Penang-based senior artist Chew will be in Kuala Lumpur this weekend to participate in a series of events surrounding the launch of 'A Retrospective: Chew Teng Beng – Life, Art And Writings' exhibition at Wisma SGM. Photo: Chew Teng Beng
EXHIBITION: 'A RETROSPECTIVE: CHEW TENG BENG – LIFE, ART AND WRITINGS'
Venue: Wisma Kebudayaan SGM, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Dec 23 to Feb 4, 2024
The Harmoni gallery space at Wisma Kebudayaan SGM is closing out the year with a major tribute to Dr Chew Teng Beng, a Malaysian artist, scholar and visionary.
This Saturday's opening of A Retrospective: Chew Teng Beng – Life, Art And Writings exhibition (at 3pm) is a celebration of the illustrious seven-decade journey of the 85-year-old artist.
The exhibition, curated by Tan Sei Hon, will focus on three significance areas of the artist’s body of work. On display at the ground floor will be works selected from the 1950s until the 1990s, from drawings, paintings, prints to handmade paper highlighting Chew's early developments. On the mezzanine floor, selected handmade paper works from local indigenous plant fibre produced for his dissertation will be on display and finally on the second floor, abstract paintings and paintings on paper pulp from the 1990s and 2020s will be on display.
In his adventurous career, the Penang-based Chew played an important role in evolving Malaysia’s art scene as a pioneer in papermaking. As an an eclectic artist and educator, his works intertwine colours and forms, deeply contemplating the symbiotic relationship between humanity and nature.
On Sunday at 11am, Chew will join the curator Tan to personally unravel the intricacies of his handmade paper art. What inspired Chew's creative vision? How did he seamlessly integrate his profound ideas into the realm of artistic practice?
Free admission exhibition.
More info here.
Eleanor Goroh, who hails from Kota Kinabalu, is a self-taught beadwork jewellery craftswoman, activist and poet. Photo: Handout
CULTURE EVENT: 'TREES, REEDS, SEEDS & ROOTS'
Venue: Sunda Shelves, Petaling Jaya
Date: Dec 23
Nature bookshop Sunda Shelves is offering a little bit of Bornean culture and music this Saturday to get into the festive swing.
Eleanor Goroh, a Sabahan artist and musician, will be conducting a beading workshop throughout the day and will be giving a talk on Bornean beads, tattoos and music later in the day.
For the beading workshop, you can drop in anytime between 11am till 7pm to make your own Bornean bead earrings, bracelets and necklaces under the tutelage of Goroh and Jesse Joy of Bundusan Books. Price ranges from RM20 to RM90 according to size and bead selection. A perfect gift for yourself or your loved ones for Christmas or other special occasions.
The talk and musical performance by Goroh begins at 4pm. There is no entry fee, but you will need to register using the following link, as seats are limited.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: SYAHBANDI SAMAT'S ‘THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED’
Venue: Harta Space, Ampang Point, Selangor
Date: ends Jan 17
Take a stroll around the surreal and world of Kuching-born Syahbandi Samat, a contemporary artist whose primary tool is a simple ballpoint pen. Most of his artwork is done on canvas, with a strong use of black colours, given its accessibility, with a few installations in mixed media.
The Road Less Travelled is his fifth solo exhibition, and possibly the most comprehensive survey of his career to date, with 35 works.
As you go through the exhibition, you’ll find a wide range of animals, deformed bodies and other dark mechanisms. The artist uses an average of six to eight pens for each piece, proving that the talent of the artist outweighs the type of medium.
Located alongside the Habib Heritage Jewellery Museum, this exhibition is presented and co-created by Artemis Art and Ivan Gabriel, offering a unique “playground space” for art lovers to enjoy.
Despite the novelty of the artists most favoured tool, what’s most striking about this exhibition is the different types of torture devices showcased in his works. Inspired by the contraptions of the SAW movie series, Syahbandi notes that the anxiety and claustrophobia makes his intense pieces a little uncomfortable to look at.
Free admission exhibition.
More info here.
A view of the 'Port And Pottery' exhibition at the Museum of Asian Art in Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Azman Ghani
EXHIBITION: PORT & POTTERY
Venue: Museum of Asian Art, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Jan 31, 2024
The Port And Pottery exhibition, now showing at the Museum Of Asian Art (Muzium Seni Asia) at Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, explores a trail of ceramic shards, earthenware and broken pots, which were salvaged from two sites along Melaka’s coastline.
A total of 120 artefacts, selected from nearly 910 recovered pieces, await visitors as they stroll through this small gallery, which is loaded with info on old world Melaka through this exhibition.
Among the highlights behind the glass in this exhibition are regionally produced earthenware cooking pots, glazed stoneware bowls produced during the Yuan (1271-1368 CE) to Ming (1368-1644 CE) dynasties, Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain plates, Chinese and South-East Asian stoneware storage jars and bottles, Burmese (Myanmar) Martaban stoneware jars and celadon plates from China, Thailand and Myanmar.
Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 CE) porcelain used by the common people of the time, which are mainly provincial blue and white Chinese dishes and bowls with simplified decoration, were the most recovered artefacts.
