryaan daripada artis yang pernah belajar
di luar negara terutamanya di sekitar tahun 60-an dan 70-an
di mana pada masa itu di sana pergerakan aliran seni moden
berkembang dengan cepat dengan aliran-aliran pemikiran
yang dibawa dalam seni yang daripada penggunaan bahan
konvensional cat minyak yang bertujuan sedaya upaya
untuk mendekatkan karya artis dengan audien, maka lahirlah
pergerakan seperti Seni Pop, Dada, Konsep dan lain-lain.
Bagi menyelusuri aliran ini di sini perlulah sekiranya kita melihat
pergerakan seni konseptual di
Barat itu sendiri. Pergerakan
seni konseptual ini muncul pada
tahun 1960-an. Kemunculannya
adalah sebahagian daripada
reaksi penentangan terhadap
formalisme iaitu yang
menitiberatkan elemen-elemen
komposisi perletakan seperti
warna, garis, bentuk dan tekstur
daripada kewujudan objek,
konteks, dan isi yang disebut
oleh pengkritik seni di New
York yang berpengaruh iaitu
Clement Greenberg.
| FAIZAL SIDEK
10/page
Bawa HANYA satu karya pada satu- satu masa.
Bawa dengan keadaan permukaan karya
mengadap orang yang membawanya untuk
perlindungan.
Permukaan yang telah disentuh dengan jemari
walaupun jemari itu bersih, kesannya tetap akan
kelihatan. Kesan akan kelihatan untuk jangkamasa
panjang disebabkan oleh asid, garam dan minyak
daripada jemari. Waspada ia dengan memakai
sarung tangan putih daripada kapas yang bersih;
gunakan sarung tangan getah jika permukaan licin;
peringatan bahawa sarung tangan yang kotor sama
seperti tangan yang kotor.
Jika dikenalpasti bahawa objek atau karya terlalu
berat untuk diangkat tidak selamat dengan memakai
sarung tangan, maka tangan yang bersih mungkin
sesuai sebagai solusi.
KENDALI CATAN DAN KARYA BERBINGKAI
Sebelum mengalihkan sebarang karya:
Periksa dan pastikan tiada bahagian yang hilang
daripada bingkai atau karya-rujuk konservator
jika ragu- ragu.
Periksa dan pastikan karya selamat dalam bingkai;
rujuk konservator jika ragu- ragu.
Jika karya tiada alas belakang, periksa kekuatan
penegang kanvas ( stretcher atau strainer).
Jika karya tiada alas belakang, pastikan dawai untuk
menggantung tidak menyentuh belakang kanvas.
Bagi karya yang dibalut, adalah penting dibawa
dengan lebih berhati-hati, kerana kita tidak tahu apa
yang kita sentuh. Jika sebarang kerosakan berlaku
ketika proses pemindahan, kumpulkan dengan
berhatihati dan simpan mana-mana kepingan yang
tanggal walaupun rekahan lapisan cat yang kecil,
dan dokumenkan kerosakan itu. Jika karya itu akan
digantung, kenalpasti alatan untuk gantungan, jenis
dinding dan lokasi ia akan digantung adalah selamat.
MENGENDALIKAN KARYA DENGAN LAPISAN
PELINDUNG (GLAZING)
Glazing di sini merujuk pada kaca atau Perspex
(kepingan akrilik lutsinar, juga disebut Plexiglass)
digunakan dalam sistem pembingkaian untuk catan/
lukisan.
Lapisan pelindung ini perlu dikendali dengan baik
kerana Perspex atau kepingan akrilik mudah calar dan
kaca pula mudah pecah.
Untuk pengangkutan karya yang ada lapisan
pelindung kaca, letakkan pita pelekat hanya pada
permukaan kaca dengan masking tape dengan
jarak grid 20cm.
Diingatkan jangan letakkan pita pelekat pada perspek
kerana ia agak susah untuk dtanggalkan.
Waspada kendali karya sebegini dengan :
Bawa karya dengan kedudukan orientasi yang betul;
seboleh-bolehnya dengan melintang dan elakkan
kanvas menyentuh tulang belakang penegang.
Jika TERPAKSA memindahkan karya yang mengalami
repih lapisan cat, bawa ia mengadap atas supaya
lapisan itu tidak jatuh.
karya yang besar perlu dibawa oleh dua orang
disebabkan oleh saiz dan beratnya, atau dibawa
dengan troli yang sesuai.
| JAZMI MOHAMED SHARIF
03
Menurut Greenberg seni moden melalui proses
pengurangan yang progresif dan penghalusan
ke arah yang bertujuan untuk mentakrif dengan
sebenar-benarnya sifat bahantara. Eleman-
elemen ini yang akan bertindakbalas terhadap
sifat pengurangan ini. Peranan catan, misalnya
adalah untuk menjelaskan apakah objek catan
itu: apa yang membuatkan ia sebuah catan
dan tiada yang lain. Sifat semulajadi catan iaitu
objek yang rata pada permukaan kanvas yang
diwarnakan dengan pigmen, seperti catan
figura, perspektif ilusi tiga dimensi dan rujukan
terhadap subjek luaran yang kesemuanya
intipati yang mengatakan ia sebuah catan
dibuang.
1
Di Malaysia ia dimainkan oleh generasi kedua
seniman tempatan yang berkelulusan barat
dimana situasi yang sama juga berlaku namun
agak lewat sedikit iaitu pada tahun awal
70-an. Kebanyakan mereka ini pernah mengikuti
pengajian di Maktab Seni Lukis di mana
terdedah kepada suasana baru atau New
Scene di mana adalah sebuah gerakan seni
baru yang muncul implikasi daripada sukatan
pelajaran yang diatur berdasarkan aliran
Bauhaus iaitu sebuah sekolah seni rekaan
yang terkenal di Jerman yang mengabungkan
pembelajaran antara kraf dan seni halus.
Bauhaus membawa idea penciptaan secara
total dalam karya seni di mana semua cabang
seni termasuklah seni bina di ajar. Stail Bauhaus ini
telah membawa pengaruh yang besar terhadap
perkembangan dalam seni, seni bina, seni grafik,
seni reka dalaman, seni reka industri dan typografi
yang membina satu pandangan yang lebih analisis
dan konstruktif. Ciri-ciri bagaimana melihat atau
pengamatan lebih ditekankan. Pendekatan Bauhaus
ini telah memberi impak serta dipraktikkan oleh
maktab-maktab seni yang terkenal di England
serta dikembangkan dan diajar sehingga ke hari
ini apabila mereka mengugurkan diploma lama
dengan mengantikan Diploma in Art and Design
sebagaimana kursus-kursus yang terdapat di sekolah
seni di Malaysia pada hari ini.
Rombakan besar yang berlaku dalam sistem
pendidikan di sana terutamanya seni telah
membawa angin perubahan baru kepada
artis tempatan yang menerima didikan diluar.
Piyadasa mengatakan Mata pelajaran seperti
sejarah sosial, falsafah, kesusasteraan dan
sejarah pemikiran mulai diajar buat pertama
kalinya di maktab-maktab ini. Kesemua
perubahanperubahan ini meninggalkan
kesan yang mendalam ke atas pelukis-pelukis
kita yang menerima pendidikan disana.
2

Stail Ekspressionisme Abstrak yang
mementingkan aspek dari segi emosi,
perasaan dan sifat individu artis mula
ditentang oleh artis-artis muda ini. Stail seni
antarabangsa atau International Stail mula
muncul menolak aliran sebelumnya.
Peralihan inilah yang membawa
kecenderungan yang baru kepada artis
untuk mendekatkan diri mereka dengan
pengolahan seni yang lebih idealis seperti
yang dibawa oleh seni Konseptual dan
Minimalis.
Artis-artis yang menggelarkan diri mereka
sebagai New Scene ini tadi membawa
aliran Seni Konstruktif seperti Redza Piyadasa,
Tan Tuck Kan, Sulaiman Esa, Chong Kam
Kow dan Tan Teong Eng di mana mereka
juga bereaksi terhadap Ekspressionisme
dan Ekspressionisme Abstrak yang bawa
pada awal dan pertengahan tahun 60-an
oleh Syed Ahmad Jamal, Latiff Mohidin,
Yeoh Jin Leng, Ibrahim Hussein, Lee Joo
For dan Cheong Laitong di samping
gerakan Formalisme pengaruh daripada
Lyrical Colourist oleh Ismail Zain dan Jolly
Koh pada akhir 60-an. Pada tahun 1974
koloborasi Redza Piyadasa dan Sulaiman
Esa sekali lagi dalam sebuah pameran
penting dalam pergerkan seni moden
Malaysia iaitu Toward A Mystical Reality
yang membangunkan Seni Konseptual
Mistik membuka lorongan baru dalam
pengkaryaannya itu disini.
1
Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, dalam
Artforum (1967)
2
Redza Piyadasa, Pengolahan Lanskap Tempatan dalam
Seni Moden 1930-1981, Balai Seni Lukis Negara, 1981.
residency, Ze Lin explored the sensations and feelings arising from
the brushing of paints onto huge canvases. Using a classical
approach to painting, Ze Lin shapes forms with black outlines
intuitively, culled from what was experienced in daily life,
and then erases those experiences with white paints to finally
transforming the whole image, again intuitively into a metaphor.
Its like pulling a drawer, and pushing it back after disposing all of
its contents.

All throughout the process, Ze Lin doesnt even pay attention to
his brushstrokes while he paints. He shapes the forms like a blind
man who feels the joys of vision through the sense of touch.
Instead of calling it an act of painting, the action is more akin to
molding. He feels the visions. The heavy, short and swirling strokes
reminded me of Van Gogh,
who rejected objective
representation in favor of
subjective expression
1
.
The intensity and negation
of any representational
imagery in the creative
process, which is guided by
his intention of erasure seems
more like an affirmation
rather than a rejection.
One of his handful of large
scale paintings (12x8ft),
formed by three canvas
panels, entitled Nothing
Happened Here' shows
underneath the white paints
and some yellow strokes,
black outlines depicting
Saya tertarik untuk mengetahui lebih
lanjut tentang pergerakkan pengkarya-
pengkarya perempuan tempatan yang
mana pada hemat saya, kekangan masa,
tanggungjawab selain berkarya, tidak fokus,
karya bersandarkan emosi dan individualistik
selalu menjadi alasan mengapa karya-karya
mereka kurang diambil perhatian.
Apakah perlu untuk setiap karya itu
berbaur universal? Atau sekiranya saya
terlalu menekankan tentang pelukis yang
bersandarkan alasan gender, adakah ianya
penting untuk pertumbuhan pengkarya
baru dan mereka adalah cerminan suara
masyarakat dan kekurangan pengkarya
perempuan ini secara tidak langsung
memperlihatkan tiadanya suara lantang
dalam mengetengahkan isu-isu yang
dianggap minoriti. Saya tidak menyimpulkan
kerjaya pengkarya ini adalah sebagai
seorang pejuang hidup, tetapi pengkarya
seni adalah lebih dari menyapu warna
dan menyusun imej. Apakah yang ingin
ditonjolkan selain medium seni dan sejauh
manakah isi suara dari medium ini yang ingin
di perdengarkan dan di kongsi?
Sokongan House Of Matahati (HOM) dalam
mengadakan program residensi sebagai
platform kepada para pelukis muda untuk
membina kerjaya dan berkongsi luahan
karya telah memberi peluang kepada
Anniketyni Madian menyertai program
residensi untuk kali yang ke-9. Program ini
telah bermula pada tahun 2008 lagi dan
untuk setiap pengkarya muda, mereka di
beri tempoh selama 6 bulan untuk berkarya
dan mengadakan pameran setelah tempoh
residensi tamat.
Mendekati karya Anniketyni Madian
membawa saya untuk mengetahui dengan
lebih lanjut tentang pandangan dan persepsi
beliau ketika olahan karya dibuat. Karya
beliau yang kebanyakannya adalah susunan
kayu yang berbentuk geometrik dan olahan
ini secara tidak langsung telah membentuk
satu alunan yang lebih organik.
Sekiranya kita melihat karya terdahulu
oleh Dolly Unithan, seorang pengarca
perempuan yang menggunakan medium
kayu untuk berkarya beliau pada tahun
1964, koleksi Balai Seni Visual Negara
(BSVN) yang bertajuk 'Pemalu-Shy'
mengingatkan saya tentang kesamaan
alunan kayu ini dibentuk secara organic
tetapi kedua-dua pengarca ini mengguna
cara teknikal yang berbeza. Kebiasaan
ukiran kayu untuk membentuk arca
berbeza dengan olahan Anniketyni
yang disusun secara tertib bongkah
kayu. Ulangan susunan secara teratur,
dengan warna dan komposisi yang
minimal membuatkan karya beliau
bergerak dalam satu ruang dan secara
tidak langsung ianya kelihatan seperti
tumbuhan yang menjalar untuk terus
mendominasi.
Pengaruh lanskap dan alam semulajadi
Bumi Kenyalang, Pulau Borneo menjadi
titik tolak Anniketyni Madian yang mana beliau
dilahirkan dan dibesarkan di negeri Sarawak.
Merakam pusaran air antara subjek yang
diangkat untuk menyusun kepingan kayu
mengingatkan semula alam yang pernah
hampir dan telah jauh dari persekitaran
pengkarya sendiri. Atas dasar keprihatinan dan
daya sensitiviti pencinta seni, Anniketyni telah
berkongsi rasa ini dengan penonton dalam
karya-karya beliau.
Mengagumi seorang pengarca kinetik Theo
Jensen dari Belanda yang percaya kepada
unsur seni berhubung rapat dengan unsur
kejuruteraan dalam menghasilkan karya. Selain
daripada itu juga, pengolahan idea yang
memberi penekanan unsur alam dalam karya
Theo Jensen juga membuatkan pengkarya
Anniketyni Madian merasakan kepentingan
hubungkait alam dalam penghasilan karya
perlu dititikberatkan. Manakala dari segi
teknikal pula, pengarca Reuben Heyday
Margolin seorang lagi pengarca kinetik dari
Amerika Syarikat yang menyusun kiub berskala
kecil menjadi bentuk berskala besar menjadi
rujukan untuk menghasilkan karya beliau.
Selain dari berkarya, Anniketyni Madian juga
adalah individu yang bergerak membantu
dan memberi galakan kepada rakan-rakan
seni yang lain mengadakan pameran seni
secara berkumpulan yang mana penglibatan
ini juga memberi peluang buat beliau
bertukar pendapat dan idea dalam berkarya.
Ketrampilan dalam pelbagai aspek seni visual
sebagai seorang pengkarya muda adalah
satu inisiatif yang positif dalam penglibatan
pergerakan seni visual tanahair.
Semoga semangat dan usaha dalam berkarya
dan berkongsi kreativiti akan terus menyala
buat Anniketyni Madian dan semoga program
residensi beliau kali ini akan menjadi titik
permulaan sebagai seorang pengkarya yang
akan terus melangkah ke persada seni yang
lebih luas pada masa yang akan datang!
Life doesn't always turn out as planned, that's why
some said life is full of surprises. Here is a story about
a boy whose ambition was to be an inventor but
unexpectedly became a restless maker of images.
Seah Ze Lin, who looks much younger than his age,
used to work in the commercial arts industry. He
was the illustrator who did the portrait of Stephen
Chow for the movie Kung Fu Hustle in 2004 and
had also illustrated various comic book heroes.
The inventors instinct in Ze Lin found that life
to be disagreeable. Life was boring and the
overwhelmingly commercial values sicken me,
like eating tasteless food. It may look beautiful but
it has no soul. Finally, he decided to escape to
Birmingham to further his studies. Since then, his
mission is to delve into the endless search for the
aesthetic through his own way of seeing. Life hasn't
change much though, but a change of personality
and attitude towards living has led to the
understanding of the infinite possibilities between
the relationships of space and subjects.
I deconstruct and rebuild visual relationships when
I draw figures, objects and space. This is not to
depict the dismemberment of the literal but rather,
to augment the disconnected, anxious tension
between the subject matter themselves, their
bodies and their immediate surroundings.
Ze Lin who works as an art lecturer at a private
college is also the resident artist at the House of
Matahatis (HOM) Residency. He was offered
the residency in 2011after being selected as a
runner up in the Malaysia Emerging Artist (MEA)
competition in 2009. During the 6 month long
| INTAN RAFIZA
| TAN HUI KOON
12/page
| BED SAMAT
Seperti yang dijanjikan pada keluaran lepas,
siri terakhir Seni Visual dan Hakcipta (4) akan
menyentuh isu paling kritikal di dalam dunia seni
iaitu isu pelanggaran hakcipta. Pengetahuan dan
kesedaran terhadap isu ini di Malaysia (terutamanya
di dalam bidang seni visual) masih dipandang
remeh dan bersahaja oleh pengkarya mahupun
khalayak umum. Oleh kerana itu, apabila terjadinya
pelanggaran hakcipta terhadap sesuatu karya,
kebanyakkan pengkarya tidak mengambil langkah
yang sepatutnya untuk membendung perkara
tersebut daripada berleluasa. Pelanggaran hakcipta,
bukan sahaja akan melemah dan melumpuhkan
industri seni tetapi juga mampu menyekat kreativiti
dan idea untuk menghasilkan karya-karya yang baru
bermutu lagi asli. Jika keadaan ini berterusan, paling
minima kesannya pasti akan menyebabkan industri
seni tersekat dan tidak berkembang dengan baik.
Lebih buruk lagi, keadaan ini akan mempengaruhi
generasi muda yang akan datang untuk tidak
menghargai seni warisan budaya mereka sendiri.
Impak pelanggaran hak cipta bukan sekadar terkesan
pada ekonomi, malah turut melibatkan isu sosio-
budaya. Oleh itu, pengkarya seharusnya lebih peka
terhadap isu pelanggaran hakcipta.
