WHAT is the actual cost of freezing ourselves in our air-conditioned offices and homes? Who actually pays the price for inefficient use of technology and energy that results in climate change? Is it just humans?
art
The design challenge
WHAT does it take to stay ahead of the curve in design? How can a foundation, company, industry or country nurture and keep creative talent? What needs to be in place for a traditional craft to be transformed into contemporary and modern designs? These were some of the questions that were raised in the final […]
Should governments fear diversity and dissent?
Brian McKinnon Class Brothers 2008 Acrylic and foam on canvas 152 x 91cm (Artwork courtesy the artist and Indigenart — Mossenson GalleriesImage © the artist, courtesy Indigenart — Mossenson Galleries) THERE is a visual artwork by an Aboriginal Australian artist, Brian McKinnon, called Class Brothers. It is a striking political poster art, and has a […]
The vegetable basket baby
VISUAL artist Wong Hoy Cheong is probably Malaysia’s most internationally-renowned modern cultural export. While a fixture on the biennial — or repeating art exhibitions — circuit, he has nevertheless continued to make work deeply engaged with the Malaysian context. Take his Vitrine of Contemporary Events, for example. Made in 1999, post-Reformasi, the work is an illuminated […]
NAG-ging questions about art
The National Art Gallery (public domain / wikipedia.org) IN the last decade or so, the National Art Gallery (NAG) — or Balai, as it is informally known — has accumulated a dismal reputation. In Malaysian art circles, the institution has been accused of shirking its duties as a national culture custodian, being remote from both […]
Art’s sketchy existence in schools
Students at Chua Chong Yong’s art workshop (pic courtesy of Cais Project) ART and creativity are no longer the dominions of the bohemians or the elite. Increasingly, countries like Malaysia and Singapore are acknowledging that creativity has a direct economic manifestation — the creative industries — and are incorporating it into the economic agenda. The […]
Five days in Tokyo
(Images from Superfiction, 2008, Kodak Endura Paper, Roslisham Ismail aka Ise) EARLIER this year, artist Roslisham Ismail, more commonly known as Ise, presented a body of work entitled Superfiction. This work was the result of a two-week visit to Tokyo, courtesy of the Japan Foundation. Consisting of a video and photo-collage images of Tokyo’s cityscape, […]
Images of Malaysians
Yee I-Lann (Images courtesy of Galeri Petronas) ALMOST immediately, I was struck by two observations at the Imaging Selfs: Portraits by Soraya Yusof Talismail exhibition, currently on at the Galeri Petronas until 18 Jan 2009. One was the diversity of textures, colours, and looks of each and every one of the 78 prominent Malaysian artists […]
