The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion |
| Posted: ALSO on exhibition at Galeri Petronas is Convergence: Allegories Of The Malaysian Landscape. The exhibition features 59 works by 31 major local artists, including Haron Mokhtar, Ismail Mat Hussin, Awang Damit, Ivan Lam, Wong Hoy Cheong, Raphael Scott Ahbeng, Johan Marjonid, Chuah Thean Teng, Mad Anuar, Yee I Lann and Anthony Lau. The exhibition – divided into four sections – gives visitors an insight into how landscape art is not only a reflection of the natural environment, but also symbolical landscapes of the nation's past history, economic development, cultures and belief systems. In conjunction with the exhibition, Galeri Petronas is organising a public talk by Prof Dr Ramlan Abdullah on Artist's Interpretation: Commission Public Sculpture Of Ramlan Abdullah on Sept 7 from 11am to 1pm with an entrance fee of RM15 per person. Browse www.galeripetronas.com.my or call 03-2051-7770 for more details. The Convergence: Allegories Of The Malaysian Landscape exhibition is open for public viewing at Galeri Petronas till Sept 22. |
| Posted: Growing demand for homegrown art in countries such as Nigeria is matched by interest from international galleries. WHEN one of Nigeria's biggest media moguls began collecting contemporary African art three decades ago, he was one of the few Africans in a niche market dominated by Western connoisseurs. But as African art becomes more sought-after globally, that is rapidly changing. "Some of the things I bought just for aesthetic pleasure years ago are now worth millions," says the businessman, who did not want to be named for fear of becoming a target for thieves. "A lot of people on both sides of the pond are waking up to the fact you can make big money in contemporary (African) art," he adds, reclining on a golden sofa in his Lagos home. As African economies outperform the global average, a collectors' scene is booming among emerging elites and a growing number of foreign buyers. When Nike Davies-Okundaye began selling adire – a Nigerian traditional textile art she learned from her great-grandmother – in the 1960s, "only expats liked buying, even though our forefathers were already art lovers", she says on a walk through her gallery, the largest in west Africa. Nowadays she has a global clientele and, increasingly among locals, young business people wanting to invest their money in safe assets. Growing incomes colliding with a rich history of visual arts have seen fine art sales soar in other African countries too, says Davies-Okundaye, who helped establish one of Kenya's first art galleries in the 1980s. The boom has been most pronounced in Nigeria and South Africa, which between them account for half of Africa's billionaires. Increasingly, local rather than imported artwork adorns the walls of many glitzy offices and restaurants. "One stockbroker I know bought so much art he didn't know where to put it. He actually had to put some of the paintings on the ceilings," says Arthur Mbanefo, a prominent sponsor. As African nations replicate a trend witnessed by emerging countries, such as Brazil and India, over the past decade, the fever is also sweeping across international galleries and exhibitions. Last year, Ghanaian artist El Anatsui's New World Map tapestry – made using flattened bottle tops of cheap African liquor – sold for a record-breaking £541,250 (RM202,956) at a sale of African art at British auction house, Bonhams. "Artworks from hitherto unacknowledged regions of the world, not only Africa, are being collected as artworks rather than curios or ethnological objects," says the Nigeria-based artist, whose colossal outdoor installations draw huge crowds to galleries in Berlin, Paris and New York. Nevertheless, he dismisses the "African artist" label. "Art is a universal sensibility," he says. This year, Angola became the first African country to win a prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale and, in London, the Cameroon-born curator Koyo Kouch plans to show work from the continent at the Frieze art fair. Last month, London's Tate Modern opened its first major exhibition of work by African artists Meschac Gaba of Benin and Sudan's Ibrahim el-Salahi. "Before, there would be moments of huge interest and then another 10 years would pass before we saw anything," says Kerry Green, head of Tate's African art acquisitions committee, which was set up last year. Some worry that huge sums of money flooding in could distort attempts to police a fledgling art market. "We have had people return objects they buy from the roadside which turned out to be heritage art stolen from this very museum," says a worker at the national museum in Lagos. Nevertheless, sellers are scrambling to feed the growing appetite. At a recent sale in Lagos, an auctioneer was flown in from London. "We wanted it to be someone really up to scratch," one of the Lebanese curators explains, adding: "Also, it gives prestige." – Guardian News & Media |
| Posted: Zulkifli Yusoff's Merdeka! A Work In Progress is a timely reminder about our Malaysian identity. AT first glance, the Galeri Petronas hall holding contemporary visual artist Zulkifli Yusoff's installation piece entitled Merdeka! A Work In Progress, resembles a trippy film scene – complete with pods and meditation bubbles – from the psychedelic sci-fi classic Fantastic Planet (1973) by French animator/director Rene Laloux. It also wouldn't be out of place to have the same movie's soundtrack from French composer Alain Goraguer playing, or more accurately "percolating", in the background as visitors examine Zulkifli's newly commissioned Merdeka! A Work In Progress project to commemorate Galeri Petronas' 20th anniversary and the upcoming Merdeka/Malaysia Day celebrations. Zulkifli was a resident artist at Galeri Petronas in 2003, so he's back on familiar ground with this new work – to remind us about our Malaysian identity and to upkeep the spirit of independence. His mixed media installation, Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah, at the gallery in 2003, brought to light the man's ambitious statements as a storyteller and social commentator. In his present work, Zulkifli, 51, is advocating a timely return to the spirit of Merdeka! – which has become, arguably, an alien concept in today's social and political landscape. "I'm not interested in telling stories, however, I composite thinking patterns or ways of seeing (things). My works also may require the audience to decode rather than read a story," says Zulkifli about his current installation piece, which is divided into two sections – wall mounts and objects on the floor. As a versatile artist with a knack for historical and socio-political references, Zulkifli has worked in various types of mediums that span installations, paintings and sculpture. He came to prominence in the Malaysian art scene over 20 years ago when he won the grand prize (and also the first and consolation prizes) for his sculpture work in Salon Malaysia 1991/1992. His installation piece, Don't Play During Maghrib, also represented Malaysia at the Venice Biennale in 1997. Back to Merdeka! A Work In Progress, which is a room-size visual feast, the mission statement is to encourage harmony and prosperity. If anything, you have to leave the rampant everyday cynicism at the door, and embrace the work's idealism ... the best you can. "Artists are also thinkers, and use their rational mind, too. Artists must engage with issues and commit to pertinent problems of the day. Issues are the food for artists and they must show a sign of engagement," adds the Kedah-born Zulkifli. As you investigate and circle the pieces, you will find Zulkifli has symbolically translated and metaphorically presented the idea of "shared aspirations" as installation pieces. Presumably, there is no desire to preach nor indulge in corporate sloganeering. But there is a need in Merdeka! A Work In Progress to reiterate the message that the foundations of this country have been well laid, ensuring its wealth of opportunities can be pursued by those willing and capable while its abundance of natural resources are to be shared by all. The two centre pieces in the installation – a collage of resin, canvas and wood – as displayed in the gallery, symbolise various precious minerals, placed in a symmetrical composition. The eight accompanying pieces represent the overabundance of natural resources, like ripe fruits, ready to be plucked and consumed. The six floor pieces are shaped based on the form of the kawah, a traditional Malay cauldron used for cooking for a large crowd during festivities, as metaphor for unity. In not so many words, Zulkifli has laid out his observations and perceptions of the country, where everyone has a right to the Merdeka! dream. "Artworks can then be taken as a form of solution to pertinent problems," he concludes.
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