Bagi definisi terhadap pelanggaran hakcipta
1
,anda
bolehlah merujuk kepada seksyen 36 di bawah Akta
Hakcipta 1987
2
. Terdapat dua jenis pelanggaran
yang diklasifikasikan di dalam CA 1987. Pertama,
adalah pelanggaran secara langsung dan kedua
adalah pelanggaran secara tidak langsung. Definisi
pelanggaran secara langsung diterang di bawah
Seksyen 36 (1)
3
dan harus di baca bersama Seksyen 13
(1)
4
. Setiap perkara yang berlawanan yang terdapat
di bawah Seksyen 13 (1) dan tidak mendapat keizinan
daripada pemilik sah karya
5
adalah diklasifikasikan
sebagai pelanggaran hakcipta menurut Seksyen 36
(1). Pelanggaran hakcipta secara langsung dapat
dibuktikan dengan (1) terdapat persamaan yang
objektif terhadap karya asli dengan karya yang ditiru
(atau yang dikatakan telah mengalami pelanggaran
hakcipta) dan (2) ada seperti suatu keadaan yang
bersebab(causal connection), contoh seperti :
defandan mempunyai pengetahuan terlebih dahulu
berkaitan karya tersebut atau keadaan tersebut
terjadi kerana mereka berada di industri yang lebih
kurang sama atau kemungkinan lain karya-karya
tersebut telah ditiru daripada sumber ketiga
6
. Untuk
lebih memahami situasi pelanggaran hak cipta
secara lansung ini anda juga boleh membuat rujukan
dengan membaca dua kes sebagai contoh iaitu kes
Longman Malaysia Sdn. Bhd v Pustaka Delta Pelajaran
Sdn. Bhd
7
dan kes Francis Day & Hunter Ltd & Anor v
Bron & Anor
8
.
Bagi definisi untuk pelanggaran hakcipta secara
tidak langsung pula, anda bolehlah merujuk kepada
Seksyen 36 (2)
9
di bawah CA 1987. Liabiliti untuk
pelanggaran secara tidak langsung bergantung
kepada seberapa banyak pengetahuan (knowledge)
pesalah terhadap kesalahan yang telah diperlakukan.
Tidak seperti pesalah yang melakukan pelanggaran
secara langsung di mana dua cara seperti yang
dinyatakan dia atas adalah mencukupi untuk
membuktikan bahawa beliau telah melakukan
perbuatan melanggar hakcipta.

Kadangkala, terdapat situasi yang nampak seakan-
akan seseorang itu telah melakukan pelanggaran
hakcipta tetapi sebenarnya terdapat pengecualian
dalam situasi tersebut. Pengeculian itu dapat
diberikan, dengan syarat memenuhi ketiga-tiga
elemen seperti berikut. Pertama, pengeluaran semula
karya tersebut adalah kerana sebab-sebab tertentu
(special cases). Kedua, tidak terdapat apa-apa konflik
dalam pengeksploitasian secara normal terhadap
karya tersebut dan ketiga pengeluaran semula karya
tersebut tidak prejudis terhadap hak undang-undang
pencipta karya.
Antara contoh-contoh situasi pelanggaran
hakcipta adalah dibenarkan seperti di dalam
urusan-urusan munasabah seperti penyelidikan
yang tidak berlandaskan keuntungan (non-profit),
pengajian persendirian, kritikan, ulasan atau untuk
melaporkan peristiwa-peristiwa semasa. Cara-cara
untuk menentukan sama ada urusan-urusan tersebut
munasabah dan boleh mendapatkan pengecuali
atau tidak, tidak dinyatakan di dalam CA 1987,
tetapi mahkamah akan mengambil kira perkara-
perkara seperti berikut : 1) cara pengubahsuai dan
pelanggaran itu dilakukan 2) mempertimbangkan
sama ada wujud motif yang tidak wajar daripada
pihak defandan 3) bahagian karya yang telah
mengalami pelanggaran hakcipta, sama ada
bahagian tersebut digunakan setakat yang
diperlukan 4) melihat kebiasaan budaya dan praktis
industri tersebut 5)wujud di dalam karya yang sudah
diterbitkan atau pun belum di terbitkan. Untuk
pemahaman lanjut sebagai rujukan, anda bolehlah
membaca dan mencari kes University of London Press
Ltd v University Tutorial Press Ltd
10
dan kes Hyde park
Residence Ltd v Yelland & Ors
11
.
Kes-kes yang dinyatakan di atas adalah contoh
untuk memahami lebih lanjut tentang pelanggaran
hakcipta walaupun keskes tersebut tidak
memfokuskan khusus dalam bidang seni visual. Fakta-
fakta dan aplikasi di dalam kes-kes tersebut masih
boleh diguna-pakai sebagai rujukan. Tetapi, masih
terdapat satu kes Malaysia yang boleh di jadikan
sebagai rujukan dan sekaligus boleh dianggap
sebagai precedent
12
kes bagi pelanggaran hakcipta
di Malaysia terutama sekali di dalam skop seni visual
Malaysia. Kes tersebut ialah kes Syed Ahmad Jamal
13
v
Dato Bandar Kuala Lumpur
14
.
Fakta berkaitan kes ini adalah seperti berikut: Kes ini
melibatkan sebuah arca karya Syed Ahmad Jamal
15

(SAJ) yang berjudul Puncak Purnama (juga dikenali
sebagai Lunar Peaks). Karya ini telah dikomisenkan
kepada beliau oleh UMBC Harta Sdn. Bhd pada
tahun 1985 untuk melengkapkan landskap sebuah
taman di tanah kerajaan
16
Kuala Lumpur. Arca
tersebut kemudiannya diserahkan oleh UMBC
kepada penduduk Kuala Lumpur pada 20 November
1986 di bawah tanggungjawab penyelenggaran
diberikan kepada Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur
(DBKL). Pada tahun 2000, pihak DBKL telah membuat
beberapa perubahan terhadap arca tersebut tanpa
meminta keizinan daripada SAJ. SAJ kemudiannya
telah menulis surat kepada pihak DBKL untuk
mengembalikan arca tersebut kepada bentuk asal
tetapi tidak diendahkan oleh pihak DBKL. Maka,
dengan sebab itu, SAJ memutuskan untuk mengambil
tindakan undang-undang terhadap pihak DBKL
17

menggunakan Seksyen 25 (2)
18
kerana berpendapat
bahawa terdapat pelanggaran hakcipta di dalam
kejadian ini terhadap karya milik beliau.
Makhamah, bagi kes ini telah memutuskan bahawa,
mengikut seksyen 25 (2), pengubahsuaian yang
telah dibuat oleh pihak DBKL adalah dengan ketara
telah mengubah karakter dan semangat Puncak
Purnama sekaligus menghancurkan reka bentuk
dan ketenangan yang diciptakan oleh plaintiff.
Walaupun arca tersebut diubah berdasarkan kepada
bentuk yang sama mengikut keterangan plaintiff,
tetapi pengubahsuaian tersebut telah sama sekali
menghilangkan gaya seni beliau terhadap karya
tersebut. Malah, pengubahsuain tersebut juga
seakan-akan menghina reputasi dan kehormatan
beliau sebagai salah seorang pengkarya agung di
Malaysia.
Untuk kejadian ini, mahkamah telah memutuskan
bahawa plaintiff harus diberikan ganti rugi sebanyak
RM750,000.00 dan karya asal beliau harus dibina
kembali mengikut reka bentuk asal oleh pihak
defendan
19
. Kes ini sekaligus telah membuktikan
bahawa setiap hasil seni di Malaysia adalah dilindungi
oleh Akta Hakcipta 1987 (Akta 332), Malaysia.
a busy and lively urban sprawl or cityscape,
suggesting that buildings and roads with lamp post
(and still many unclear forms) are redundant and
overwhelming wasteful, a testament of poor urban
planning.

Between the subjects and spaces, of expression
and romanticism, the artist appreciates that the
truth of beauty is from the pleasure of freedom
and feelings. From what I recall of our dialogue,
Ze Lin, who plucked out from thin air a quote
by renowned British painter Francis Bacon, The
best part of beauty is that which no picture can
express, truly believes in the process of feeling
rather than the act of painting.
To Whom It May Concern:
Seah Ze Lins exhibition: BEING is open for public
viewing from the 10 November 19 November
2011 at the House of Matahati (HOM).
1
Kleiner, Fred S., Gardners Art Through The Ages, 2009, 13th edition,
Thomson, Boston.
1
Pelanggaran hakcipta di dalam artikel ini adalah tertumpu kepada
karya-karya yang berkaitan dengan seni visual khususnya tidak termasuk
performance art, muzik atau karya-karya seni bukan daripada bidang
seni visual.
2
Selepas ini akan ditulis sebagai CA 1987 (Copyright Act 1987Act 332),
Regulations & Orders : ILBS.
3
Contoh pelanggaran hakcipta secara langsung (khususnya di dalam
seni visual) adalah seperti: pengeluaran semula karya itu dalam
bentuk apa-apa bahan sekalipun, pengedaran salinan-salinankepada
orang awam melalui penjualan atau pemindahan lain pemilikan dan
penyewaan secara komersial karya itu kepada awam atau apa-apa
yang terdapat berlawanan dengan Seksyen 13(1).
4
Untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut penerangan berkaitan Seksyen 13(1), sila
rujuk kembali Siri Seni Visual dan Hakcipta (3).
5
Untuk penerangan mengenai pencipta dan pemilik sah karya, sila rujuk
kembali Siri Seni Visual dan Hakcipta(2).
6
Untuk penerangan lanjut di dalam memahami topik ini sila rujuk,
Copyright Law in Malaysia (Second Edition) by Prof. Dr. Khaw Lake Tee
(Chapter Six : Infringement of copyright); Malayan Law Journal, Kuala
Lumpur, 2001.
7
[1987] 2 MLJ 359
8
[1963] 1 Ch 587
9
Walau bagaimanapun, hanya Seksyen 36(2) yang menceritakan
tentang pelanggaran hakcipta secara tidak langsung dan tiada seksyen
lain yang memberi penerangan lain berkaitan isu ini. Untuk penerangan
lanjut sila rujuk, Copyright Law in Malaysia (Second Edition) by Prof. Dr.
Khaw Lake Tee(Chapter Eight : Indirect infringement of copyright);
Malayan Law Journal, Kuala Lumpur, 2001.
10
[1916] 2 Ch 601
11
[2000] 3 WLR 215
12
Dalam sistem undang-undang, precedent kes merupakan kes
utama atau kes yang akan dijadikan sebagai satu garis panduan
atau satu prinsip atau kaedah yang ditubuhkan pada mana-mana
undang-undang bahawa mahkamah atau lain-lain badan kehakiman
boleh mengikut keputusan kes tersebut apabila memutuskan kes-kes
seterusnya dengan isu-isu atau fakta-fakta yang serupa. (sumber: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent)
13
Syed Ahmad Jamal merupakan seniman agung seni visual tanah air.
Beliau telah kembali ke rahmtullah pada 31 July 2011. Selain daripada
pencapaian yang membanggakan di dalam bidang seni visual
Malaysia, beliau juga merupakan satu-satunya pengkarya seni visual
yang pernah dinobatkan sebagai Sasterawan Negara (kadar waktu
kenyatan ini ialah saat artikel ini ditulis pada tahun Oktober 2011). Untuk
membaca perjalanan seni dan biografi terperinci beliau, bolehlah
merujuk kepada katalog terbitan Balai Seni Lukis Negara yang berjudul
Syed Ahmad Jamal : Pelukis, ISBN : 978-983-3497-43-0
14
[2011] 2 CLJ as decided by Azahar Mohamed J. (Seperti yang telah
diputuskan oleh Y.A Dato Azahar Mohamed).
15
Selepas ini akan ditulis sebagai plaintif.
16
Tempat tersebut juga dikenali sebagai Taman Mini Puncak Purnama
UMBC Kuala Lumpur.
17
Selepas ini akan ditulis sebagai defendan.
18
Untuk penerangan berkaitan hak-hak moral seorang pengkarya sila
rujuk Seni Visual dan Hakcipta (3).
19
Kes lain yang boleh digunakan juga sebagai rujukan ialah kes Sehgal v
Union of India [2005] FSR 39 (refd)
* Setiap seksyen di dalam artikel ini merujuk kepada Akta Hakcipta
1987 (Akta 332), Malaysia.
13/page
Creative individuals who did not have any formal or
academic art training are common. In fact, many of
them have contributed and enriched the history of art
by bringing a vision of originality and innovative use of
materials. In Malaysia, even though many of our early
artists did not receive formal academic training or only
briefly, their contributions in developing a uniquely
local as well as personal visual vernacular cannot be
underestimated. Some have produced works that we
cannot categorize under the art brut, outsider art or
even nave art category proper though we do recognize
in their works distinctive traits that separates them from
professionally trained artists. Their works encourages one
to look at art and its practices in contemporary times
from different angles and approaches. Furthermore,
their non-specialists background and their (sometimes)
eccentric expressions also challenged the hegemony
of conservative art and culture specialists monopoly
of ideas in the field of art. Unlike most professionally
trained artists, these autodidacts or informally trained
individuals make works out of urges or necessities that
mirrors their psychological states and social conditions.
It is inseparable with the context from which they create
and serves to address/ offset the imbalances of inner
turmoil of the psyche or as a result of freely following their
inner voices. The unmediated expression of their impulses
through visual means had produced some of the most
startlingly original and mindboggling works of art. In this
and the articles to follow, I will introduce three informally
trained artists to the readers. I hope a brief coverage of
their background history and motivations behind their
labor of love will serve as an eye opener and inspiration.
By acknowledging and celebrating their artistry, we also
celebrate our own personal narratives, eccentricities,
dreams, beliefs and world views.
Born in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in 1957, Thangarajoo M.A
Kanniah or Raj as he is affectionately known is no
stranger to the local art scene. As a child born in the
year of the nations independence, the free spirited
Raj left his working class family home to pursue the
artists life at the young age of eighteen. He was
introduced by Zafaruddin Zainuddin @Apai to Anak
Alam (Children of Nature) in 1974. Raj remembers
Mustapha Haji Ibrahim, Mariam Abdullah, Ali
Rahamad @ Mabuha, Osman Volkswagen, Dzulkifli
Dahlan, Abdul Latiff Mohidin, Wairah Marzuki, Sharifah
Fatimah Zubir, Khalil Ibrahim, Abdul Ghafar Ibrahim,
Siti Zainon, Ismail Hashim and a few others as being
the core or active visual artists in the collective
comprised of many from different artistic disciplines in
the then nascent KL arts scene. Anak Alam was an
offshoot of the Angkatan Pelukis Semenanjung (APS)
or Peninsula Artist Group headed by the towering
painter of representational images and portraits,
the late Datuk Mohd Hoessain Enas. While the APS
championed realistic renditions of life, Anak Alam
was multi- disciplinary in its approach. Members
were mostly engaged in abstract or Surrealistic art,
printing, photography, Malay theater, music (using self
made musical instruments) and poetry. Many of their
performances were held near Benteng (located near
the small clock tower in KL) University Malaya (UM)
and the City Hall Theater (Panggung Bandaraya) in
Kuala Lumpur. The collective was established with the
primary aims of creating innovative artistic expressions
as well as to promote awareness for the need to
conserve the environment. Group members had a
strong aversion to mans senseless ravaging of nature
and believed in a shared vision in which nature and
man coexist in harmony.
Even though Raj did not received much formal training
in the arts, he became skillful in drawing, painting and
crafts such as making paper-mache as well as puppetry.
As a Malaysian artist of Indian descent, he achieved
many firsts in his 37 years career as a visual artist. He
was the first and only Malaysian Indian to win both the
National Art Gallery (now, National Visual Arts Gallery)s
Young Contemporarys Award art competition in 1984
and the Hans Christian Andersen illustration competition
sponsored by the Danish Embassy and organized by
the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) later that year.
Raj was also among the first Malaysian-Indian artist to
be honoured with a solo exhibition entitled I of the
Universe at the National Art Gallery, then located at
its former premise at Jalan Hishamuddin, Kuala Lumpur
in the early1980's. The gist of the ideas or philosophy
behind his works was formed as a result of his near-death
experience when he met an accident at Templar Park,
Selangor. He experienced a soundless world where his
conscious soul dwelled in unity with the earth, rocks and
sky. He was a part of everything and everything was a
part of him .The episode changed his life dramatically;
for the first time he saw himself, the universe and all
people in it as one.
(To read more, please visit
http://atomicscape-jootha.blogspot.com)
| TAN SEI HON
14/page
His many detailed drawings, paintings and mixed media
works which he had produced after that incident to his
latest ink on canvas series entitled Atomic Numinosity
have been a life long continuation of Rajs philosophy
of transcending duality to non-duality; the oneness that
pervades everything. (To see more artworks, please visit
www.flickr.com/photos/thanga4)
Mohd Fadzil Othman was born in Kuala Muda, Kedah in 1943 and
worked with RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) as a technician right
after completing his secondary education at the Sultan Abdul
Hamid College, Alor Star, Kedah. He has since retired and is now
focusing fulltime on his art. According to Mohd Fadzil, he had a
good art teacher named Pa Chooi (Chooi Kok Keong) who not
only taught and encouraged him but also showed a lot of art
books introducing many artists while providing explanations to
their works. That really touched me, heart and soul. Though he
did not pursue a formal art education or a career in the visual
arts, he continued to create works. Inspired by the works, lives and
philosophies of Van Gogh, Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvador
Dali and even Buckminster Fuller, as well as local artists namely
Datuk Ibrahim Hussein, Abdul Latiff Mohidin, Datuk Syed Ahmad
Jamal, Sharifah Fatimah Zubir and Hasnul Jamal Saidon. All these
art figures pushes him to seek and develop a distinct and personal
style which until now I am still searching and experimenting with
the works, which are different from the ordinary. The artistic
breakthrough finally came when he discovered the Hungarian-
French artist Victor Vasarely (1906-97), widely hailed as the
father of Op Art whose works in the 60s and 70s found its way
into popular culture and became one of its most recognized
representative. Though his current Op art works were inspired by
the paintings of Vasarely, his ideas are based on the aura of the
human body as shown through the different colors. If you are
happy and tranquil, colors can be seen surrounding your body
and if you are angry and moody different colors will be moving
around the body. You can control the emotions through that
aura. The flexibility and movement in my work is in relation to
changing something negative to something positive and making
it a form of creative problem solving.
It takes Mohd Fadzil days to work out an idea as he
wants to ensure the intended effects using various
combinations of unconventional materials such as
winding threads / nylon or screws with drawn lines
on papers, canvas, perspex , wood are correctly
constructed to create the multiple, psychedelic
lights and water effects or mobiles that change
direction and shapes if you position your self at
various angles when looking at my works. Though
his mixed media works are intricate and requires
carefully planning beforehand, the process leading
to the completion of the final form is loose enough
for him to make alterations or changes as and when
new shapes or forms appear together with colours
that adds value to the whole design and to bring it
to the illusion of form so that the process is simply a
steady progression till the end.
