Visual Arts | In Search for an ArtPublic

This new visual arts section of Malaysia Design Archive isproudly done in collaboration with Ilham Gallery. The firstcollection features a series of articles from four magazinesduring the 1950s. The articles cover topics around arts andculture, and presents an interesting insight into the evolutionof visual arts and the nation’s history. We are embarking on thisproject in attempt to enrich the exploration and interrogationinto the discourse of visual arts in Malaysia. We are alsocalling for volunteers who can help us with transliteration ofthe articles that are originally written Jawi, for the secondcollection.

__

In Search for an Art Public: An Introduction to 1950s articles onart and culture in JawiSimon Soon

Picture-making, or more accurately, image-making (penggambaran) was largelyabsent from the customary arts in this part of the world from the14th century with the arrival of Islam. Informed by a religious proscriptionagainst representational verisimilitude of living sentientbeings, aniconic forms of decorative motifs that became the artistic mainstayinstead favoured abstraction and stylisation.

So entrenched was this thinking in Malay Islamic early modern visual culture

that when figurative representation gradually appeared in printed media forlocal consumption in the 19th century, it had to be reconciled with thegeneral Malay populace. This was a gradual process of acculturation thatrequired the local population to regard image-making differently.

In 1929, an editorial that appeared in the periodical Al-Ikhwan had pleadedwith its readers that the benefits of picture-making outweighed customaryreservations that pictorial representation automatically constitutesidolatry. Instead, the anonymous writer assessed pictorial representation interms of its usefulness (sangat-sangat berguna). The central argument wasthat it could commemorate significant dates (memperingatkan tarikh). Whetherthese were old or new works, the article drew a connection between picture-making and the notion of human progress (kemajuan manusia).

As debates ensued following the proliferation of Malay presses from 1920’sonwards, the emergence of pictorial representation in Malaysia becameentwined with the growth of cultural nationalism. Pictorial forms weredirectly associated with ideals of enlightenment and modernity. In effect,what is implied here was a belief that pictorial representation brought withit a sense of historical consciousness, which doubly served as an engine forhuman progress.

The pictorialisation of the human figure was therefore ineluctably linked toa wider desire in the modern project of picturing the nation. This desirewas, and still is, a means through which an imagined community could beprospected, to use a phrase coined by Benedict Anderson in his study of printnationalism. The growth of periodicals not only facilitated textual knowledgebut circulated alongside textual discourses were also pictorial visions thatfostered a growing sense of collective national identity.

This initial compilation of texts owes a great deal to the original researchfirst undertaken by Ahmad Suhaimi in his 2007 publication, Sejarah KesedaranVisual di Malaya (The History of Visuality in Malaya). In his research, AhmadSuhaimi underlined the significance of print media in helping forge a new‘visual awareness’ amongst the Malay public, facilitating the acceptance ofillustrative representations of the human figure, which was foreign to itscustomary visual repertoire.

Ahmad Suhaimi’s book was used as a springboard to gather some of thesematerials that are now shared here. What can a compilation of articles on artand culture found in the pages of 1950s Malay-language magazines aimed atgeneral readership tell us about the intellectual and cultural climate of1950s amongst Malay reading intelligentsia of that period? On theone hand there was a less rigid cultural distinction between high art andpopular entertainment. This does not mean it didn’t exist. Bintang forexample had a much more interactive appeal, inviting readers to submit theirdrawings of celebrities that are then published in its pages. Jin Shamsuddin,P. Ramlee, Saloma and many other Malay showbiz personalities had theirportraits drawn by eager fans. In this way, a community can be seen to betaking shape, one that was driven a common popular culture.

Magazines like Majalah Seni took the initiative to publish more insightful

and polemical texts that aimed to inform and educate. These range fromdiscussing the role of art in society to articles that attempted to explainPicasso’s ‘confusing art’ to its readers. Perhaps the most extensive coverageon art and culture in the post-war period amongst the Malay languagemagazines can be found in Mastika. Mastika prior to the mid-1990s offeredvery different reading material to its reading public. It was more of acurrent affairs magazine that covered a wide range of topics.

The articles compiled from these publications can be roughly divided intofour categories:

Firstly, there were general surveys of Euro-American art history, often inthe form of artist profiles. There were also attempts at explaining toreaders what modern art is. Essays looking at more specific issues were alsopublished. For example, a later essay even considered the debates surroundingAmerican abstraction. Secondly, these essays highlighted the importantcultural ties between Malay and Indonesian modern art. Not only wereIndonesian artists closely profiled, some of these artists were alsoexhibiting their works in Malaya. Thirdly, there were essays that attemptedto define ‘seni lukis kita (our art)’. These were essays that prospected thedirection of Malay or Malayan art, as well as its shape, scope andconstitution. Finally, there were also articles that addressed the broaderquestion of Malay culture.

These categories demonstrate how a field of ideas and discourses shaped thethinking of Malay-speaking artists and their interest in defining the role ofmodern art in society to a growing reading public. This cultural field alsopossessed nationalist ambition and had the broader populace in mind. Just ayear before the independence of the Federation of Malaya, the 3rd MalayLanguage and Literature Congress was held in 1956. Mohd Salehuddin reportedon his participation at the Congress, where as part of the proceedings, healso contributed a tentative glossary of Malay translations of art terms.Though the listing was, by and large, technical, he concluded with thequestion of whether these terms would be simply transliterated or translatedand weighed the pros and cons of both approaches without coming to aconclusion. The Congress also hoped for the future translation of art booksinto the Malay language as well as further research into Malay art andculture.

