Tuesday February 24, 2009

American kids to get a taste of local culture

Story and photos By CHRISTINA LOW

Last year Malaysian-born artist Suhaimi Fadzir spent more than a month teaching the schoolchildren at Saint Louis, Missouri in the United States. And seeing his talent and committment, Suhaimi has been invited again by the Art Saint Louis Residency programme to conduct workshops on Malaysian arts and culture for the students there.

“It was truly a fulfilling experience surrounded by these young children, who are always so eager to learn and accept ideas and techniques taught to them,

“I also feel that my art pieces are more appreciated when I am with these kids,” Suhaimi said.

Unique appeal: Materials like toys and bottles are often used in some of Suhaimi’s artworks.

Having left the country after his Form Five to further his education in Washington University, Suhaimi graduated in architecture and was working as a consultant for some time.

However, as time went by, Suhaimi discovered that art was his true calling and decided to pursue it full time.

“In art, I get to express myself better as I do not need to rectify my pieces according to the client’s taste and preference,” said Suhaimi who now lives in America with his wife and three children.

He occasionally visits Kuala Lumpur as well as making trips to his parents’ home in Lenggong, Perak, whenever possible.

Through his residency programme at Mann EMINTS (Enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies) Academy in Missouri this month, Suhaimi will be working on his new series of artworks, workshops, and also introduce Malaysian arts and craft as well as our local artists to the students.

“In the previous programme held at the Dewey International, I taught them how a sarong is made as well as wearing one, too,” Suhaimi said.

This year he planned to teach the students the art of wayang kulit (Shadow Play) as most of his paintings depict a character from the age-old art.

Comic relief: Suhaimi’s love for cartoon characters like Spiderman, Hello Kitty and Ninja Turtles are seen in some of his works.

“I like using wayang kulit characters in my pieces and it signifies a good blend of traditional and contemporary artwork.

The 46-year-old had also been chosen to showcase his paintings and artwork produced during his residency, at the prestigious William and Florence Schmidt Art Centre, which holds permanent collections of Salvador Dali, Ansel Adams and Rembrandt Van Rjin.

Suhaimi’s pieces can be viewed at the Palestine Art Charity exhibition at the National Art Gallery till Feb 28.