(His works brings to mind a little known artist
whose works were also centered on the energies
emanated from humans and minerals, Emma Kunz
(1892-1963). Born in Switzerland, she was recognized
as healer and visionary who used the pendulum to
both discover the biodynamic energies as well as
to diagnose diseases of the spirit though the legacy
of her artistry are the detailed drawings of aura
energies on large graph papers now collected and
displayed at the Emma Kunz Centre. For more info,
please visit www.emma-kunz-zentrum.ch )
Vong Nyam Chee or Cheev stumbled onto the
local art scene not exactly by choice, but partly
out of necessity as well as to re affirm the reasons
that constitute the meaning of his life as he had re
discovered and understood anew. Born in Kuala
Lumpur and grew up in Cheras, life started quite
conventionally for the informally trained sculptor.
Cheev had keen interests in the arts and was
accepted to a degree program (which he thought
was related to commercial art) in a university in the
United States, but due to some misunderstanding
and complications, Cheev ended up doing
Communication Arts in the English Department
studying linguistics and literature instead of design
or advertising! Still, he counted himself fortunate to
have been under the tutelage of Ms. Joanne Lattavo,
his tutor for the visual arts component which he
took as a minor. She was adamant in ensuring that
Cheev would receive a fine arts program covering
art history, philosophy and techniques. It was not just
geared towards the acquisition of technical skills, but
also an appreciation for ideas about art, beauty and
life. The implications did not sink in at that time as the
then youthful Cheev was more preoccupied with
pressing financial matters and his dreams of making it
big in the advertising world once he graduated.
After coming back from the United States some 30
years ago, Cheez worked in various capacities in
the creative industry for two and a half decades but
abruptly abandoned the routine (and a well paying
job) due to deep dissatisfactions and personal raison
d'tre. Though he excelled at what he did, he found
the substantial remunerations to be meaningless and
true satisfaction to be fleeting and illusory.
I realize that the commercial world did not reflect
the depth of creative thoughts but just skimming
the ideas off the essence primarily to gain profits
with no regards for posterity. This bothered me a
lot. The commercial world has no soul. The feelings
and rewards were short termedI wanted to be
recognized for my efforts and not just be rewarded in
monetary value. I wanted to be relevant.
The nagging feeling that there has to be more to
life than just the daily grind for the almighty Ringgit
would lead him back to the lessons taught by his
former art tutor. Her wisdom and guidance decades
later proved to be the catalyst that pushed Cheev
towards the direction of the fine arts, which he
plunged into headlong without any expectations
or assurance. Cheev took a 10 year period of
isolation of deep soul searching, recollecting past
experiences and a reassessment of what they
meant.I have that urge and passion to translate
them into physical interpretations that I can resonate
with since I cannot wind back time. I wondered
about existence and my primary conclusion was that
we exist to experienceand to experience we must
feel. In whatever consequences the end results were
and still arefeelings and their intensities. Having
deduced a philosophy of existence, I now utilize that
awareness to reenact the emergence of passions I
accumulated.

Cheev found the perfect vehicle to form or
materialize them as working with 3d materials
came quite naturally. Though he is able to sculpt or
craved the most intricate of details and forms into
any shapes he desires with ease-as evident from
his earlier smaller figurine pieces-it is his sculptures,
carved and assembled from discarded
wood that is most refreshing and unique.
The crude and feral characteristic of each
of his sculpture- all assuming the female
form which he reasoned possessed both
sensual and dangerous traits that perfectly
embodies the qualities he wished to express-
stood out distinctively when compared with
the works of other handful of Malaysian
sculptors working in the field today. His is
a dancing female spiritualist in trance, a
primitive gymnast gyrating, convoluting in
complex yoga-like postures, perpetually in
motion (and in heat!). Sensual, savage and
intense, the works conveys his reactions
to lifes drama and his destiny, unscripted,
unrehearsed, but spontaneous and intuitive,
never capitulating but with all guns blazing or
in this case, dancing like a hurricane!
(To read more about Cheev, please visit
www. sculpturexxx.blogspot.com)
Our Magic Hour How Much of The World Can We
Know? merupakan tema untuk Yokohama Triennale 2011.
Festival ini berlangsung dari 6 Ogos hingga 6 November
2011. Secara ringkas, Bandar Yokohama adalah sebuah
pelabuhan dunia sejak pembukaannya pada tahun
1859, sebagai langkah pembangunan dan pemodenan
negara Jepun. Yokohama ini dilihat strategik dalam
penganjuran festival kontemporari seperti triennale ini.
Festival ini dilihat dapat representasi pemikiran cara baru
dan penerimaan interaksi antara pelbagai bangsa, budaya
dan kepelbagaian nilai. Julung kalinya, Yokohama Triennale
dipentaskan di Yokohama Museum of Art sebagai tempat
utama penganjuran dan NYK Waterfront Warehouse
(BankArt Studio NYK) satu lagi lokasi untuk festival ini.
Ianya sebuah bangunan bersejarah yang menandakan
Yokohama sebagai sebuah bandar pelabuhan Jepun yang
terpenting serta bandar kelahiran seni fotografi Jepun. Ia
merupakan penganjuran ke empat Yokohama Triennale
setelah permulaan acara ini sejak tahun 2001,
2005 dan 2008.
Tema yang berkaitan dengan unsur misteri, keajaiban dunia
dan kehidupan harian berlandaskan mitologi, lagenda
dan animisme. Persoalan tentang sains dan teknologi
juga dirungkaikan melalui beberapa karya seniman. Lebih
300 buah karya daripada 77 orang seniman daripada
pelbagai negara terlibat dalam acara Yokohama Triennale
ini. Kepelbagaian genre seni kontemporari daripada
kerjakerja seniman seperti catan, lukisan, cetakan,
fotografi, seni video, seni instalasi memberi daya tarikan
kepada masyarakat. Penyertaan pengunjung juga dalam
berinteraksi dan berhubung melalui bahan seni yang
dipamerkan memerlukan tafsiran dan kreativiti dalam
menelaah maksud dan intipati karya serta membina
kebudayaan keseniaan baru.
Manakala di BankArt Studio NYK, pengunjung boleh
menikmati kepelbagaian genre dan lebih dinamik. Seni
instalasi, seni video, seni fotografi, arca, catan dengan
kepelbagaian bahan memenuhi ruang bangunan tiga
tingkat ini. Visualnya bebas, dalam perancangan kurator
memastikan keseimbangan kedudukan karya yang dilihat
mempunyai kekuatan tersendiri. Selain landskap luar yang
cantik menanti ketibaan pengunjung untuk datang melihat
Yokohama Triennale di sana. Penulis sempat mengunjungi
Yokohama Triennale 2011 ini, setelah menghadiri
Persidangan Asia Muzium Kurator ke-7 di Japan Foundation,
Jepun pada 27 hingga 29 September 2011 diantara rangka
lawatan yang dianjurkan. Ketibaan kami (kurator yang
terlibat dengan persidangan) di sambut baik oleh Osaka
Eriko, Pengarah Muzium Yokohama Museum of Art. Sedikit
penerangan mengenai penganjuran Yokohama Triennale
2011 sebelum bebas menerokai ruang pameran.
16/page
Yokohama Triennale 2011, ini memberi pengalaman dan penerokaan baru
merungkai tema pameran seperti Our Magic HourHow Much of The World Can
We Know?. Ia memberi inspirasi berhubung tema-tema magis sebegini dalam
penghasilan karya bersifat kontemporari serta festival ini memberi sumbangan
besar kepada perkembangan seni kontemporari dunia serta pertumbuhan
ekonomi bagi negara yang menganjurkannya.
Rujukan : Yokohama Triennale 2011 Guidebook
Di pintu masuk Yokohama Museum of Art tersergam
sebuah arca pelangi yang bertajuk Our Magic Hour dan
sebahagian arca seperti imajan figuratif era primitif oleh
Ugo Rondinone seniman dari Switzerland yang membarisi
ruang hadapan pintu masuk muzium seolah olah sebagai
penyambut tetamu untuk Yokohama Triennale 2011 ini.
Menurut Miki Akiko Pengarah Seni, Yokohama Triennale
2011, salah satu aspek yang tersendiri triennale tahun ini,
perkara yang tidak dijangka adalah " pertembungan " dan "
mesyuarat " yang menanti pengunjung sepanjang
pameran itu.
Bukan sahaja acara itu termasuk seni penyertaan
(participatory art), ia membolehkan pengunjung untuk
memulakan perjalanan visual, klasifikasi bebas dan
kategori, di mana tafsiran dan kreativiti baru timbul diantara
konfrontasi, dialog, dan sambungan di antara kerja-kerja dari
tempoh dan pelbagai generasi, budaya latar belakang dan
genre yang berakar umbi dalam pelbagai tema dan konteks.
Selain itu, sebagai Yokohama Museum of Art kini telah
menjadi salah satu tempat utama, pengunjung akan dapat
mendekati koleksi dan kemudahan dari perspektif yang baru.
Selain itu satu lagi kawasan di Yokohama Creativecity
Center (YCC), dilancarkan sebagai tapak untuk orang
ramai berkumpul dan bertukar-tukar maklumat, penonton
akan terkejut apabila mendapati rumah hijau, di mana
persembahan muzik untuk tumbuh-tumbuhan akan diadakan.
Di samping itu, kerja-kerja papan iklan boleh dilihat di
sepanjang tepi jalan dan labu, diukir dalam gaya Thai yang
indah, boleh didapati dalam bidang tempatan.
Beberapa karya menarik untuk dikongsi pandangan secara
individu di mana kali ini karya seni instalasi, seni penyertaan
dan seni video menjadi tarikan Yokohama Triennale 2011.
Seperti karya Organi oleh Massimo Bartolini sebuah arca
pemasangan terdiri daripada perancah besi (scaffolding)
dari tapak bangunan yang telah dipasang di dalam ruang
pameran. Dari paip perancah, bunyian melodi seperti di gereja
terhasil seperti organ muzik boleh didengar oleh pengunjung.
Mekanisma ini mewujudkan persekitaran yang sebelum ini
tidak diketahui di mana tapak pembinaan, gereja dan muzium
digabungkan dalam satu ruang.
Penggunaan bahan daripada alam semulajadi seperti pasir,
tanah dan tumbuhtumbuhan juga di bawa masuk ke dalam
ruang kotak putih menerokai ruang pameran oleh beberapa
orang seniman. Henrik Hakansson, seniman dari Sweeden
menghasilkan karya Fallen Forest di mana sekumpulan
pelbagai jenis pokok di jatuhkan ke lantai dalam ruang
pameran dan sebuah lagi karya bertajuk Tree with Root
yang membawa isuisu persekitaran dengan akar pokok
digantungkan di bahagian syiling dan sebahagian tengah
pokok memenuhi ruang tingkat dua dan bahagian pucuk
pokok di ruang tingkat tiga.
| BAKTIAR NAIM
The late Ismail Zain in his devastating attack on modern Malaysian
artists, (10) considers their involvement essentially as cultural
aberration and an anomaly. He linked the state of modern
Malaysian art to that of Ersatz, namely the state of being not
quite what it is in other words, a state of cultural delusion. For
him, the sense of inadequacy exhibited by many Malaysian artists
concerning the complex philosophical and semiological structures
that shape and determine the various art movements renders their
involvement with Western modern art movements, highly
questionable!
The Manifestation of Islamic Spirit in Contemporary
Malaysian Art (1993)
Apart from being spiritually debilitating, modern art is also
self-consciously anti-social. Unlike the traditional society, modern
art is not creating for the practical or spiritual needs of society
instead it functions as vehicle for the expression of artists'
individual feeling and ideas. It is the concept of art-for-art's sake
and not art-for-society's sake that determines the rationale of
modern art. Under the impact of formalist theories, art assumes
the status of an independent, autonomous, self-referential entity.
This, inevitably further exacerbates the alienation between
art and society.
The intelligibility and communicability of art sufer when it
concerns itself primary with formalistic, aesthetic and plastic
problems, and is impervious to the material, cultural and spiritual
needs of the society. Unquestionably, it is the self-image, attitude
and posture of the modern artists that betrays his essentially
antagonistic relationship towards society. Nurtured by the romantic
notion of his own uniqueness, the artist assumes various labels
such as cultural hero, social rebel, genius, and "avant-garde". Even
the lifestyle that he leads reects his anti-establishment stance.
Living on the fringes of society, he usually leads the life of the
bohemian, and an outsider, who is excessively ill-at-ease with the
common people.
Form and Soul:The Continuity of Tradition on Contemporary
Malaysian Arts (1993)
There were also Chomskys Imperial Ambitions, Zaiuddin Sardars
Barbaric Others, Farish Noors Terrorizing the Truth and many
other books that have unmasked the real truth of Americas sinister
and disquieting plan to rule the world! So, one should not read the
tragic incident of September 11 based on the supercial
interpretations of the AFP who accused Muslims as the evil forces
behind the catastrophe. This accusations of branding the Muslims as
terrorists which ultimately led to Islamophobia, was actually part of
their Policy to ensure that Islam should be dealt with and eventually
eliminated as what they have done to Russia. Thus all the horric
tragedies inicted in Muslim countries; killings, bombings of Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan are manifestations of the Policys sinister
grand global ambitions. My anti AFP stunts started not with the
coming of Sept 11 but I have made my drawings as early as in 62 in
London. I was involved with this student movement protest at the
American Embassy because of the Vietnam War. We were a very
radical group. In 68, I was in Paris, involved again in this Vietnam
War protest and was even put in jail for one night because I was
wrongly thought of as a rebel. In fact I was only taking photographs
but the ofshoot of it; I made a lot of drawings and painting of this
experience. To me the metamorphosis is not new but it went back
as early as in 62. So when I came back and did it again, but the
intensity now is much greater because I was talking about Islam
against the AFP, about Islamophobia. Because of this false creation of
a myth by the West, it had to be rightly addressed.
So my work is trying to reverse the whole idea. You see, we are the
victims, not the aggressors.
Essentially, my The Endangered Gardens series was simply a
socio-political critic or comment about the hypocrisy, the double
standards of the Policy in which I tried to visually interpret
the global American cultural idealism as a threat to
God-fearing peoples.
There are two resolutions proposed by the Congress which proved to
be most propitious. First, to restore the role and status of Malay
indigenous and traditional art forms and elements as vital component in
the formation of Malaysian culture. Second, to sanctify Islam as crucial
element in Malaysian cultural development.
That the national Congress was sponsored by the ruling government in its
attempt to harness the power of culture in fostering unity and social
integration among the multi-racial society of Malaysian, is a signicant fact.
But what is equally important is the recognition given by the Malaysian
government of the indispensible role which Islam in the life and culture of
the people. Given the peripheral position relegated to Islam during the
period of British colonization, the privileged position and recognition that
it now achieved, augurs a greater role that Islam is to occupy in the
decades that follow. In this context, the global phenomenon of Islamic
resurgent in the 70s was most propitious in that it provided the driving
force that inevitably led to process of religious and spiritual revitalization
in the lives of post-Independent Malaysians.
The Manifestation of Islamic Spirit in Contemporary
Malaysia Art (1993)
RAJAAH: Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa [from
1950s 2011] is a solo showcase of works by Sulaiman Esa,
one of Malaysias most distinguished artists. This exhibition is
meant to give the contemporary public an opportunity to
review the shifts not only in forms but more importantly in
processes, ideas and contexts that underscores each and every
series of works created by Sulaiman Esa over a period of 50
years. This exhibition is divided into four main parts, the
London Era: Before and After (1950s-70s), Towards a
Mystical Reality (1974) with the late Redza Piyadsa, the
Insyirah segment (1980-2000) and The Endangered Garden
(2011). Their chronological sequence is reective of the
apparent changes in the artists ideatic and formalistic
tendencies. The term Rajaah means return, and specically
refers to mans transition from his worldly and existential self to
the spiritual and primordial nature.
Below are selected excerpts from his writings and an interview
with the curator of the exhibition Nur Hanim Khairuddin.
It is our belief that the strength of the Asian artist of the past
(especially the Far Eastern artist) lay in his ability to view life and
reality in terms of the meditative and the spiritual, The mystical
attitude of the eastern artists with its "spiritual" rather than
"intellectual" outlook certainly contrasts with the notion of "art for
art's sake" that seems to be the fashion these days. Art in the Asian
past was never meant to provide "intellectual entertainment but
rather it aimed at a heightening of one's awareness of reality and
helped bring about a spiritual and mystical communion with nature
and the Universe itself.
As such, there was no dichotomy between art and life. Again, that
so many major western artists of the 20th century have in fact
drawn their inspiration from the mystical philosophies of the east
(e.g. John Cage, Yves-Klein, Ad Reinhardt, Tobey, Brecht) certainly
indicates how necessary it is for Asian artists to reconsider their
Asian heritage. The tendency amongst so many creative Asian
artistes (be they artists, writers, poets, dramatists, or musicians) to
go on functioning on the basis of a "western-centric" aesthetics and
formalism whilst remaining oblivious of their own artistic and
philosophical traditions is certainly indicative of a very sad state of
afairs which prevails all over Asia today ! (pg 15)
Towards a Mystical Reality (1974) a documentation of jointly
initiated experiences by redza piyadasa and sulaiman esa. The Rise of Modern Art and the Decline
of Traditional Art.
From the spiritual perspective, the rise of modern art evidenced
the process of secularization and humanization which the psyche
of Malay artists had undergone.
Hence, as argued elsewhere, the emergence and ascendency of
modern Malaysian art movement such as Realism, Expressionism,
Surrealism, Abstract-Expressionism, Constructivism and
Conceptual art are but manifestations of Western cultural and
intellectual colonization on Malaysian art scene. Unlike the
traditional art, modern art is spiritually debilitating, sociologically
alienating and psychologically corrupting. Rather than God-centric,
modern art is decidedly man-centric. Instead of creating art for
spiritual fulllment of community or society, modern art is uniquely
aimed at expressing the individualistic and idiosyncratic tendencies
of an artist. Furthermore, instead of contributing towards the
renement of the artists soul, modern art oftentimes created
intriguing characters who take pride in considering themselves as
avant-garde, social rebels, and unique cultural heroes.
