This post was written by Pamela Nowicka

NO LONGER IS THE MALAYSIAN ART SCENE LIMITED TO PICTURES OF KAMPUNGS AND FLOWERS. PAMELA NOWICKA IS IN PENANG AND SENSES THE ARTISTIC PULSE BEATING IN THE HEART OF THE ISLAND AND THE CHANGING SENSIBILITIES OF THE NATION’S ARTISTIC PSYCHE.

When I first visited Penang earlier this year, I was struck by the number of art galleries, previews, and paintings. There was a vibrancy – a pleasant and civilised vibe – created by this visible endorsement and enjoyment of the creative arts, and seemed to signify something rather good about the people and the place.

Once I started talking to experts in the art field, I discovered they seemed to agree: the art scene in Penang is thriving. Galleries are springing up, artists are painting, and formerly conservative buyers are experimenting with abstracts and non-traditional subjects.

AN ARTFUL ISLE

“Penang was always the origin of Malaysian art,” says Christopher Tay, of Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers, who previewed their Malaysian Art auction in Penang, “Yong Mum Sen, the watercolourist and father of Malaysian art, relocated to Penang early last century, although he was born in China. And now there are a lot of artists creating art. Demand is growing.”

Like many others, Tay credits the annual George Town Festival (held in July) as being a key event in promoting art and culture in Penang, and it has obviously done a good job. Gallery owner Valentine Willie is rumoured to be closing his galleries in KL and Singapore, yet wants to open a museum in Penang. Another major collector is opening a batik museum in Penang soon; art-wise, the place is definitely on the map.

For veterans on the Penang art scene, such as artist and gallery owner Koay Soo Kau, this new vibrancy has been a long time coming. “When I was a boy I used to scratch in the sand with a stick,” he remembers. “We didn’t have paper, and chalk was expensive; the ground was the best!”

He opened his Galeri Seni Mutiara seven years ago, motivated by art collector and friend, Dr Tan Chong Guan, and “many people doubted I’d last even two years,” recalls Koay. “It’s not easy to operate a gallery in Penang. Some people say it’s a cultural desert, but I don’t think so.”

GAINING A FOLLOWING

The avuncular Koay attributes his own success – as well the success of his gallery – to his transparency in dealing with both artist and collector. “I’m the butter between two slices of bread,” he smiles. “I don’t cater just for collectors, but for the general public, too. It’s up to me to create a cultural village, with more galleries and cultural activities. The gallery is also a resource centre where people can be exposed to the arts every day.” He is obviously on the right track, as “the gallery is very popular. We’re booked until 2014!”

Koay’s maturity further gives him a real historical perspective on the development of the art scene in Penang over the decades. “Before independence, there were very few collectors. A few business people collected art because they felt an obligation to support artists. They came here from India and China to work, but as time went on, they progressed and prospered and sent their children overseas to get an education, where they were able to appreciate and acquire works of art and then bring them back to Malaysia. Then there was access to knowledge and modern facilities, like TV and the internet, which really opened people’s eyes.”

He cites the involvement of corporates like Citibank CTI,National Bank/Bank Negara, and Maybank, who followed on from the lead given by the National Art Gallery and the Penang State Art Gallery, as vital in assisting the progression of the art scene. “They set aside a certain amount for art and culture, which is a very good approach. Over the last decade, interest in art by corporates has increased exponentially.”

MONEY TALKS

Talking with artists, gallery owners, and others within the Penang art world, it becomes clear that art is not just about aesthetics. This is, at the end of the day, a business like any other, and artists the world over have become adept at marketing their work, and enjoyed the higher price tags that come with it.

“In 1997, for example, at the Christie’s auction in Singapore, a piece by Latiff Mohidin hit RM97,000 for the first time.” observes Koay. ”Today, a painting by Datuk Dato Ibrahim Hussein was sold at a Henry Butcher auction for RM700,000. Before, we never thought of artists as commanding such a high price.”

Artist Alfred Yeoh, who runs the a2 Gallery, is one of a new breed of artist entrepreneurs who are wise to the new way of the art world, and he combines his creative pursuits with the practical work of running a gallery. “I’m an idealistic person trying to survive in the market,” he admits. “I enjoy running the gallery, but the income is not very stable. You need to be patient.”

CHANGING TIMES

A key element in any robust art market is the collector. “In Penang, collectors are mostly doctors or lawyers,” says Yeoh. “They have money and they have sensibility. They’ve been exposed to art, travelled, studied overseas. They collect what they like, not like some collectors who go by friends’ recommendations or a famous name.”

Alongside the new breed of collectors, trends in Malaysian art are opening up too. “Everything is happening here,” comments Yeoh, “contemporary art, traditional art, and everything in between. We have wall paintings, murals… things we’ve never seen before. New artists are coming up. The market is growing but it’s still new.”

Perhaps building on its Freeport heritage, the Penang art scene attracts artists from all over the world, as Koay Soo Kau notes. “Last year we had artists from Russia, America, Romania, Spain, France, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, even from Myanmar. That shows there is something in Penang which attracts people to showcase their work, and that people are happy to view them and possess them.”

CHANGING SENSIBILITIES

While the artists arrive from all over the world, the locally-produced art still wins much affection, and should be prized for what it can say about the country today.

Art does not exist in a vacuum. It tells a story about the society, culture, and social conditions in which it is created. Malaysian art is starting to tell a new story, a story which is less about tradition and more a signifier of substance. The new Malaysian story is about individuality, and is told by people who are located in the global kampung, whose cultural references include Roy Lichtenstein and iPads as much as durians and batik.

This new art now spreading across walls from Hong Kong to London, from Jakarta to Bilbao, from Helsinki to New York is a signifier of a new Malaysian consciousness. It is a sign of the nation’s confidence and willingness to experiment, to be different, to take up space on the world stage and be a global player. In the emerging Malaysian art market, Malaysians can examine their preoccupations, obsessions, culture, and history through the prism of a global sensibility. Brush strokes, paint, water, oils; no matter the materials, these works are reflecting new ideas, new images, new identities, and new ways of living for Malaysia, and it is exciting indeed.

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Galeri Seni Mutiara, 118 Lebuh
Armenia, Penang; 04.262 0167;
www.galerisenimutiara.com
a2 Gallery, 27 Lorong Bangkok,
Penang; 04.227 4985;
www.a2artgallery.com
Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers;
03.2691 3089; www.hbart.com.my

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Source: Senses of Malaysia Nov-Dec 2012

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