On the whole, the Congress marked a significant turning point in the politicsof the Malay language and culture. It was also at the Congress that Malaylanguage reformers decided on the romanisation of the Malay script. Ineffect, it was a cultural convocation that signaled a desire to transform theMalay language from a communal tongue belonging specifically to one ethnicityinto one that would belong to a multi-cultural nation.

It is hoped that the transliteration of this small selection of articlespertaining to art and culture published in Jawi makes accessible for most ofus who do not read Malay in the script and provides some context into aparticular period in Malaysian cultural and intellectual history. Needless tosay, the project is an on-going one; we will continue to upload moretransliteration of Jawi texts over the coming months with the help of

volunteers as well as additional historical and critical essays that mighthelp frame some of these materials. The aim is to create a database that willfacilitate and encourage future researchers interested in one crucial aspectof Malaysia’s visual cultural history.

** The larger project, which will be shared over time, could not be realisedwithout the generous support provided by Ilham Gallery. Special thanks go toresearch assistant Hafzan Zannie Hamza, for compiling the texts, as well as,translation studio and publishing house, Teratak Nuromar, for undertaking thetransliteration of a selection of these texts. I also like to acknowledge theenthusiastic support from Malaysia Design Archive, who readily agreed to hostthese texts and share them with the Malaysian public.

*** This introduction essay is largely an amalgamation of two essays preparedfor the exhibition Picturing the Nation that was held at Ilham Gallery fromAugust – December 2015. For further reading, see ‘Of Gambar and NationalBodies’, Picturing the Nation (Catalogue), Kuala Lumpur: Ilham Gallery, 2015;and ‘Moving Suara for Sovereignty: Reading Shifts in 1950’s Modern ArtDiscourse in Malay through Kamus Politik’, Dato’ Hoessein Enas: From HisPersonal Collection, Kuala Lumpur: Ilham Gallery, 2015.

Majalah Bintang

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 88)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 87)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 86)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 85)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 84)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 82)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis Kita (No 80)

Title | Tajuk : Kita Hormati Bakat Pelukis-Pelukis Tanah Air Magazine| Majalah :

Majalah Mastika

Garisan Sejarah Kesenian dan Pertukangan Melayu

Title | Tajuk : Garisan Sejarah Kesenian dan Pertukangan Melayu Magazine| Majalah :

Antara Timur dan Barat

Title | Tajuk : Antara Timur dan Barat Magazine | Majalah : Majalah MastikaAuthor

Melihat dan Menggembari Gambar-Gambar Lukisan

Title | Tajuk : Melihat dan Menggembari Gambar-Gambar Lukisan Magazine| Majalah : Majalah Mastika

Seni Lukis Kita

Title | Tajuk : Kebudayaan : Seni Lukis Kita Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author

Kebudayaan Melayu

Title | Tajuk : Kebudayaan Melayu (Dari Meja Pengarang) Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika

Kebudayaan

Title | Tajuk : Kebudayaan Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author| Penulis : Madung Lubis

Bahasa Melayu Dalam Lapangan Seni Lukis

Title | Tajuk : Bahasa Melayu Dalam Lapangan Seni Lukis Magazine | Majalah :

Seni Lukis Indonesia

Title | Tajuk : Seni Lukis Indonesia Magazine | Majalah : Majalah MastikaAuthor | Penulis : –

Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (5)

Title | Tajuk : Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (5) Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author

Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (4)

Title | Tajuk : Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (4) Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author

Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (3)

Title | Tajuk : Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (3) Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author

Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (2)

Title | Tajuk : Pengertian Tentang Lukisan (2) Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author

Pengertian Tentang Lukisan

Title | Tajuk : Pengertian Tentang Lukisan Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author | Penulis :

Pahlawan Tanahair – Raden Abdullah

Title | Tajuk : Pahlawan Tanahair – Raden Abdullah Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author | Penulis :

Pelukis Melayu Ke England – Essay on Surya bin Mohayani

Title | Tajuk : Pelukis Melayu Ke England – Essay on Surya bin

Photo Caption | Tanpa Tajuk

Title | Tajuk : – Magazine | Majalah : Majalah Mastika Author | Penulis : –Date | Tarikh :

Majalah Seni

Bangsa Melayu dengan Kebudayaannya

Title | Tajuk : Bangsa Melayu dengan Kebudayaannya Magazine | Majalah : Bil.11, Majalah Seni

Kisah-kisah Seni dari Pengalamanku

Title | Tajuk : Kisah-kisah Seni dari Pengalamanku Magazine | Majalah : Bil.3, Majalah

Jejak Seni Pelukis-Pelukis Kita

Title | Tajuk : Jejak Seni Pelukis-Pelukis Kita Magazine | Majalah : Bil.6, Majalah

Lukisan Raden Saleh Menipu Barat

Title | Tajuk : Lukisan Raden Saleh Menipu Barat Magazine | Majalah : Bil.

Berbagai Aliran Dalam Seni

Title | Tajuk : Berbagai Aliran Dalam Seni (sambungan yang lalu) Magazine| Majalah : Bil.

Masyarakat dan Seni Lukis

Title | Tajuk : Masyarakat dan Seni Lukis Magazine | Majalah : Bil.11, Majalah

Al-Ikhwan

Gambar atau Lukisan

Title | Tajuk : Gambar atau Lukisan Magazine | Majalah :

Qalam

Pengaruh Seni Lukis Islām

Title | Tajuk : Pengaruh Seni Lukis Islām Magazine | Majalah : Qalam Column

Perempuan dalam Majlis Meshuarat

Title | Tajuk : Perempuan dalam Majlis Meshuarat Magazine |