The irony of the Malaysian artists involvement with
Western-centric art is that, intellectually and culturally, the artists
exist in no mans land.
The violent, aggressive, beautiful, seductive, and destructive
icons of the American psyche as expressed in their
Superheroes, Captain America, Batman, Catwoman,
Madonna, the statue of Liberty with wings, symbolizing the
angels of death and Darth Vader embodying dark evil forces,
etc. as metaphorical elements in their pursuit to displace our
spiritual beliefs be it Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or those
belonging to the indigenous societies of the country. In other
words, The Endangered Garden was to addressed
God-fearing people, the Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to
be weary of the subversive Western cultural hegemony and
to not easily imbibe values that are detrimental to our
religious and cultural traditions.
[This interview between Sulaiman Esa and the
curator Nur Hanim Khairuddin was conducted on
June 12, 2011 in Shah Alam]
AND
The late Ismail Zain in his devastating attack on modern Malaysian
artists, (10) considers their involvement essentially as cultural
aberration and an anomaly. He linked the state of modern
Malaysian art to that of Ersatz, namely the state of being not
quite what it is in other words, a state of cultural delusion. For
him, the sense of inadequacy exhibited by many Malaysian artists
concerning the complex philosophical and semiological structures
that shape and determine the various art movements renders their
involvement with Western modern art movements, highly
questionable!
The Manifestation of Islamic Spirit in Contemporary
Malaysian Art (1993)
Apart from being spiritually debilitating, modern art is also
self-consciously anti-social. Unlike the traditional society, modern
art is not creating for the practical or spiritual needs of society
instead it functions as vehicle for the expression of artists'
individual feeling and ideas. It is the concept of art-for-art's sake
and not art-for-society's sake that determines the rationale of
modern art. Under the impact of formalist theories, art assumes
the status of an independent, autonomous, self-referential entity.
This, inevitably further exacerbates the alienation between
art and society.
The intelligibility and communicability of art sufer when it
concerns itself primary with formalistic, aesthetic and plastic
problems, and is impervious to the material, cultural and spiritual
needs of the society. Unquestionably, it is the self-image, attitude
and posture of the modern artists that betrays his essentially
antagonistic relationship towards society. Nurtured by the romantic
notion of his own uniqueness, the artist assumes various labels
such as cultural hero, social rebel, genius, and "avant-garde". Even
the lifestyle that he leads reects his anti-establishment stance.
Living on the fringes of society, he usually leads the life of the
bohemian, and an outsider, who is excessively ill-at-ease with the
common people.
Form and Soul:The Continuity of Tradition on Contemporary
Malaysian Arts (1993)
There were also Chomskys Imperial Ambitions, Zaiuddin Sardars
Barbaric Others, Farish Noors Terrorizing the Truth and many
other books that have unmasked the real truth of Americas sinister
and disquieting plan to rule the world! So, one should not read the
tragic incident of September 11 based on the supercial
interpretations of the AFP who accused Muslims as the evil forces
behind the catastrophe. This accusations of branding the Muslims as
terrorists which ultimately led to Islamophobia, was actually part of
their Policy to ensure that Islam should be dealt with and eventually
eliminated as what they have done to Russia. Thus all the horric
tragedies inicted in Muslim countries; killings, bombings of Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan are manifestations of the Policys sinister
grand global ambitions. My anti AFP stunts started not with the
coming of Sept 11 but I have made my drawings as early as in 62 in
London. I was involved with this student movement protest at the
American Embassy because of the Vietnam War. We were a very
radical group. In 68, I was in Paris, involved again in this Vietnam
War protest and was even put in jail for one night because I was
wrongly thought of as a rebel. In fact I was only taking photographs
but the ofshoot of it; I made a lot of drawings and painting of this
experience. To me the metamorphosis is not new but it went back
as early as in 62. So when I came back and did it again, but the
intensity now is much greater because I was talking about Islam
against the AFP, about Islamophobia. Because of this false creation of
a myth by the West, it had to be rightly addressed.
So my work is trying to reverse the whole idea. You see, we are the
victims, not the aggressors.
Essentially, my The Endangered Gardens series was simply a
socio-political critic or comment about the hypocrisy, the double
standards of the Policy in which I tried to visually interpret
the global American cultural idealism as a threat to
God-fearing peoples.
There are two resolutions proposed by the Congress which proved to
be most propitious. First, to restore the role and status of Malay
indigenous and traditional art forms and elements as vital component in
the formation of Malaysian culture. Second, to sanctify Islam as crucial
element in Malaysian cultural development.
That the national Congress was sponsored by the ruling government in its
attempt to harness the power of culture in fostering unity and social
integration among the multi-racial society of Malaysian, is a signicant fact.
But what is equally important is the recognition given by the Malaysian
government of the indispensible role which Islam in the life and culture of
the people. Given the peripheral position relegated to Islam during the
period of British colonization, the privileged position and recognition that
it now achieved, augurs a greater role that Islam is to occupy in the
decades that follow. In this context, the global phenomenon of Islamic
resurgent in the 70s was most propitious in that it provided the driving
force that inevitably led to process of religious and spiritual revitalization
in the lives of post-Independent Malaysians.
The Manifestation of Islamic Spirit in Contemporary
Malaysia Art (1993)
RAJAAH: Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa [from
1950s 2011] is a solo showcase of works by Sulaiman Esa,
one of Malaysias most distinguished artists. This exhibition is
meant to give the contemporary public an opportunity to
review the shifts not only in forms but more importantly in
processes, ideas and contexts that underscores each and every
series of works created by Sulaiman Esa over a period of 50
years. This exhibition is divided into four main parts, the
London Era: Before and After (1950s-70s), Towards a
Mystical Reality (1974) with the late Redza Piyadsa, the
Insyirah segment (1980-2000) and The Endangered Garden
(2011). Their chronological sequence is reective of the
apparent changes in the artists ideatic and formalistic
tendencies. The term Rajaah means return, and specically
refers to mans transition from his worldly and existential self to
the spiritual and primordial nature.
Below are selected excerpts from his writings and an interview
with the curator of the exhibition Nur Hanim Khairuddin.
It is our belief that the strength of the Asian artist of the past
(especially the Far Eastern artist) lay in his ability to view life and
reality in terms of the meditative and the spiritual, The mystical
attitude of the eastern artists with its "spiritual" rather than
"intellectual" outlook certainly contrasts with the notion of "art for
art's sake" that seems to be the fashion these days. Art in the Asian
past was never meant to provide "intellectual entertainment but
rather it aimed at a heightening of one's awareness of reality and
helped bring about a spiritual and mystical communion with nature
and the Universe itself.
As such, there was no dichotomy between art and life. Again, that
so many major western artists of the 20th century have in fact
drawn their inspiration from the mystical philosophies of the east
(e.g. John Cage, Yves-Klein, Ad Reinhardt, Tobey, Brecht) certainly
indicates how necessary it is for Asian artists to reconsider their
Asian heritage. The tendency amongst so many creative Asian
artistes (be they artists, writers, poets, dramatists, or musicians) to
go on functioning on the basis of a "western-centric" aesthetics and
formalism whilst remaining oblivious of their own artistic and
philosophical traditions is certainly indicative of a very sad state of
afairs which prevails all over Asia today ! (pg 15)
Towards a Mystical Reality (1974) a documentation of jointly
initiated experiences by redza piyadasa and sulaiman esa. The Rise of Modern Art and the Decline
of Traditional Art.
From the spiritual perspective, the rise of modern art evidenced
the process of secularization and humanization which the psyche
of Malay artists had undergone.
Hence, as argued elsewhere, the emergence and ascendency of
modern Malaysian art movement such as Realism, Expressionism,
Surrealism, Abstract-Expressionism, Constructivism and
Conceptual art are but manifestations of Western cultural and
intellectual colonization on Malaysian art scene. Unlike the
traditional art, modern art is spiritually debilitating, sociologically
alienating and psychologically corrupting. Rather than God-centric,
modern art is decidedly man-centric. Instead of creating art for
spiritual fulllment of community or society, modern art is uniquely
aimed at expressing the individualistic and idiosyncratic tendencies
of an artist. Furthermore, instead of contributing towards the
renement of the artists soul, modern art oftentimes created
intriguing characters who take pride in considering themselves as
avant-garde, social rebels, and unique cultural heroes.
The irony of the Malaysian artists involvement with
Western-centric art is that, intellectually and culturally, the artists
exist in no mans land.
The violent, aggressive, beautiful, seductive, and destructive
icons of the American psyche as expressed in their
Superheroes, Captain America, Batman, Catwoman,
Madonna, the statue of Liberty with wings, symbolizing the
angels of death and Darth Vader embodying dark evil forces,
etc. as metaphorical elements in their pursuit to displace our
spiritual beliefs be it Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or those
belonging to the indigenous societies of the country. In other
words, The Endangered Garden was to addressed
God-fearing people, the Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to
be weary of the subversive Western cultural hegemony and
to not easily imbibe values that are detrimental to our
religious and cultural traditions.
[This interview between Sulaiman Esa and the
curator Nur Hanim Khairuddin was conducted on
June 12, 2011 in Shah Alam]
AND
19/page
Di sesawang tertentu terdapat tawaran harga
karya lukisannya yang telah mencecah RM6000
untuk sebuah lukisan cat air bersaiz biasa.
Beberapa foto yang menawarkan karyanya di
internet juga memaparkan beberapa karya yang
ditiru daripada gayanya.
Kemudian daripada Haji Alias Mohd. Samah,
dapat diketahui yang arwah bapanya
merupakan penjual lukisan A.B. Ibrahim masih
menyimpan karya-karya lama arwah. Daripada
makluman Haji Alias, beliau telah menjualkan
kesemua lukisan A.B. Ibrahim dalam simpanannya
kepada BSLN dengan harga RM2,100 sebuah
dengan jumlah 60 buah. BSLN mengambil
semua sekali dengan meja tempat A.B. Ibrahim
melukis termasuk berus dan pellet yang pernah
digunakan oleh pelukis itu. BSLN telah mengambil
tindakan yang tepat dengan memborong
kesemua karya A.B. Ibrahim.
Selepas zaman Yong Mun Sen dan Abdullah
Ariff, A.B. Ibrahim dan teman-temannya yang
dikenali sebagai Pelukis Tiga Serangkai (A.B.
Ibrahim, A.J. Rahman dan Saidin Yahaya)
merupakan penerusan kepada seni lukis cat air
pada zamannya. Menarik apabila mereka bertiga
berjaya membuka
"Warna Art Studio pada 1 April 1946 di Pekan Rabu, Alor
Setar. Dua adik A.B. Ibrahim, iaitu A.B. Hassan (yang juga
menggunakan nama A. Aziz atas sebab-sebab tertentu)
dan A.B. Kechik mengikuti jejak langkah abangnya melukis
dengan menggunakan medium yang sama.
Karya cat air A.B. Ibrahim merakam suasana alam
kampung, sawah padi, rumah beratap rumbia, tepi
laut, kerbau di sawah dan pelbagai subjek yang tidak
mungkin kita temui lagi hari ini. Karyanya telah menjadi
perakam zaman yang akan kekal. Kita akan terpegun
amat dengan rumah berlangsir merah di bawah redup
pohonan kelapa. Sapuan cat air dibiarkan putih di dinding
rumah yang terkena cahaya matahari. Begitu juga dengan
batang kelapa yang dibiarkan dengan kertas putih yang
asal. Di belakang rumah sepohon hijau yang merimbun
meneduhkan pandangan. Tiga ekor ayam sedang
mematuk-matuk mencari makan. Entahlah pula dengan
lelaki berbaju merah yang mengandar jualan itu. Apalah
dia sedang menuju ke halaman untuk menjualnya atau
pun membawa pulang hasil dapatannya pada hari itu.
Langit pula dicat biru kekukingan lembut, jernih dan indah.
Di tangga depan yang tidak kelihatan, belum tentu tuan
rumah akanmembeli hasil jualan.
Kita percaya dalam waktu terdekat karya-karya lukisan
cat air A.B Ibrahim, A.J. Rahman dan teman-teman yang
seangkatan dengannya yang manis dan syahdu itu akan
menjadi buruan kolektor yang serius dan yang benar-benar
memahami erti seni. Nostalgia silam seolah-olah hidup di
dalam sejumlah karya mereka.
Penggunaan bahantara cat air antara medium
tertua dalam sejarah seni lukis. Tetapi di Malaysia
lukisan cat air agak tersisih daripada sebarang bicara.
Ini menjadikan kolektor seni tidak berminat untuk
membeli lukisan cat air sebagai himpunan koleksinya.
Lulusan universiti dalam negeri akan mencebih bibir
apabila ada rakan-rakannya yang ingin meneruskan
berkarya dengan menggunakan medium cat air.
Apatah lagi seniman perupa yang terdidik dalam
tradisi Barat, biasanya akanlah lebih-lebih lagi
mencemuhnya, seolah-olah dia sendiri sebagai
pelancong Barat yang singgah bersiar-siar
di Kuala Lumpur.
Semasa hayatnya, Rahime Harun melalui A.P. Art
Gallery miliknya bersama Pusat Kebudayaan Universiti
Malaya pernah menganjurkan pameran Ide Dan
Kreativiti Melayu pada 13-27 Disember 1997. Dalam
katalog pemeran tersebut, Rahime Harun menulis:
Jumlah koleksi lukisan cat air dalam koleksi BSLN
sehingga 1992 ialah 215 karya sahaja, sungguhpun
tradisi catan cat air mempunyai keaktifan yang tinggi.
Usaha untuk meningkat koleksi cat air telah diabaikan
berbanding dengan media yang lain. Jika diperhitung
dari rasio koleksi cat air, ia merupakan hanya 10
peratus dari jumlah koleksi BSLN. Koleksi pelukis cat air
Melayu jelas amat sedikit dalam koleksi negara. Untuk
pengetahuan umum, koleksi seni lukis oleh pelukis
Melayu ialah 24 peratus daripada seluruhan koleksi
BSLN, menurut kajian yang dilakukan pada
tahun 1992.
Tulisan Rahime Harun merujuk kepada kajian tahun
1992, sekarang sudah 2011 dan akan masuk 2012.
Barangkali hal itu sudah berubah. Lukisan cat air
Melayu barangkali telah banyak berubah dan jumlah
peratus pelukis Melayu pun telah banyak bertambah.
Moga-moga! Sayanglah kan, kalau pelukis cat air
terbaik negara seperti Mansor Ghazalli, Mohd. Zain
Idris dan Mokhtar Ishak tidak ada dalam koleksi
negara. Seperti sedia maklum, Abdullah Ariff, A.B.
Ibrahim, A.J.Rahman, Mansor Ghazalli dan Mohd Zain
Idris semuanya sudah kembali ke alam arwah. Yang
tinggal hanya karya-karya mereka.
Muzium Kedah pernah
menerbitkan sebuah
katalog pameran lukisan
A.B. Ibrahim yang diadakan
pada 5 Januari 1993. Menarik
apabila hampir 100 buah
karya A.B. Ibrahim seorang
pelukis cat air Melayu yang
bergantung hidup sepenuhnya
pada lukisan karyanya berjaya
dikumpulkan. Ismail Hj Salleh telah
menuliskan esei pendek tentang
A.B.Ibrahim dalam katalog
pameran itu.
Walapun pendek tetapi
banyak informasi yang
perlu diketahui oleh
peminat dan khalayak
seni lukis Malaysia.
Tulisnya: Balai Seni
Negara mempunyai
12 buah karyanya dan Balai Seni Negeri Kedah
mempunyai 9 buah. Tetapi apabila saya meneliti
Inventori Himpunan Tetap Warisan Seni Tampak
Negara 1958-2003 (tanpa tahun terbit) jumlah koleksi
A.B.Ibrahim yang terdapat dalam koleksi negara
hanya empat buah sahaja dengan judul karya
Kota Melaka(1952, cat minyak), Alam Benda(1953,
cat minyak), Pemandangan(1940, cat air) dan
Potrait Ibu Tua(1940, cat air). Lukisan Pemandangan
kemudiannya diistiharkan sebagai Warisan Negara
pada tahun 2009. Kalaulah benar tarikh 1940
terhasilnya Pemandangan dan Potrait Ibu Tua, A.B.
Ibrahim menghasilkan dua karyanya yang menjadi
koleksi negara ketika usianya baru 15 tahun. Ini
mengambil kira tahun kelahirannya pada 1925.
| RAHIMIDIN ZAHARI
A.B. Ibrahim @ Ibrahim Abu Bakar / Potrait Ibu Tua / 1940/Cat air / 73 x 63 cm
/ Koleksi Himpunan Tetap Negara
OMBAK BESAR 1950-1970 an, Cat air atas kertas, 38 x 28 cm
20/page
SHE knew every whorl of flowers, every blade of
plants and herbs - the shape and textures of the
leaves. She recognised the scent, even the bees and
the birds that carried out the rites of nature in her
garden. Even when weak, with her plodding gait, she
would hobble around and tend to her garden with
the same loving care and devotion she brought up
her three children-one, a son (Richard), since dead.
Wong Siew Inn had sacrificed her love of art, which
could well have been a career early on, but the war-
Japanese Occupation-and her concentration on
raising her family took precedence. She was a nurse
(from 1942 to 1948, more or less during the War years)
and then a school-teacher. When she retired and
her children were grown up, she went back to her
other love with a vengeance. She even enlisted
for the non-graduate course in Fine Arts (Painting,
Printmaking and Sculpture) at the Universiti Sains
Malaysia from 1988 to 1990.
Naturally, her main theme was flower paintings. Her
still-lifes on canvas-she painted in watercolours and
gouache-are an alternative garden from the one
that she nurtured together with Nature. She had such
green fingers that anything that scarcely remained
of a few tendrils of roots would sprout merrily in her
garden like a songfest. Her flowers are thus lively,
vivacious even, fresh in colours and hues and with all
the delicate lines or more robust bulbous supports,
in an origami of stalks and leaves and amidst other
flowers with different colours and patterns.