Beyond the ceramics rescued from the Melaka coast, on display is a small exhibit of ceramics used or kept in Melaka’s Baba Nyonya, Portuguese (Kristang) and Chetti households. A selection of ceramics excavated from six shipwrecks in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea are also part of the exhibition.
Port And Pottery exhibition's run has been extended until Jan 31. Open: Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Saturday, 9am-4pm. Closed during public holidays. Free admission.
More info here.
A view of the 'Nirmala Dutt: Statements' exhibition at Ilham Gallery, which ends on Dec 24. Photo: Ilham Gallery
EXHIBITION: NIRMALA DUTT: 'STATEMENTS'
Venue: Ilham Gallery, KL
Date: ends Dec 24
Here's your last chance to view Ilham Gallery's current exhibition Nirmala Dutt: Statements, which ends this Sunday. Don’t miss this opportunity to get to know the late artist's works in more detail and to understand her visual language.
Beginning her career in the 1960s, the Penang-born Nirmala Dutt (1941-2016) was one of the few prominent Malaysian women artists to have emerged at that time. The exhibition, which also features a recently launched catalogue, is the first survey of Nirmala’s works from across her practice of over four decades.
In this exhibition, major series of Nirmala’s works are brought together as a presentation of “statements”, as she herself titled her first major body of works from 1973 to 1979. The works that followed the text and photo assemblages of Kenyataan/Statements are mainly series of paintings on canvas, often involving silkscreen, found text and images, and gestural as well as hard-edge elements, with later experiments in installation and mail art. In each series, Nirmala addressed a specific subject, often triggered by a current event or observation, with recurring images and strategies allowing us to build connections and intuit themes across them.
Free admission exhibition.
More info here.
The exhibitions, 'A Journey Through Islamic Art' and 'Alif Lam Ra: Contemporary Muslim Calligraphy', taking place at IAMM, showcase a diverse array of historical artefacts and Islamic art. Photo: Bernama
EXHIBITION: ISLAMIC ARTS MUSEUM MALAYSIA’S 25th ANNIVERSARY
Venue: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, KL
Date: June 30, 2024
Here's chance to explore Islamic art and culture, encompassing a historical and cultural journey of over 1,000 years from East Asia to West Africa, through two exhibitions held in conjunction with the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) silver anniversary celebration.
The exhibitions, A Journey Through Islamic Art and Alif Lam Ra: Contemporary Muslim Calligraphy, taking place at IAMM until June next year, showcase a diverse array of historical artefacts and Islamic art.
Four royal swords from the Mughal Empire in India, dating from the 15th to the early 18th century, belonging respectively to Emperor Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605, Emperor Jahangir (1605-1627), Emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1666), and Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707), are among the exhibition highlights.
Also on display is the golden finial that once adorned the throne of Tipu Sultan, famously known as the Tiger of Mysore, from the Mysore Sultanate in Seringapatam, south India, during the 18th century. It is believed to have been seized by the British forces after Tipu Sultan’s defeat to the East India Company in the Anglo-Mysore War.
A set of 30 volumes of the Hui Quran from the Qing Dynasty in the 17th century is also one of IAMM’s early collections. They are adorned with Chinese motifs such as cloud patterns or peony flower buds and are written with only three to five lines on each page for each juz (part).
Elsewhere, the Alif Lam Ra: Contemporary Muslim Calligraphy exhibition features the works of 42 contemporary Islamic calligraphers from various countries, including notable calligraphers such as Fuad Kouichi Honda from Japan, Azra Aghighi (Iran), Charles Hossein Zenderoudi (Iran), Ahmad Moustafa (Mesir), Nasser Al-Aswadi (Yaman), Nja Mahdoui (Tunisia) dan Khaled Al Saai (Syria).
More info here.
Installed along the length of The Back Room gallery floor are 43 works from a series by Binti, titled 'lagilagilagi' (spray paint on acid-free paper, 2023). Photo: The Back Room
EXHIBITION: 'FAVOURITISM IS MY FAVOURITE-ISM'
Venue: The Back Room, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Dec 23
The Back Room is winding down the year with this irreverently titled exhibition, the gallery’s last show before a short break. Titled Favouritism Is My Favourite -Ism, this group show is produced by the artist chi too and features 11 artists at varying stages of their careers.
As the title may suggest, the exhibition compiles 11 of his favourite artists, namely: Binti, CC Kua, Dipali Gupta, Foo May Lyn, Hoo Fan Chon, Jerome Kugan, Jun Kit, Liew Kwai Fei, Siti Gunong, Syahnan Anuar, and Wong Hoy Cheong.
The inception of the show’s premise is drawn from chi too’s own observations and experiences as an art worker in the Malaysian art scene. It marks the first time that chi too has produced an exhibition that is not his own. Chi too, who works as a project manager for a private art museum and has been active as an artist in Kuala Lumpur for more than 20 years has always had a healthy scepticism towards the prestige and power that curators wield in the art world, observing that most shows that feature a curator byline are merely roll calls of the curator’s (or gallery’s) favourite artists.
In alignment with the aims of chi too’s own art practice, the present show’s title and its premise poke fun at the conceits, assumptions, and everyday delusions of grandeur with which people flatter themselves. It pokes holes through the language that people use to ascribe importance to their work.
More info here.
