APRIL 12 – For 20 years or more, if you were a Malaysian artist, not in the popular line-up, yet one of those lucky ones with your artwork in the National Art Gallery’s (NAG) collection, you’ll probably have a quibble with NAG because you can’t find any of your works on display in the premier art institution. Why?
There could be many reasons for this distressing situation. One was that there was simply no deliberate policy, in the past, to display a sample of ever artist, past and present, old and young, of the 3,800 artworks in their collection, for the public to get an overview and judge for themselves what sort of artistic talents we have in the country.
But thanks to the current Director General of NAG, Mohamad Najib Ahmad Dewa, many things have changed. The 54-year-old, who has a PhD in textiles, was the former Dean of the University Science Malaysia’s Centre for Art Studies. He took over the helm of NAG in 2007.
Najib’s own artistic career has also seen many changes; starting as a batik artist at Central Market in Kuala Lumpur, he went on to university and later became an academic before moving on to the top job as custodian of Malaysian art.
NAG is now more inviting and informative about the general cultural wealth and health of the country. There are many more art activities by or endorsed by NAG in and outside the premises in Jalan Temerloh.
Now, if you are one of the 800 or so artists with works in NAG, you can be sure one of your artworks (old or new is uncertain) is on display in the permanent collection exhibition in the main room on the ground floor as you enter the building. Many artists who had shied away from NAG are now proud to bring their friends and even potential collectors to visit the gallery. The attendance figures have gone up recently.
For the first time, anyone walking into NAG can now get a brief idea of the story of Malaysian art going back to about 3,000 years with the cave paintings in the Tambun cave, in Ipoh, to the art forms by some of to-day’s old and young practitioners.
This display reflects every conceivable artistic and political viewpoint in the local context and the fun part is that visitors can best judge for themselves what sort of art they personally like or dislike. What the art “experts” declare is “hot” and what is “not hot” is nothing more than their personal opinion and their vested interest as part of their job or their financial connection with the business of selling art objects.
Besides, there is also for the first time a sumptuous-looking publication documenting the country’s art history. Susurmasa or Timelines which goes out to all the schools, as a text book, will teach students about the art history of the country. This publication is in Bahasa and English and is available in major bookstores. (I shall be reviewing this book at a later date.)
At NAG, there is also a gallery shop that sells not only art books and prints but also art materials like canvases at a discount to artists who are members of NAG. This new membership, for a small fee, which is open to anyone, is to eventually create an artist co-operative so that all members can enjoy lower prices for many of their art supplies.
In the next move the Director General is trying to introduce a more institutionalized art marketing structure for local artists. Artists are advised by NAG that they have to start selling their art product only through the middlemen, the commercial art galleries, which then can best “package” the artist’s work to fetch a better price.
Then NAG, in the future, will only buy artworks through such art merchants. In this way it hopes to bring in more professionalism similar to the other art markets in the world. Yes, there have been extremely high prices of Malaysian artworks being sold through auction houses that make international news headlines but there is also the underside of this trade which is open to fraud and greed, just like the rest of the financial markets which is now in a crisis of its own making.
Given that we can never set limits to personal and corporate greed, artists and businessmen and women alike, and many of the financial transactions are not open to public scrutiny, what sort of artists and artistic commodities will emerge? Does the contemporary art marketplace today not look similar to its other “toxic” financial counterparts?
There is certainly more work and thinking ahead for NAG and the rest of art community to make art relevant not just individually but to the rest of the country and the world.
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