African Daisies, Calla Lilies, Gladiolis, Red Canna Lilies,
White Lilies, Marigolds, Vanda Orchids, Heliconias,
Dahlias, Gloxinias, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium, Vanda
Hookeriana, Pidgeon Orchids, Sunflowers, Red Lilies,
Purple Hibiscus, Hibiscus Mutabilis, Chrysanthemums,
Magnolia, Green Anthuriums, Clitoria Ternatea
(Blue Pea), the Changeable Rose Hibiscus (Pak
Bor Hua, in Hokkien), Purple Cattleya, Calla Lilies,
Frangipanis, Peacocks Pride, White Azaleas,
Carnations, Caladiums, Spider Lilies (once done by
her mentor Peter Harris in a surrealist watercolours ),
Oncidium,Llileums, Babys Breath,
Madam Wong, as she was called, had painted them
all, remembering their names-even scientific ones
(occasionally, she was invited to write articles for
gardening magazines), their colours and changes, the
splotches and patterns, the pistils and stamens. On
painting the Cheangeable Rose Hibiscus, she advised:
One has to be very quick in painting this, because of
the colour changes of this flower which is related to
the Bunga Raya but which originated from China.
I seek solace in my garden of live bunga rayas and
the visiting sunbirds, she had told me once.
She put off a (right-eye) cataract operation until after
her third 'Flower Power' show at the Penang State Art
Gallery from May 15-27, 1999. Immediately after her
eye operation, when she painted, she noticed that
her Cannas Red and Yellow (1998) lacked the usual
details. She credited Tan Gek Khean (Mrs Tay Hooi
Keat, later Datin), for lighting the spark of her artistic
inclinations, when she asked her to do bookmarks,
at the Anglo-Chinese School (now Methodist Girls
School) in 1938. She (Mrs Tay) was her Form 5 Literature
teacher, and Madam Wong went on to do 100
bookmarks with drawings of flowers. Such was her
zeal for art that being more headstrong than prudent,
she went ahead to sit for her last paper on Art for
her Senior Cambridge examination in Penang in
1941. War had broken out and the Japanese had
swept the streets and burnt homes and buildings.
She realised how foolhardy she had been when she
saw the carnage when cycling back from school
along Kelawei Road, but luckily she got back to
safety. After completing her studies, she taught at the
Convent of Holy Infant Jesus in Kedah and later its
Penang chapter, before teaching Art at the Sekolah
Menengah Greenlane Convent until her re
tirement in 1979.
She was among four women in a pioneer batch from
Penang including Grace Selvanayagam selected by
Peter Harris, then the Art Superintendent, to undergo
a one-year course in art and crafts at the Specialists
Teachers Training Institute in Kuala Lumpur in 1960.
Naturally, she joined the Wednesday Art Group
founded by Peter Harris. Another person whom she
credited for inspiring her directly was May Liang, the
late wife of batik-art/watercolour maestro Tay Mo-
Leong, now a Dato. She was also later inspired by the
more sensuous flower paintings of Georgia OKeefe.
Fong Chee Kway, her husband who is two years
older than her, observed and commented when I
visited her in her house about a year ago (but she
was admitted to hospital for a heart ailment): There
are more contrast in her works, and yet they appear
so harmonious. He said that although she could
not paint for sometime then, she had had a bout
of painting frenzy for about three months. Perhaps
what struck people most about Madam Wong was
not so much her paintings, good as they are, as her
passion and spirit which was infectious and even
child-like. Hers was an impulse that was pure in mind
and heart. She would take trips on buses and once
even on train to Kuala Lumpur, to see art exhibitions
which she happened to learn about from the daily
newspapers, despite her feeble condition, and this
sudden habit of hers would get May-li, her daughter
in Kuala Lumpur, greatly agitated. GaleriCitra assistant
Ivy Chua remembered her: She used to travel by bus
to KL just to attend exhibitions by GaleriCitra and other
galleries. Within that tiny frame of hers burns a fierce
flame of self-determination and dedication to her
craft. I salute her feisty spirit.
Although she put up her works every now and then
and joined group exhibitions such as womens-only
exhibitions and the Penang Teachers Art Circles
since 1965, it was not until July 1993 that she held her
first solo, at the Conservatory of Fine Arts (Artville),
called Flower Power. This was followed by another
in September that year, at the National Art Gallerys
Creative Centre, which was officiated by Datin Seri
Endon Dato Mahmood, wife of the then Finance
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, now
Tun. Madam Wong had also held joint shows with
her friends Grace Choon Ai May (at the Alliance
Francaise) and Oon Suan See (1991).
According to her second son, Michael Fong, Madam
Wong had survived a heart operation but her other
organs could not hold out, and she died peacefully.
Like life, flowers are ephemeral. Here today and
gone tomorrow, leaving only the scent of their
presence. Madam Wong took a maternal instinct to
the things she grew in her garden. She would even
get worried when a particular bird didnt patronise her
garden anymore. I like flowers, even weeds and wild
flowers. I like growing plants and trees and watching
them grow. I try to record their beauty, and my joy in
them forever. Like her flowers, the sweet scent of her
passion for her art and her art itself, will remain forever
in her paintings. R.I.P., Madam Wong!
Wong Siew Inn was born in Penang on Sept 27, 1924
and died on Aug 3, 2011.
| OOI KOK CHUEN
(1924- 2011)
21/page
Question: "When is art not valued for its aesthetic beauty,
technical prowess, photo realism or political message,
not an investment opportunity or statement of affluence,
not decorative, designed to communicate concepts or
to sell something to a wider audience and is created for
only limited private viewing?"
Answer: When it is art therapy.
Almost everyone would agree that the process of art
making can feel therapeutic, but fewer understand
that how we feel while we are making art is only a small
part of the therapy. Within an art therapy session there
are many things going on simultaneously that combine
to create a therapeutic relationship between client,
therapist and images.
The classical idea of traditional psychotherapist and
client (often depicted lying on a couch) is often a
summary of common knowledge in our region about
psychotherapy. While most people with no personal
experience of therapy feel unfamiliarity from this subject,
some treat it with frank suspicion and others undergo a
process of distancing themselves further from a subject
they are uncomfortable about by joking about it.
So lets demystify things a little.
Im sure that if you are reading Senikini you are already
somewhere on a scale between I am comfortable
with and I have expertise in understanding the many
languages of art. Now apply this knowledge and
understanding to the fact that 80% of our thinking is
actually unconscious but can be expressed succinctly
through art making. Then add to this, the knowledge
that most of us struggle from time to time with personal
emotional issues and the opportunity that art offers us
to understand these from a conscious and unconscious
level at the same time. The final ingredient is the trained
art therapist who knows how to help people work
sensitively with all of this material, make sense of it and
move forward. The end result is a more holistic and
insightful view of any internal struggle.
Art therapy is not about creating images, as much as
finding ways to express what is inside us, and exploring
this once it becomes externalized. Hence its not about
making figurative images to depict a story, but expressing
the feelings evoked by it. The therapy takes place in
both the process and the product. Although working
directly with a therapist, there is an inherent privacy within
art therapy, as the feelings are contained in the image
and not necessarily spoken about. An art therapist
helps clients express and work through these feelings in
a way that often helps them feel less vulnerable than
direct discussion. Modern knowledge of how emotions
are processed in our right hemisphere, while the left
is more language driven, helps us appreciate the
fluency of visual arts in depicting feelings. Art is simply
a more powerful language than words. For this reason
images created in art therapy sessions are private and
seldom appropriate for display. They contain intensely
personal feelings that in many cases the client prefers
to leave behind with the therapist.
Art therapy can be appropriate for almost anyone
who wishes to work through personal issues. It is
regularly used professionally in health, education and
social work settings with many different client groups
to address a range of varied needs. Examples of this
might be helping someone find acceptance following
bereavement, recover from a traumatic experience,
or work through feelings of anger or betrayal after a
divorce. While it is an effective therapy for adults, it has
additional appeal for children to whom playing and
creating comes very naturally. But you dont have to
have a problem to work with an art therapist. It can
also be used as a personal development process for
those who want to know themselves better, or find
ways of changing patterns in their lives. Companies
for example, use art therapists to run professional
development training workshops and interpersonal
skills sessions with groups of employees.
Art Therapist and Art Psychotherapist (interchangeable
terms) are protected job titles in the UK, US, Australia
and New Zealand. That means that legally only those
who are professionally trained and registered (or
licensed) can state this as their job title. Training to
become an art psychotherapist is a two year masters
degree level programme and is a mix of therapeutic
theory (psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy),
understanding of the deeply personal process
involved in our own image making and the knowledge
of how to apply this to help others.
Applicants usually apply for art therapy training with
either a visual arts first degree or through working in
a psychological profession and having a personal
interest or experience with art.
| HAZEL McCLURE
22/page
'SL faces'
'Shock'
'P
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'S
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'Untitled'
Further Information about art psychotherapy :
Professional Art therapy Organisations
British Association of Art Therapists www.baat.org.
Australia and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association www.anzata.org
American Art Therapy Association www.aata.org
Art therapy Association of Singapore www.atas.org.sg
Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists www.hk-hkaat.org
Training courses
Singapore:
http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/index.php/programmes/master-of-arts/art-therapy
Bangkok:
http://www.art4human.com/bcsat.html
For training courses further afield please refer to information on the appropriate
professional organizations listed above.
Centre for Creative Arts Therapies, Penang
www.creativeartstherapy.org.my
However, the profession is newly developing in Asia so
students are currently entering training from a wider
range of backgrounds. Post qualification, in the UK,
US, Australia and New Zealand, additional registration
or licensure with the appropriate professional body is
then required, to ensure that therapists are adequately
trained and working to approved standards. This helps
prevent confusion with other related professions such as
community arts workers or artists in residence and helps
to reassure potential clients that they are working with
someone who is an approved practitioner.
In Malaysia, the closest masters training course in art
psychotherapy is in Singapore and there is a second
course soon to start in Bangkok. There is also a newly
opened Centre for Creative Arts Therapies in Penang,
which runs introductory courses to creative arts
therapies, and some other local organisations run short
courses from time to time.
To date there have been only two batches of art
therapy graduates from the Singapore training course,
but there are also other graduates trickling back
home from training overseas. Interest in the subject is
growing steadily in our region, as we come to realize
the value of accessing our unconscious world through
creativity and perceived stigmas attached to seeking
psychological support services are being replaced
by understanding. These days a whole battery of art
materials is replacing the traditional
psychotherapists couch.
Hazel is a state registered art therapist (UK, 1990),
trainer, consultant, counsellor and teacher. She works in
an international school in KL and also writes, undertakes
research in the visual images of third culture children
and does art therapy training work for NGOs around SE
Asia. She can be contacted through
surfaceintervalcreativearts@gmail.com
'Make it stop!'
I was fortunate to be selected as an art educator to this years
Art for All 2011 which was held in Thailand from 14July-18July. Our
team from Malaysia includes curator Hui Koon from the National
Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) young artist Damien Wong and his
mother Nora Tan. Upon our arrival at Suvarnabhumi International
Airport, we were welcomed by Ms Borimas Srikhajon from the
International Relations Ministry of Culture, Thailand. This year eight
Asean countries were invited to this memorable event, namely
Brunei Darussalam, India, Japan, Lao, Philippines, Vietnam,
Singapore and Malaysia.
The opening ceremony was held on the 14th
July at the United Nation Conference Centre in
Bangkok. I was surprised to witness such a grand
ceremony with so many children and youth
gathered together at the main hall.

All of them came from different provinces of
Thailand. This event was held annually to unite
the disabled and normal children and youth
through art.
Prof.Dr.Channarong Pornrungroj was the
founder of the art foundation in1999. This year
marked his 15th year of passion, dedication
and contribution to this project. The event was
successfully supported by The Crown Property
Bureau Foundation, Government Savings Bank,
Ministry of Culture, Government of Thailand,
Ministry of Education, Government of Thailand
and Tri Petch Isuzu Sales Company Limited.
The opening ceremony was very spiritual, all the
international delegates were seated in front to
participate in the chanting of Buddhist hymn
during the opening. Nun Sansanee Sateerasut
was one of the special speaker on that day
to share about spiritual teachings to young
children and youth. It was a very heart warming
ceremony when we were asked to sing along
with the meditation song screened during the
opening.
We were also introduced to Bai Sri ceremony which
is a traditional ceremony performed on special
occasions such as birth, wedding and welcoming
new people. All participants were blessed wih white
strings tied a around the wrist to have khwan or
high spirit before we embarked our journey to
the campsite at Wangree Resort in Nakhon Nayok
Province.
Orientation and introduction for each children and
youth were held the first night when we arrived
at the campsite. After a cold dinner, we were
gathered at the main hall where all the children
came in their pajamas. During the 5-day camp,
children and youths were asked to practice
mindfulness in their words and actions. A short study
class was given by Prof.Channarong Pornrungroj.
I was amazed to see his dedication and his deep
passion in this event.
| TAN SEE LING
24/page
The team from Malaysia did doll installation
using natural and used materials to
enhance the beauty of all the works done
by some children who came to participate
in the workshop. Delegates from Japan
presented the art of wrapping with scarf
while delegates from Vietnam and the
Philippines did performing arts with a small
group of disabled youth.
Some interesting works that caught my
attention were clay works by children,
candle sculpturing, drawing on carbon
canvas heated by candle, feet stamping
art, foot and mouth painting and
exploring the darkroom.
Delegates from every country have
to present ideas for the art activities.
Malaysia and Brunei teamed up for a
recycling workshop. Young artists from
Brunei conducted a brief session on
paper rolling for constructing paper
houses.
We had a good exposure with some
Thai artists and art educators during a
group workshop.There was a sharing
session with an Australian participant
in relation to western and eastern
art cultures and also an interesting
art therapy session with Mr Mairom
Thamachati-Asoka.
In conclusion, the camp was an eye opener for me.
Not so much of seeing new art or good art but the
process of making art that made the experience
with them wonderful.
Nevertheless, Art for All has inspired all of us and i
hope that Malaysia can be a host one day. With
my dedication in nurturing special children through
art, I am really looked forward to seeing more
changes in the art scene especially for artists with
disabilities. In Art there is NO INABILITY.
Tan See Ling
Artist,
Art Educator to special needs
Thumb Art
Tutti Art Club
www.thumbartstudio.com
www.tuttiartclub.blogspot.com
The art activities at the camp site was on the 15th
to 18th July. After a brief introduction from all the
international delegates, we were invited for a guided
tour by a few English speaking officers from the Ministry
of Culture to the campsite. All the children and youth
were divided into small groups each day to participate
in the art activities.
Pertemuan petang itu amat santai dengan suasana yang amat tenang,
setenang ruang galeri di singgahsana milik pelukis tersohor tanah air iaitu
Yusof Ghani (Pak Yusof). Ditemani rakan sekerja saudara Ahmat Jafri Sharif
dan jurufoto saudari Intan, penulis berpeluang menemubual pelukis yang
tidak asing bagi graduan dan juga bakal graduan jurusan Seni Halus,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) juga bagi penggemar siri Tari, siri Wajah,
siri Wayang, Segerak dan yang terkini siri Taman 2011. Yusof Ghani
satu nama yang penulis kira kekal relevan berdekad lamanya. Keterujaan
menemubual beliau membuatkan penulis melakukan kajian demi kajian
mengenai beliau sebagai persediaan bertatap mata dengan pelukis
yang terkenal dengan kritikan-kritikan sosial yang tajam dalam mengheret
pelbagai isu kemasyarakatan dan kesedaran terhadap dunia seni dalam
karya beliau. Ini memandangkan penulis biarpun pernah bertemu namun
tidak pernah berbual dengan lebih lanjut memandangkan reputasi yang
dibina oleh beliau seakan langit dan bumi pada perkiraan penulis.
Pak Yusof yang pernah dikenali sebagai pereka
grafik dan juga pelukis ilustrasi terus bergerak maju
kehadapan apabila menerima biasiswa dari George
Mason University di Virginia, U.S.A dalam bidang
Seni Grafik pada usia 29 tahun dan beliau tidak
menunggu lama untuk berkarya apabila minat yang
mendalam dalam bidang seni halus menyebabkan
beliau mengambil subjek lukisan sebagai subjek
elektif. Disitulah boleh disifatkan sebagai kejayaan/
platform beliau dalam menerokai dunia seni visual
apabila menyertai pameran Seni Antarabangsa
anjuran Art Barn Gallery di Washington dan beliau
telah menerima biasiswa Dr. Burt Amanda sebagai
penghargaan terhadap karya yang luar biasa
dihasilkan oleh beliau. Ini menyebabkan penulis
teringat perbualan ringkas bersama saudara
U-Wei Hj Saari ketika pameran Wayang U-Wei
Angkat Saksi iaitu pameran pertama beliau
yang menggabung elemen filem dan seni visual
dengan beberapa pelukis tanah air yang baru
sahaja berlangsung di galeri 3A & 3B di Balai
Seni Visual Negara. Penulis bertanyakan apa lagi
yang diperlukan oleh setiap pengkarya Malaysia
tidak kira dibidang pengarahan filem atau seni
visual agar setiap karya mereka mempunyai roh
dan jiwa yang tinggi di mana setiap karya yang
terhasil mampu memberi kesan dan ingatan
yang dalam terhadap penonton, pengunjung
mahupun pencinta seni. Kau nak tau apa..?
Exposure! katanya. Ringkas tepat dan padat
dalam merangkumi persoalan penulis lantas
membuatkan penulis tersenyum. Ya, pendedahan
sedari awal sangat perlu kepada semua pengkarya
bukan hanya terkongkong di dalam alasan ciptaan
sendiri.
Kata-kata itu menggambarkan perjuangan
pelukis tersohor tanah air ini. Pertemuan dengan
beliau secara peribadi menjadikan mutiara kata
bahawa pengalaman itu mendewasakan
amat bertepatan sekali untuk penulis gambarkan
siapakah gerangan Yusof Ghani. Banyak yang
dikupas oleh beliau mengenai harapan dan
kecintaan beliau terhadap dunia seni ini terutama
di Malaysia. Peredaran masa tidak menjadikan
beliau lupa Maha Pencipta apabila beliau sentiasa
mengingatkan penulis bahawa disiplin manusia
telah Allah bentuk sedari dulu, solat 5 waktu yang
diwajibkan keatas umat Islam harus dilihat sebagai
cara Allah mendisiplinkan manusia. Tentu ada
sebabnya ujar beliau lagi.
Berbalik kepada permulaan perjalanan karier
beliau, impak yang paling berkesan ialah
apabila beliau menyertai pelukis-pelukis muda
yang radikal dan menyertai pameran secara
berkumpulan iaitu "American Intervention in
Nicaragua & El Salvador" di Gallerie Intae di
Washington, Amerika Syarikat. Gambaran
karya beliau sebagai medan kritikan sosial yang
sangat tajam terhadap tindakan-tindakan sosial
masyarakat pada ketika itu. Kritikan itu bertujuan
menyedarkan masyarakat bahawa setiap
tindakan yang diambil haruslah diteliti dan tepat
agar ianya tidak menimbulkan kesan yang tidak
baik akhirnya. Lantas dari itu lahirlah pameran
solo yang pertama oleh beliau berjudul "Protest"
pada 27 Julai 1984 di Anton Gallery, Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. Penulis berpendapat itu
merupakan satu lagi kejayaan bagi Malaysia
kerana pada tahun itu 1984, seorang anak
Malaysia telah berjaya mengadakan pameran
solo di sana.
Menjadikan William De Kooning dan Henry Matisse sebagai
rujukan, pelukis aliran abstrak ekspressionis ini terus mengorak
langkah dengan menghasilkan beberapa siri lukisan seperti
siri Tari, siri Topeng, siri Wayang, Segerak, Biring,
Wajahdan siri Hijau sepanjang hampir 30 tahun beliau
berkarya. Pameran solo terkini beliau adalah pameran Taman
2011 yang bertempat di galeri seni PUNCAK di Bukit Jelutong,
Shah Alam. Taman 2011 merupakan rentetan pengalaman
dan kenangan beliau ketika berada di Amerika Syarikat
dan juga negara Eropah lain. Bersekali dengan pameran ini
Yusof Ghani turut menampilkan karya-karya yang pernah
menggegar dunia seni visual satu ketika dahulu dan juga
karya simpanan peribadi yang tidak pernah dipamerkan
kepada khalayak.
Dilahirkan pada 29 November 1950 di Pontian
Johor, anak kepada seorang pegawai kerajaan
dan suri rumah sepenuh masa ini mempunyai
sebelas orang adik beradik. Beliau mendapat
pendidikan awal di Sekolah Rendah Tengku
Mahmud Iskandar. Minat kepada seni lukisan
bermula apabila beliau berpeluang menonton
wayang dan dari situ terhasil lakaran-lakaran
babak yang dilakonkan seperti kata beliau;
Saya suka menonton wayang, apabila
pulang ke rumah saya akan melukiskan
kembali babak-babak lakonan tersebut secara
storyboard dan akan tunjukkan kepada
rakan-rakan, - Yusof Ghani.
| ZURIYADI SARPIN
Beliau juga melibatkan diri secara aktif dengan
persatuan seni dan sering dipilih untuk melukis
mural di sekolahnya dan ini menjadikan minat
beliau dalam seni lukis semakin bercambah.
Penulis tidak berhajat menulis panjang lebar
mengenai latar belakang pendidikan beliau
namun keinginan beliau untuk terus berjaya
mampu menjadi panduan kepada generasi
baru. Apa yang mengagumkan adalah,
bagaimana beliau mencorak masa hadapan
dan bergelut dalam keadaan di mana
pembudayaan dan kesedaran masyarakat
terhadap dunia seni merupakan satu mimpi
yang tidak pasti namun beliau yang juga
pernah menjadi pelukis jalanan bersama-sama
pelukis terkenal Raja Azhar begitu optimis akan
masa depan dunia seni visual Malaysia. Beliau
merasakan penerokaan terhadap dunia seni
visual tanah air adalah suatu proses jangka
masa panjang dan tidak akan tercapai
dalam tempoh puluhan tahun ini. Proses ini
harus berterusan dan yang paling utama
pengkarya/perupa harus terus berusaha
menghasilkan karya-karya yang terbaik.
27/page
Apa yang menarik adalah kesungguhan beliau dalam
mewujudkan kesedaran dunia seni visual terhadap
masyarakat, kesungguhan beliau untuk jatuh dan
bangun di dalam arena ini harus diberikan pujian,
pengalaman benar-benar mendewasakan beliau.
Kita letak dahulu soal lain dalam sisi karya-karya Yusof
Ghani, ada yang mempertikai karya-karya beliau,
tidak kurang juga yang mencemuh namun bagi
beliau ini semua sebagai satu pengalaman yang
menyeronokkan. Namun nilai yang harus dipuji adalah
bagaimana beliau sebagai pelukis memasarkan
diri beliau agar terus dikenali dan karya beliau terus
dinanti oleh pencinta-pencinta seni visual. Dalam
keadaan karyawan tempatan yang terus berjuang
dan masih mencari sinar beliau terus bangkit dan
maju terus dalam menghasilkan karya-karya terbaik
beliau. Beliau harus berdepan realiti yang nasib
seseorang bukan ditentukan oleh orang lain namun
beliau percaya nasib itu boleh diubah hanya dengan
USAHA. Beliau harus terus bangun dan mengejutkan
masyarakat luar tentang pentingnya nilai budaya
ini, seni dan budaya saling berkait, seni mampu
menceritakan apa sahaja sesuai dengan tugasan lain
beliau sebagai pensyarah seni di Universiti Teknologi
MARA ini.
Memetik kata-kata Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin,
seorang kurator bebas dalam buku Persoalan Seni
Rupa Sezaman sebagai berkata Mutakhir ini kita
kerap dicanang dengan konsep independen dalam
konteks seni di Malaysia. Seniman muda digalakkan
untuk menjunjung sikap mandiri, melakukan sendiri
tugas-tugas asas untuk mengangkat karya masing-
masing tanpa perlu senantiasa bergantung kepada
badan-badan besar yang ditubuh khas untuk
tujuan tersebut, untuk mengelakkan diri daripada
kongkongan-kongkongan garis panduan rasmi yang
telah termaktub. Ini akan memberi lebih ruang dan
kepuasan kepada seniman untuk menghasilkan karya
secara jujur mengikut visi dan target personal mereka
lantas dapat mengundang respons perdebatan atau
wacana yang lebih bermakna.
Yusof Ghani harus dilihat dalam konteks kejayaan
beliau meletakkan diri di dalam persaingan dunia seni
lukis moden Malaysia yang serba kompetitif. Semoga
karya beliau dapat terus kita nikmati pada masa
akan datang mungkin dengan nafas yang lebih baru
sekaligus mencabar tahap intelektual masyarakat
Malaysia, lebih menggerunkan dan mampu
mencetus polemik hangat dikalangan pencinta seni.
Diharapkan rentetan perjalanan beliau ini dapat
dijadikan dorongan sebagai pembakar semangat
jiwa perupa muda Malaysia dan penulisan ini akan
terus mampu menzahirkan rasa cinta terhadap seni.
Rujukan:
- WAJAH, Yusof Ghani 2010. published by TAPAK
- Katalog SEGERAK One Movement 1 Malaysia.
- Katalog Yusof Ghani, Taman 2011.
- PERSOALAN SENI RUPA SEZAMAN?, Contemporary Visual Art Discourse: vignettes by Malaysian artist/
editor Raja Ahmad Aminullah, Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin. ISBN 983-101-056-6.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusof_Ghani.
- http://www.yusofghani.com
- http://seni-lukis.blogspot.com/2005/05/rumah-itu-galeri-dunia-seniku.html
- http://risalahproseni.blogspot.com/2009/06/menatap-buku-yusof-ghani-
- http://malaysian-artist.blogspot.com/2005/05/yusuf-ghani.html
Apa lagi yang harus penulis katakan apabila
menterjemah perupa ini dalam konteks penulisan
kecil sebegini? Semuanya telah dilakukan, sokongan
dorongan, cemuhan, kritikan, cabaran dan kejayaan
telah beliau lalui. Namun penulis percaya seseorang
perupa tidak boleh terus dibiarkan selesa, perupa,
pengkarya dan pelukis harus terus dicabar bagi
menghasilkan karya hebat, perlu terus dikritik dalam
konteks pembudayaan ilmu, dipuji seminima mungkin
dan harus terus disokong setiap karyanya kerana
seni itu merupakan nadi bangsa, seni itu merupakan
penceritaan terhadap ketamadunan sebuah bangsa
yang berjaya.
Atas kesedaran itu, kini beliau sedang membina
sebuah lagi galeri seni yang terletak ditepi jalan
utama di ruang belakang Tapak Yusof Ghani.
Beliau telah membeli sebidang tanah bagi tujuan
itu. Galeri setinggi dua tingkat ini bertujuan untuk
mempamerkan koleksi-koleksi simpanan beliau dan
juga memberi ruang dan peluang kepada mana-
mana pelukis yang ingin mengadakan pameran seni
secara solo atau berkumpulan. Hakikat tujuan beliau
hanya satu, dengan sokongan yang beliau terima
dari masyarakat, beliau ingin kembalikan semula hak
ini kepada masyarakat dan beliau ingin berkongsi
kepada khalayak akan keindahan seni visual. Semoga
ini mampu memberi kesedaran kepada masyarakat
mengenai dunia seni lukis di Malaysia. Sebagai
permulaannya, beliau ingin mengadakan pameran
retrospektif sebagai tanda pembukaan galeri
tersebut.
Galeri beliau ini persis galeri sebenar seperti milik
organisasi lain, di sini jugalah beliau membawa
rakan dan jiran tetangga bagi menyemai kesedaran
dunia seni dalam minda mereka. Seperti kata beliau
Kadang-kadang saya juga membawa rakan surau
ke sini bagi mereka memahami dunia seorang pelukis
dan mengharapkan kesedaran ini menjadikan
mereka lebih arif tentang seni lukis, ujarnya. Pada
masa ini juga beliau menyatakan kepada penulis
empat prinsip berkenaan isu-isu yang bagi beliau
harus ada dalam setiap penghasilan karya agar karya
tersebut mendapat jiwa.
Kita harus ada empat perkara ini dalam
menghasilkan karya dan karya kita tidak akan lari
paksinya, yang pertama sosial, cultural, spiritual
dan mistikal. Yusof Ghani.
Menceritakan perkembangan terkini pelukis
ini, beliau telah pun membina sebuah galeri
seni yang diberi nama Tapak Yusof Ghani di
Seksyen 8, Shah Alam, Selangor. Ini merupakan
satu lagi sumbangan beliau kepada komuniti
setempat. Galeri yang dibina ini boleh dilawati
secara percuma dan beroperasi seperti galeri-
galeri lain. Beliau turut mengadakan kelas
seni bagi mereka yang berminat bermula dari
pukul 9.00 malam 1.00 pagi. Kelas seni ini turut
disertai oleh golongan profesional seperti Arkitek,
Peguam, Pensyarah dan sebagainya yang ingin
mendalami seni visual dengan lebih lanjut. Galeri
yang menempatkan 120 karya koleksi peribadi
beliau, juga turut menyimpan karya-karya dari
pelukis terkenal tanah air seperti, Ibrahim Hussien,
Latiff Mohidin, Awang Damit, Sulaiman Esa,
Ramlan Abdullah, Raja Azhar Ahmad Idris dan
lain-lain pelukis lagi. Satu-satunya pameran solo
yang pernah diadakan di galeri ini adalah pada
tahun 2005 adalah pameran Segerak 2 iaitu
satu lagi siri pameran solo beliau.
Tapak Yusof Ghani ini terbahagi kepada 3 iaitu
ruang pameran, studio pelukis dan tempat
tinggal. Ruang hadapan tingkat bawah dijadikan
galeri/ruang pameran yang menempatkan
karya beliau, juga sebagai ruang menerima
kunjungan manakala bahagian belakangnya
sebagai kediaman. Tingkat dua pula dijadikan
ruang perbincangan di antara pelukis dan juga
penyelidikan bagi mereka yang ingin melakukan
kajian lukisan. Terdapat juga satu ruang tamu
yang dihiasi rak buku dengan pelbagai buku yang
digunakan oleh beliau sebagai sumber rujukan.
Tingkat paling atas pula digunakan oleh beliau
untuk menempatkan karya-karya pelukis tanah air
yang telah dikumpul oleh beliau sejak awal 90-an.
Karya-karya didalam himpunan beliau yang pada
perkiraan penulis merupakan himpunan karya
yang hebat.
In art... you cannot cheat, because art is visual.
Kata beliau mengakhiri perbualan kami.
Protest Series Hydrogen Man / Mixed media on
canvas / 66 x 50 cm / 1983
Art as
therapy
is a form of
treatment which could
be traced back to ancient
times. It played a role in health
and symbolic expression. From Egyptian
hieroglyphics, it was discovered that people often
use objects and visuals of animals and birds as
intervention in mental health. Another example are
scripts from the Sumerians and the Mayan cultures,
called logograms, were primitive elements for
magical, spiritual, protection purposes and as a daily
journal.
Through contemporary cultures and societies, art has
been used symbolically to cure illness, which brought
physical and psychological relief. For example, as
evidenced in the culture of the Navajo Indian inthe
United States, who combined songs, dance, and
sand paintings in some specific element of patterns.
Further, sand painting in the form of Mandalas act
as a focus of prayers that were used by the Tibetans
intended for healing and relief from suffering.
Art therapy was been inspired by Sigmund Freud
a psychologist & philosopher, who claimed that
psychological disorders are the results of conflicts
in early childhood which the individual is unaware
of. Impulses and emotions involved that have been
repressed unconsciously results in conflicts between
the aggressive and sexual impulses. The techniques
of psychoanalysis were modified into more flexible
and less stressful to reconstruct the patients
childhood experiences during therapeutic process.
Freud clarified that psychoanalysis is a form of
psychotherapy-which combines other theories
and techniques that now are now widely used by
the group therapists, counselors, psychologists and
psychiatrists- acts as a bridge to access deeper
levels of understanding in manipulating between
mind and body.
Carl Jung,a former follower of Freud and founder of
Analytical Psychology said :

Expressive therapy is a form of therapy which
uses artistic expression and divided into different
discipline and approaches such as dance therapy,
drama therapy, art therapy and music therapy
Therapy is a process designed to help changes in
personality or in daily life while art is a means to
discovering both the self and world in establishing a
relation
between
the two. It is a
meeting ground of of
both the inner and outer worlds.
A recent scientific research officially declared
how images influenced emotions, thoughts and
well-being. This is a process of how the brain and body
reacts through drawings and paintings. Science has
found connections between emotions and health,
stress, disease and the immune system. Therefore,
art therapy is to discover the use of imagery and art
expression in treatment.
In the field of education, art therapy is a way to
express emotion through creativity in expressing
inner feelings and emotion. Art therapists were to
help in analyzing factors such as attitudes, emotion,
environment, behaviors and social relationships.
Zeki (1999) has used new method in brain imaging,
the process of forming memories from motor, visual
and somatosensory information whose relationship
is created between the process of art expression and
brain function using art media through stimulation.
According to Barbara Granim,
When we use art to express our pain, we are
accessing that through body minds inner language
of imagery instead of using words. (2004)
In lighter terms, art therapy can be described as a
process of therapeutic and diagnostic means of
understanding peoples emotion through art activities
instead of words.
These days, art therapy is a new media to detect
social skills, motor skills, expression, inner self-emotion
and artistic skills through art making activities towards a
variety groups of people namely people with disorders,
physical disabilities, cancer patients, hardcore
drug abusers, severe mental disorders, Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), sexually abused children
and etc.
Each group
that Ive worked
with have developed
an intervention towards mind
body and brain co-ordination through
the art process. Clients are able to create
their own images, ideas and problem- solving in
their art production. Working with autistic children
using art is a long-term process due to their lack of
eye coordination and motor skills. However, autistic
children are more creatively expressive than normal
children in making their art pieces. Working with the
disabled using art often stretches ones creativity and
imagination because one has to think of how to make
the end results achievable. In art therapy sessions with
autistic children, one must pay particular attention
to the art making process in order to address deficits
in communication and imagination. This helps the
children collaborate with the art therapist in making
symbols, icons and visual arts. Children with HIV,
psychologically abused, social withdrawal, refusing
to go to schools, anxiety disorders, social phobias
are even more challenging. They are capable of
communicating through drawing and storytelling.
As demonstrated with case materials, children with
these disorders frequently reveal themes of death,
destruction and rebirth.
My current project, which uses the art therapy
approach is aimed towards adult hardcore drug
abusers and addiction to help them change to a new
lifestyle that does not include compulsive abuse of
chemicals and the change of behavior requires both
time and commitment. The purpose of the treatment is
not to push the addicts into de-escalation but rather to
bring about a profound shift in beliefs and behavior in
which the addiction loses its power.
Art making may stimulate a similar experience and
provide experiences that soothes and heals the self.
The process of art therapy has a unique and specific
potential relative to self-healing of the way art affects
the brain. (Tinnin, 1994). As an addition, researches in
neuroscience continues to provide an ever-widening
understanding of how the brain and body reacts to
stress, illness and other events. The ability to capture
through visual imagery the internal world of feelings,
sensations, perceptions, and cognition makes the art
therapy approach a unique, creative and effective
way to work with clients of all ages.
| RINA SHUKOR
28/page
ToCreate, To Communicate, To Connect
Artis di lobi BSVN
Osman Akhbar
(Fulltime Artist / Art Consultant)
-Water color landscape and Kampung Houses.
019-3698 486
Email:osmanakbarlong@yahoo.com
Umi Natasha
(Fulltime Artist / Art Consultant)
-Batik, Sculpture
016-3766181
Email:Uminatasha@yahoo.com
PELANCARAN AKTA BALAI SENI VISUAL NEGARA
Lobi Aras 1, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN)
25 September 2011
Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan Malaysia,
Dato Sri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim hari ini telah merasmikan
Majlis Pelancaran Akta Lembaga Pembangunan Seni Visual
Negara 2011 (Akta 724) yang membawa kepada penukaran
nama dari Balai Seni Lukis Negara (BSLN) kepada Balai Seni
Visual Negara (BSVN). Majlis tersebut juga telah dihadiri oleh
Timbalan Menteri, Ketua Setiausaha dan Timbalan Ketua
Setiausaha serta wakil-wakil agensi KPKK selain rakan-rakan
korporat dan media yang turut sama menyaksikan pelancaran
yang bersejarah bagi Balai Seni Visual Negara.
PELANCARAN SETEM KHAZANAH SENI
VISUAL NEGARA-SIRI II
Lobi Aras 1, Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN)
25 September 2011
BSVN dengan kerjasama Pos Malaysia turut melancarkan
setem Khazanah Seni Visual Negara-Siri II, di mana
Pos Malaysia telah mengeluarkan 3 jenis setem yang
bertemakan perjuangan kemerdekaan sempena sambutan
kemerdekaan Malaysia ke 54 pada tahun ini. Setem-setem
tersebut mempamerkan karya tiga orang pelukis pelopor
negara iaitu Datuk Mohd Hoessein Enas, Encik Nik Zainal
Abidin Nik Salleh, dan Encik Anthony Lau. Pelukis-pelukis ini
terkenal dengan kajian bahan dan olahan reka bentuk yang
penuh estetika. Kaitan karya ini dengan tema perjuangan
adalah berdasarkan idealisme pelukis terhadap budaya,
persekitaran dan kelestarian kehidupan.
MAJLIS BERBUKA PUASA DAN PELANCARAN
PAMERAN BSLN YAYADAN/MANIFESTASI
MERDEKA/JAGA!/SYED AHMAD JAMAL
DALAM KENANGAN
Pada 18 Ogos 2011- Sempena menyambut keberkatan
bulan Ramadhan al-Mubarak, Balai Seni Lukis Negara
(BSLN) menganjurkan satu Majlis Berbuka Puasa dan
pelancaran empat buah pameran BSLN seperti Pameran
Yayadan, Pameran Manifestasi Merdeka, Pameran
JAGA dan Pameran Syed Ahmad Jamal Dalam
Kenangan.
BENGKEL PENDIDIKAN SENI VISUAL (2)
DI BALAI SENI VISUAL NEGARA
Balai Seni Visual Negara sekali lagi telah mengadakan Bengkel
Pendidikan Seni Visual (2) berikutan sambutan dan permintaan
yang menggalakkan dari bengkel-bengkel yang lalu. Bengkel ini
telah berlangsung pada 15 Oktober sehingga 20 November 2011
selama 5 sesi, setiap sabtu dan ahad yang melibatkan Bengkel
Pendidikan Seni Visual khususnya bagi pelajar sekolah rendah dan
pelajar sekolah menengah.
Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual bagi pelajar sekolah rendah
telah dibimbing oleh tenaga pengajar muda , Saudara Hirzaq
Harris yang juga merupakan seorang pelukis sepenuh masa.
Setiap peserta diketengahkan dengan pelbagai teknik dan
penggunaan medium dalam menghasilkan sesuatu hasil seni.
Antaranya catan,corak kolaj, stensil, rekaan dan seni kraf.
Bengkel Pendidikan Seni Visual bagi pelajar sekolah
menengah pula telah diberi tunjuk ajar oleh seorang
pelukis muda , Saudara Ali Azraei Bebit. Di sini, peserta
diberi pendedahan berkaitan pengenalan asas seni visual,
perspektif, lanskap permandangan, lukisan alam benda (still
life), dan merekacipta miniature.
PAMERAN DAN JUALAN BERSEMPENA ISTIADAT
KONVOKESYEN KE 8 AKADEMI SENI BUDAYA DAN
WARISAN KEBANGSAAN (ASWARA)

Pada 14 dan 15 Oktober 2011, Balai Seni Visual Negara telah dijemput
untuk mengadakan pameran dan jualan bersempena Istiadat
Konvokesyen ke 8 Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan
(ASWARA). Tujuan pameran dan jualan ini diadakan adalah untuk
memberi pendedahan dan informasi kepada pelajar khususnya
para graduan mengenai industri seni visual tanahair. Balai Seni Visual
Negara amat berbangga kerana pameran dan jualan ini mendapat
sambutan yang amat menggalakkan dari pengunjung dan pelajar
jurusan seni halus. Pelbagai katalog penerbitan yang dipamerkan
seperti Bakat Muda Sezaman 2010, Wayang U-Wei Angkat Saksi,
Kasihnya Ibu, Yang Terutama dan sebagainya.
ART EXPO 2011 CATALOGUE LAUNCHED BY
THE MINISTER OF TOURISM
The Art Expo Malaysia has become a marketplace of East-West and
Arabian art trading and commerce and exchanges. It is a great
confluence of Western, Asian and Arabian art with Iran making its
debut this year with representations from Shiraz Art Gallery and Art &
Identity.
Some 66 exhibitors from 24 countries will be taking part and they
include six art organisations and 51 art galleries. The participating
countries are: Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong,
Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Taiwan, The Philippines and Vietnam. It will involve more
than 400 artists, some of whom come from nine other countries like
Costa Rica and Tibet.
PAMERAN SENI LI CHI MAO
JOY OF LIVING'
Lobi Aras 1, Balai Seni Visual
Negara (BSVN)
25 September 2011-09-22
25 September27 November 2011
Galeri 2B, BSVN
Balai Seni Visual Negara berbesar hati apabila
sekali lagi bekerjasama dengan Art Expo Sdn Bhd
dalam menganjurkan Pameran Seni Li Chi Mao
Joy of Living iaitu sebuah Pameran Berus Cat
Cina yang menjadi sebuah lagi jambatan budaya
yang diterjemahkan melalui karya Prof Li Chi Mao
melalui unsur-unsur kemanusiaan dan kehidupan
dalam rantaian persembahannya. Perasmian ini
dengan jayanya telah Dilancarkan oleh RAJA
MUDA PERLIS, DYTM TUANKU SYED FAIZUDDIN
PUTRA IBNI TUANKU SYED SIRAJUDDIN JAMALULLAIL
dan RAJA PUAN MUDA OF PERLIS, DYTM TUANKU
HAJJAH LAILATUL SHAHREEN AKASHAH KHALIL.
BSVN SANA SINI
PANASONIC KIDS SCHOOL ECO WORKS OF ART
NATIONAL CONTEST 2011 JUDGING SESSION
Panasonic News on the recent Panasonic Kids School Eco
Works of Art National Contest 2011 Judging Session that
was held on 13 October 2011 at National Visual Gallery
Kuala Lumpur for information sharing. The line up of the
works of art exhibits to be judged at National Visual Gallery
Malaysia, produced by students age 10 to 16 years old.
Nine judges had a grueling time judging 16 works of art by
students from Panasonic Kids School program at National
Visual Gallery Kuala Lumpur on 13 October 2011. The works
of art were submitted by students from both primary and
secondary schools from the 10 schools in Selangor that
took part in the pilot project for eco learning program.
The works of art are based on the concept of collage art,
sculpture or innovation models using recyclable items or
biodegradable materials.
SESI PERBINCANGAN PINJAMAN DANA
INDUSTRI KREATIF DI BSVN
Satu sesi perbincangan bersama para pemohon Pinjaman
Dana Industri Kreatif telah diadakan pada 6 Oktober 2011
(Khamis) di Balai Seni Visual Negara yang dihadiri hampir
80 orang wakil industri kreatif.
Objektif sesi berkenaan sebagai satu platform untuk
meningkatkan jalinan kerjasama dengan para pemohon
dalam memberikan pandangan serta kritikan membina
untuk menambah baik proses permohonan Pinjaman
Dana Industri Kreatif dengan matlamat utama iaitu
membawa impak positif kepada pembangunan
industri kreatif.
Antara-antara isu-isu yang telah dibangkitkan dalam
sesi pertemuan dan lain-lain pandangan yang diterima
berhubung Pinjaman Dana Industri Kreatif adalah:
Kelewatan pemprosesan pinjaman
Ketiadaan pengesahan pemprosesan
Ketiadaan perincian justifikasi penolakan
Kekurangan proses komunikasi
Polisi pinjaman berhubung pembelian aset
Isu-isu harta intelektual/hak cipta/ assignment royalty
KADAR MENGIKUT JABATAN / AGENSI
PERKARA
AUDITORIUM
(kapasiti : 144 orang)
LCD PROJECTOR
MASA
Min : 3 jam
1 jam
RM 100
RM 33
RM 120
RM 40
RM 300
RM 100
AGENSI
KERAJAAN
BADAN BUKAN
KERAJAAN (NGO)
SWASTA
Sehari RM 500 RM 650 RM 1500
Sehari RM 150 RM 300 RM 500
* Tertakluk kepada kekosongan dan permohonan awal selewat-lewatnya 3 minggu
sebelum tarikh penggunaan auditorium.
Pihak Balai Seni Visual Negara menawarkan sewaan Auditorium dan LCD Projector kepada
semua agensi Kerajaan, NGO dan pihak swasta untuk mengadakan sesuatu acara atau
program dengan kadar sewaan seperti berikut :
Permohonan boleh dibuat dengan menghantar surat permohonan kepada :
Ketua Pengarah, Balai Seni Visual Negara, No. 2 Jalan Temerloh Off Jalan Tun Razak, 53200 Kuala Lumpur
[u/p : Bahagian Khidmat Pengurusan]
Syarat-syarat dan garis panduan untuk program sukarelawan
Balai Seni Visual Negara:
Terbuka kepada yang berumur 18 tahun-60 tahun.
Sukarelawan mendapat latihan yang melibatkan
tenaga profesional dari Balai Seni Visual Negara dan
juga melibatkan tenaga pengajar badan sukarelawan
luar yang berpengalaman.
Mendapat pengiktirafan sijil dari Balai Seni Visual Negara
sebagai tanda penghargaan.
Pihak Balai Seni Visual Negara menyediakan kupon
makan dan minum dalam program sukarelawan
di jalankan.
Penyediaan alat bantuan kerja oleh Balai Seni Visual
Negara dan penerangan terperinci akan di berikan
tentang prosedur dan tatacara kerja.
Jawaban permohonan dan latihan akan di beritahu
terus oleh pihak urus setia.
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Tarikh tutup permohonan sukarelawan seni adalah pada
30 November 2011. Borang permohonan sukarelawan seni
boleh di dapati di ruang kaunter Balai Seni Visual Negara
di alamat :
No 2, Jalan Temerloh,
Off Jalan Tun Razak,
53200 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Ataupun boleh terus berhubung di Bahagian Penyelidikan dan
Pameran, Puan Intan Rafiza di talian
03-40267015 atau email : intan@artgallery.gov.my
P
R
O
G
R
A
M

S
U
K
A
R
E
L
A
W
A
N
Membuka peluang kepada masyarakat
di luar sana untuk menyumbangkan
tenaga dalam ruang kesenian visual di
Malaysia. Program yang bertujuan ke arah
mendidik masyarakat dalam memahami
kepentingan seni visual dan dalam masa
yang sama ianya dapat membantu
Balai Seni Visual Negara menaik taraf
memahami dan memenuhi kehendak
pelukis tempatan, peminat seni dan
masyarakat. Program sukarelawan
yang diharap dapat menjadi
titiktolak dialog dua hala kearah
pembangunan minda yang lebih
sihat dari persepsi seni visual.
PERTANDINGAN SENI VISUAL
TERBUKA JOHOR 2011
Satu panel hakim telah dipilih untuk menilai dan memilih
pemenang-pemenang bagi Pertandingan Seni Visual
Terbuka Johor yang bertajukkan 'Ritma Johor'. Panel
hakim terdiri dari wakil BSVN Saudara Tan Seihon,
Pengarah Muzium dan Galeri Tuanku Fauziah, USM iaitu
En. Hasnul Jamal Saidon selaku Ketua Panel Hakim dan
Prof. Ponirin Amin dari UiTM dan dibantu oleh staf-staf dari
Galei Seni Johor. Tiga kategori utama dalam petandingan
tersebut ialah catan/cetakan, Arca dan Batik. Galeri
Seni Johor telah menerima hampir seratus penyertaan
dari penggiat-penggiat seni dari seluruh negara melalui
penggunaan pelbagai media dan pendekatan seni yang
telah diperlihatkan.
Hueman Studio
(artworks and crafts)
Add: No. 9, Jalan Tokong, 75200
Melaka,Malaysia.
Tel: 06-288 1795
Email: huemanstudio@yahoo.com
Url: www.huemanstudio.com
Relaxsee Gallery
lot 125, lrg Kempas 1,
Kampung Melayu 68000
Ampang, Slangor D.E
Ismail Hj. Baba
Naive Artist
017 883 0303
03-42533984
NEO POP ART (JERIS STUDIO 55)
Sitajeriazhari (Art Dealer)
220 Lorong Maarof
Bangsar 59000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Studio : 03-2094 1537
Mobile : 013-3253 045
Natyavaruval Arts Workshop
And Gallery
Umi Natasya Pie
016-3766 181
25-2, Taman Setapak Indah Jaya
Jalan Puah Jaya,
Of Jalan Pahang,
53000 Kuala Lumpur.
Email: natyavaruval @yahoo.com
Chekri Mansor
(Free lance caricaturist, cartoonist, painter and
musician)
chekrimansor@gmail.com
http://chekrimansor.webs.com/
THE ART CAFE
54, Jalan Ss2/75
Petaling Jaya 46100
Selangor.
christianlai.blogspot.com
christiansartcafe.blogspot.com
chris.theartcafe@gmail.com
Suchen SK
(Freelance Photographer)
www.suchens.com
ART GENERATION STUDIO
21-1, Jalan Damai Perdana 1/8D,
Bandar Damai Perdana,
56000 Cheras Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax: 03-9100 1597
Blog: baiduren-space.blogspot.com
Email: art.baiduren@gmail.com
Lets Handmade
a.hippies@gmail.com
Miss Ireen Handmade
www.missireen.blogspot.com
www.missireen.110mb.com
AChiBuu Handmade
Blog: http://achibuu.blogspot.com
Website: www.achibuu.com
Contact: huichyet@yahoo.com
Panda Eyes Handmade
Wen Yi (Graphic Designer)
hata-knight@hotmail.com
http://www.pandaeyesdiy.blogspot.com
HAVEN (something for everyone)
Lot S211 (2nd oor) Promenade,
1 Utama Shopping Centre,
1 Lebuh Bandar Utama, 47800
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
tel: 03-7727 3541
email: getcrafty@craft-haven.com
www.crafty-haven.com
Clarity Enterprise
(wholesale & retail keychains, accessories &
art pieces)
No. 21 Lorong 9/115C, Taman Jaya,
Of Jalan Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax: 03-7875 9195
Email: clarityenterprise@gmail.com
CULTURE STREET ARTS & GALLERY
(Gallery, Chinese Paintings Mounting, Mounting
Material,Art Materials)
10C, 3rd Floor, Jalan Panggong, 50000 Kuala
Lumpur.
Tel/Fax:03-2026 0292
Email: cs_arts@tm.net.my
Ambriel Craft -handmade from the heart-
(Handmade Cards, Custom Made To Order,
Home baked, Custom Bake to Order,
Wedding Invitations, Thematic Party Cards,
Thank You Cards, Corporate Gifts.)
43, Jalan Bp2,
Bandar Bukit Puchong,
41720 Puchong
Selangor.
Tel/Fax: 03-8060 3795
Blog: http://ambrielcraft.wordpress.com
Email: audrey@ambriel.com.my
Oriental Art & Cultural Center
Kuala Lumpur
(under the auspices of Elken Foundation)
Tel: 03-7785 6363
Fax: 03-7785 9393
No 10 & 12, 2nd & 3rd, Pusat Elken,
Jalan 1/137C, Batu 5,
Jalan Kelang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur.
Duncan Tang
Assistant Curator
012-297 3618
www.efoacc.org
WISEZONE-Innovative Photography
GARY CHEW
(Photographer)
Tel/Fax: 03-7980 2210
Fax: 03-7984 0959
Email:wisezone_innovative@yahoo.com
VALERIE YAN CREATIONS
Valerie Yan
( Illustrator)
Rainie_yan@hotmail.com
http://valeriecreations.blogspot.com
Play & Expressive Arts
Andrew Ng (Play & Art Therapist)
Tel : 012-361 8596
-Founder & Director of Play & Expressive Arts
-Conducts Parenting Seminars, Play Therapy
Workshops & Training in Malaysia, Singapore,
Hong Kong & China.
Pyanz Henna Arts & Crafts
Pyan Sharif
(Henna Artist)
012-297 9588
Email:pyanzhennaart@yahoo.com
Website: http://pyanzsharif.webs.com
www.pyanzhennaart.com
Studio: Blok A8-G-25, Jalan Mewah 4,
Pandan Mewah, 68000 Ampang, Selangor.
Fax: 03-4291 1588
Elements Creations- hand crafted
ceramics
48 Lorong Nikmat 2, Taman Gembira
Jalan Kuchai Lama
58200 Kuala Lumpur.
nikicheong33@yahoo.com
Shahril Nizam Ahmad
(Freelance Illustrator)
Email: shahrila@yahoo.com
Webpage:
http://www.geocities.com/shahrila/shahril_
nizam.html
Ku On Kanvas
Yushazal Yunos
kuonkanvas@gmail.com
012-252 5644
Nurgajir@Gajir
(Tempahan Nama Dalam Tulisan Jawi
Lukisan Atas Kanvas)
017-366 9290
http://gajirkaligra.blogspot.com
-Oil Painting
-Abstrak
-Seni Khat
I LOVE UNIQUE GIFTS
http://iloveunique.blogspot.com
email: aimeili55@yahoo.com (Emily Ng)
bibichun
(freelance designer, illustrator +grafti artist)
bibichun@gmail.com
www.bibichun.com
Khor Hui Min
(Writer)
khor.hm@gmail.com
khorhmin@yahoo.co.uk
(Writing, Editing, Proofreading, Project
Coordination, Brochures Articles, Corporate
Proles, General/Technical
Reports, Websites/Interactive, Lyrics
Translation, Childrens
Books etc.)
SOCIETY OF INTERPRETERS
FOR THE DEAF (SiD)
The Community Service Centre for the Deaf
No. 41A, Lorong Ampang,
540450 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:03-2031 4599 Fax: 03-2078 6630
EDEN ART STUDIO
ART CENTRE, TEA HOUSE,
COMMUNICATION CENTRE,
ARTGALLERY
edenartstudio@gmail.com
Block L6-3-9C, Pelangi Promenade,
Jalan Pekan Baru 34, 41050 Klang,
Selangor.
LEADER PORTRAIT ARTIST
Abdul Hadi Haji Ahmad
Lot 01.08A, Groud Floor,
Central Market Annexe,
Jalan Hang Kasturi,
50050 Kuala Lumpur.
Email : hadi365@gmail.com
www.hadiportrait.blogspot.com
Tan Chee Hon
Artist @ photographer
85B, jalan tiong nam,
50350 Kuala lumpur.
Email: tchon75@gmail.Com
picasaweb.google.com/tchon75
SCULPTUREATWORK
(M) SDN.BHD.
www.sculpcureatwork.com
Studio: 108 Lorong Maarof, Bangsar Park,
59000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-22836936
Fax: 03-22835936
NURIDAUS ENTERPRISE
(SPECIALIST IN COPPER TOOLINGS)
Blok L22-505, Persiaran Pandan,
Pandan Jaya, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
-FULLY HANDCRAFTED-
019-334 7877
018-268 1880
018-287 7883
CHEAP SENG POTTERY SDN.BHD.
(Ceramic Design, Glazes Mixing,
Plaster Mold Design, Sculpture)
Factory & Seramic Studio:
Lot 2269 Jalan Bercham,
31400 Ipoh, Perak.
Tel: 05-547 8936
Fax: 05-547 5040
Email : artstudio39@yahoo.com
Mouth & Foot Painting Artists Sdn.
Bhd.
Lot 327, 2nd Ampang Park Shopping
Centre, Jalan Ampang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur,
P.O.Box 12431,
50778 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2161 8860,2161 8502
Fax: 03-2162 1504
Michael Chuah Design
(character designer/comic book artist)
chuahshihchung@yahoo.com
www.michaeldesign.com
'Everyone is Awesome'
Ummi
Creative Designer
Phone: 03-6038 6377
Email: everyoneisawesome@gmail.com
Yus Usratika@Luqman Husaini
(Writer/composer)
yusratika@yahoo.com
yusnistone@yahoo.com
www.usratika.blogspot.com
Heroes Sticker + Heroes Apparel
heroesticker@gmail.com
heroesapparel@gmail.com
heroesapparel.webs.com
mudah.my/herosticker
facebook.com/heroesapparel
Nazmi
(Professional Photographer)
nazmi_photo@yahoo.com
The Seamstress
http://seamstresses.blogspot.com
Syahirah Suhaimi: 013-6282 2417
Sumarni Suhaimi: 013-3730 602
Gerai OA
-Indigenous Peoples Stall-
Contact us:
Reita Faida Rahim (coordinator)
Email: geraios@gmail.com
buy online: www.elevyn.com/shop/geraioa
GLOBP Stoodio
Animation/motiongraphics/editorial+concept
illustration/charaterdesign
globp@yahoo.com
www.ickr.com/photos/myglobp
www.urban-cr3atures.com
Motiongraphics/printgraphics+interactive/
clothing/toys/web+characterdesign/illustration/
typography/animation/event/C.G efects/music/
sound/publication.
www.projectboxie.com
urbancr3atures.blogspot.com
KLOBOT
www.comeandharmeme.vox.com
myspace.com/klobot
comeandharmme@gmail.com
Thangarajoo @ Mr. Raj
(Artist-Children's book illustrator-Art Tutor)
Conducts art classes at stucent's home.
Call- 012 3467872
Email: jootha@gmail.com/ jootha57@yahoo.com.
Please visit:www.ickr.com/pjotos/thanga4
MALAYSIAN ASSOCIATION OF
CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
macri
empowering simple ideas
Tel:03-2282 7028
Fax: 03-2282 7028
Email : www.macri.com.my
Lot A-28-10, Menara UOA Bangsar,
No 5 Jalan Bangsar 1, 59000 Kuala Lumpur.
CENTRES / GALLERIES /
STUDIOS / OTHERS
SUPPLIERS / SERVICES /
BOOKS /
D.I.Y / FREELANCE /
SERVICES
Selvan Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd
Specialised in convenience/newstand concept
stores. Exclusive distributors of foreign
magazines and books.
tel: 603 4042 2339
email: selvan39@streamyx.com
On Target Training Sdn Bhd
-books, posters, manuals, simulation software,
E-book,E-learning, educational dvds, Interactive
Cd-Roms, customized content development.
Ofce-03-77859716
Fax-03-77859718
email: arull@ottlearning.com.my
Colorss Clay Accessories
www.colorss88.blogspot.com
chia_li_huei@hotmail.com
Keahlianpelukisakanmenikmati
faedahmenariksepertiberikut:
Dijemputmenghadiripembukaanpameran,
menyertaiprogramkhas,bengkel,
ceramahdansebarangacaraanjuran
BalaiSeniVisualNegara.
Menikmati*diskaun10%keatashampir
kesemuabarangandiKedaiGaleri
merangkumibahan-bahanmelukis,
penerbitandancenderamata.
MenerimamaklumatterkinimelaluiSMS.
MenerimawarkahBalaiSeniVisualNegara,
SENIKINI:MalaysiaArtNow,percuma
untuksetahun(enamkeluaran).
Namadanalamatpelukisakandimuatkandi
dalamrangkaianlamanwebdirektoripelukis
BalaiSeniVisualNegara.
JOM
Jadilahahli
Wan Faizun Zafan : faizun@artgallery.gov.my
Untuk penggunaan ruang
Peti Seni BSLN bagi tujuan
menjalankan aktiviti-aktiviti
yang berkaitan dengan seni
visual, sila majukan surat
permohonan ke pejabat Ketua
Pengarah Balai Seni Lukis
Negara. Penggunaan Peti Seni
ini tidak dikenakan caj.
To apply for the use ( art studio,
experimental and other art-related
activites) of NAG's Peti Seni
(3-6 months) please write to
the Director-General of
National Art Gallery. Peti Seni is
available free of charge.
/ tanseihon@gmail.com
Design Art Books
Lot FF-07,
The Waterfront @Park City 5,
Persiaran Resident,
Desa Park City,
52200 Kuala Lumpur.
Email: deendab@gmail.com
Tel: 03-6280 7876
Fax: 03-6280 7875
ART.FRIEND
(Complete range of Art,
Graphic & Craft Materials,
and Stationary)
Tel: 03 2284 7777
Fax: 03 2284 7577
email: kl_eng@artfriend.com.sg
Lot T-213, Third Floor, The Gardens,
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.
www.artfriend.com.sg
Internasional Art Services(M)Sdn Bhd
-mover and transportation of artworks-
Jerry (Supervisor)
Tel: 03-7846 5821
Fax: 03-7846 1944
Email: internationalartservices@jim.com.my
Leong Brothers
-Artistic, Frame Specialists and Designer,
Glass Dealer-
331 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman,
50100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax: 03-2691 3941
Tel: 03-2692 2116
Perniagaan Hai Kuang Sdn. Bhd.
-Supplies all kinds of screen printing, pad
printing,materials, equipment machinery and
stencil making service.
Head Ofce : No. 51, Jalan Dato Haji Eusof,
Damai Komplek,
50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-4042 9569, 4042 0071, 4041 9493,
4041 9479
Fax: 03-4042 2467(ADMIN) , 4042
3425(SALES)
Email: haikuang@tm.net.my
SOLE DISTRIBUTOR IN MALAYSIA
(The Most Famous in Silkscreen Printing
Industry)
WS ART & FRAMES
CENTRE SDN. BHD.
(Art Gallery, Conservation & Custom Framing,
delivery & Installation of Artwork.)
No 34, Jalan Dang Wangi,
50100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2698 0132
Fax: 03-2692 7520
Email: wsartctr@msn.com
A member of:
PROFESSIONAL PICTURE FRAMERS
ASSOCIATION(USA)
BASHEER GRAPHIC BOOKS
AT BORDERS
Lot 216-B, Third Floor, The Gardens Mid
VALLEY
Lingkaran Syed Putra 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
www.basheergraphic.com
www.basheercityroom.com
THE ART SHOP
(Art Material, Technical Drawing
Instruments, Stationary)
No 65, Jalan Negara,
Taman Melawati,
53100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-4108 8322 Fax: 03-4107 8036
Wholly Owned By Hi-Scan
Wholesale Sdn.Bhd.
KHAI LIEN SILK SCREEN
SUPPLIERS (M) SDN.BHD.
132, Jalan Selar, Taman Bukit Riau, Batu 3 ,
Jalan Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-9283 7032
Fax: 03-9285 1035
Email : kailien@po.jaring.my
www.khailien.com.my
We supply:
Inks, Machineries & Equipment, Other
Silkscreen Materials, Advertising.
NEW YORK September 5, 2011 Leon Lim broke
into the worlds leading television and entertainment
industry that is making him Malaysias first artist and
Asias first deaf star to qualify for the new second
season of Bravos reality show series, Work of Art:
The Next Great Artist, on NBC Universal, one of the
Americas five major television networks, as well as
Bravos first deaf star and contestant in its 43 reality
shows including Top Chef, Project Runway and The
Real Housewives. The show, Work of Art: The Next
Great Artist, is a direct descendent of the juried-
exhibition tradition which was greatly modified for a
different age and culture, and became a staple of
American museums through much of the twentieth
century.
Mr. Lim, one of the fourteen artists, was selected from
several thousands of artists from across the United
States and around the world. Thousands of artists
came to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles with
their digital and hardcopy portfolios or art pieces
and waited in a four-hour long line for hours for their
chance to casting audition. The artists backgrounds
range from recent art school
graduates to emerging artists to
artists with gallery representation
and pieces in the permanent
collections of internationally
recognized museums, as well as
their talents ranging from painting,
photography, performance art,
installation, multimedia, film,
illustration and sculpture to come
out for a potentially life and
career-level-changing opportunity.
In the episodes of the reality
show, the producers provided a
certified interpreter who is fluent
in American Sign Language and
English Spoken Language for the
installation artist Leon Lim for studio
discussion with the artists and
critiques and narratives with the
judges.
With his participation in Work of Art: The Next Great
Artist, Leon Lim embodies the new wave of Malaysian
contemporary art and also is a leader in changing the
perceptions of those among us who cannot hear and
have native language American Sign Language by
defying the radical ideology and traditional images of
deaf people in the context of family, business, media,
and the art world as a whole. He doesnt believe that
the inability to hear sound or music is a way to create
an uncertain future or a poor life. Being deaf with sign
language and being an artist are new culture and a
source of great pride.
Mr. Lim has dedicated himself to increasing public
awareness of art education and deaf education in
Malaysia as well as advancing the diverse narratives
threaded through Malaysian Contemporary Art.
Influenced, yet not limited by his deafness and
strength, his career as an artist draws extensively from
his experiences in both Malaysia and America.
Born in Kedah, Malaysia, Mr. Lim has been profoundly
and proudly deaf since birth. His first language is
American Sign Language. An alienated and isolated
child growing up in a largely unartistc family, he
drew and painted incessantly, inspired by the
colorful covers of music cassettes-a fact he now finds
amusingly ironic. Instinctively, his deafness motivated
Mr. Lim to devise ways of telling a story through his
artwork without speaking, reading, or writing. It is not a
surprise then, that Mr. Lim believes that experiencing
art first begins from seeing, opposed to reading
description on a label or hearing a teacher lecture
on the subject.
Mr. Lim left his family following primary school in
Kedah, enrolling at the Federal School for the Deaf in
Penang, the oldest deaf institution in Malaysia. At 14
he was living alone in a three-bedroom apartment
in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, which further instilled a
strong sense of independence. Seven years of living
alone allowed Mr. Lim build his world
without the need to hear sound or
music. He went to New York as an
international student after he was
awarded four scholarships, including
the prestigious Nippon Foundation
Scholarship.
Mr. Lim received degrees from
Rochester Institute of Technology in
New York and De Montfort University
in the United Kingdom, and then
settled in New York City to pursue his
passion for art, design, photography,
fashion, and film. He dabbles in a
wide range of art forms including
painting, photography, multimedia,
installations, and performance
objects, Mr. Lim's compositions
explores various themes, namely
heritage preservation and social
segregation, communication
barriers, intertwining realms of life
and death, connections between
nature and man-made objects, and the politics of
identity and culture.
Mr. Lim's artwork has been exhibited in galleries,
museums and major festivals including the Total
Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, the CAFA
Art Museum in Beijing, the John F. Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C., and the World Financial Center
Gallery in New York City. Last year, in cooperation
with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mr. Lim
was commissioned to create a new site-specific,
landmark public art installation for the George Town
Festival in Penang. His The Last Chairs exhibition
marked Penangs first public art in its new chapter on
Contemporary Art in George Town as well as Mr. Lim's
first major work in his home country.
Recently, Mr. Lim's transformative portrait of Julian
Assange was featured in the 2010 TIME Magazines
Person of the Year issue, which was printed in over
28 million copies. Mr. Lim is currently exploring the
dispositions and aftereffects of creation, evolution and
abstraction, working with the elements of fire, water
and sunlight.
In an interview with New Straits Times, one of the major
Malaysian newspapers, Lim said,
"People generally cannot see beyond a deaf persons
senses. Many of them have hidden talent. All that is
required is a little prodding, a push. Give them a little
encouragement. They are not as disabled as you
might think."
Cathy Rose A. Garcia of The Korea Times, wrote,
'Being deaf should not be seen as a hindrance to
pursuing one's dreams. If anyone is living proof of this, it
is deaf Malaysian artist Leon Lim'.

Bravos 10-episode reality show series, Work of Art:
The Next Great Artist, will be airing on Wednesdays
starting on 12 October 2011. This imaginative series
is a creative synergy between the Emmy-winning
producers Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, the Golden
Globe and Emmy-winning actress and executive
producer Sarah Jessica Parker, and the creator
of Project Runway, Eli Holzman and the executive
producer Alison Benson.
Host, judge and art enthusiast China Chow lends
her artistic grace to the second season of Bravos
cutting-edge contemporary art competition. The
judging panel includes Jerry Saltz, the three-time
Pulitzer Prize-nominated senior art critic for New York
Magazine, and Bill Powers, the owner of New York-
based Half Gallery and literary art contributor. Simon
de Pury, one of the art worlds leading figures and the
world-renowned Chairman and Chief Art Auctioneer
of Phillips de Pury & Company, adds his expertise as a
mentor to the contestants.
The new second season of Work of Art: The Next
Great Artist is filmed in New York City under the
watchful eye of art world elites. The fourteen up-
and-coming artists are ready to make their mark on
the industry and battle it out for a solo show at the
Brooklyn Museum and a cash prize of $100,000.
Bravos first season of Work of Art: The Next Great
Artist averaged 1.37 million total viewers and 809,000
in the adult age 18 to 49.
How long have you been based abroad?
I was working in Singapore from since1995 but left
for Japan in 2000 to pursue art.
What made you decided to venture overseas?
(Smile) hahaha ^^
Tired of working for other people!!?
Before becoming an artist, I was a Visualizer
(Commercial Artist) in an advertising firm. When I
was 24 years old, I imagined that I was going to be a
famous art director or an Illustrator in an advertising
firm one day as my training had prepared me. I was
even awarded a Best Studio man Award in 1999
but I had already secretly applied online to study
in Japan the 6 months before and was just waiting
for the admission approval. My decision surprised
everyone around me, including my family. I had only
3 weeks to make preparations and resigned and left
Singapore for Japan.
I guess, perhaps seeking the REAL ME was my main
purpose for venturing overseas after recalling all
those years living abroad.
What were the initial challenges when you began
your art career in a foreign land?
At the beginning of my career, I had no doubt that
I would have to learn and to do new things as well.
Because of these reasons, I got invited to participate
in exhibitions with other fellow artists organized by
one of my professors outside of the campus. The
feedback was good, thus giving me the confidence
to continue.
What are the advantages of being based overseas
and how have those advantages nurtured your
artistic and creative talent?
I dont know whether what I have at the moment
could be called advantages. For me personally, I
had tried very hard to make my artworks closer to
the Japanese but it just comes out distinctively. You
might say I already have my own colors, shapes,
culture and identity. And difference is a constant
in my works. However, philosophy stimulates me in
creating my works.
What are the differences in terms of environment,
working as an artist in Malaysia and abroad?
I cant really compare the differences between
Japan and Malaysia because I have not kept
up with the contemporary situation in Malaysia.
However, I personally feel that Japan has more
opportunities for one to show ones works to the
public. There are long lists of art galleries and
museum everywhere and art workshops for kids and
adult are common.
What are some of the themes that inspire your work?
Since moving to Japan 11 years ago, I had lived
in both urban and rural areas. I am constantly
fascinated by my surroundings and have never
stopped being inquisitive and curious about human
reactions around me, especially critiques of fixed
ideas, namely symbolic image associated with the
social structure and appearances.
What artistic works/projects are you currently
working on right now?
I will have an open-air group show in a park next
week. It is a valuable challenge to exhibit precious
works outdoors. The works itself has to confront the
natural elements, including mans destructiveness.
The longevity and sustainability of an artwork is
still essential these days and must be taken into
consideration.
What were the most memorable/ unforgettable
experiences youve had as an artist working
overseas?
It happened at a recent group show in Nagoya.
A young man was grinning at my kinetic work The
Rubber Fan (2011) for more than 30 minutes!
How often do you come back to Malaysia? What
are your typical activities when you are back
here?
I used to come back twice a year but have nor
been back since 2007. I usually gather with my
family and friends. I also visit art galleries and the
museum. I do cultural research at the Mamak
stores and hawker centers with my friends.
I have a few SNS friends who are artists on
Facebook and they are my source of information
about the Malaysian art scene. I think I will try to
meet them in my next trip home.
What advice would you give to other aspiring
Malaysian artists hoping to make it abroad?
First of all I believe, if one wishes to venture abroad,
one need to double ones efforts or to pour in
more energy in what one does as compare to
being based back home for opportunities to
appear. In the case of Japan, it has a very unique
culture, it is Asia but it is not. Secondly, never ever
forget your reasons for going abroad.
Thirdly, Let it be.
Name : Tan Ru Yi
Year of birth : 1973
Hometown : Kuala Lumpur
Education : Nagoya Zokei University
Current Base : Shizuoka, Japan
nat i onal ar t gal l er y. bl ogspot . com www. f acebook. com/ ar t gal l er y. gov. my
2 Jalan Temerloh
Off Jalan Tun Razak
53200 Kuala Lumpur
T+603 4024 4998
F+603 4025 4987

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