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When was the last Bakat Muda Sezaman? As the seminal institution through which many young Malaysian artists made their mark in the contemporary art scene from the seventies to the nineties fade into what seemed like a distant past, the inaugural Malaysia Emerging Artist (MEA) Award, the prize-giving and opening ceremony held last Sunday, has come to take its place as a new competitive platform.
I’m not necessarily a fan of art competition. They are often conservative in taste and subjective in choice. Even the supposedly controversial Turner Prize winners are often late recognition, if anyone gets their modern and contemporary art history right. On the other hand, to me, the kind of media attention, spectacle and drama that surround an art award (the stuff that art purists would balk at) form the appealing recipe for creating the much needed buzz and encouragement to introduce new comers into the heady, treacherous yet occasionally rewarding art life.
Officiating the event was Dato’ Seri Abdul Azim bin Mohd. Zabidi, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, National Art Gallery. He pointed out rightly that an event like this is what the National Art Gallery should be doing. By now, it is obvious what drives the Malaysian artworld is the private market forces that aren’t weighed down by the bureaucracy and politics most government-based or government-linked cultural institutions in Malaysia face.
The MEA is shaped as an investment in the future of Malaysian artists by Galeri Chandan and House of MATAHATI (HOM) in collaboration with Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM). Somehow I wish this investment has less tangible economic goals, not that I’m slighting the increasingly robust and expanding art market we have locally. Debates (or complains) sometime back in ARTERI, around whether restricting the entries to two and three dimensional artworks severely limit the range of art forms, underlines the importance of recognising practices that are either process-based or non-object-based. After all, contemporary art is a nebulous phenomenon and art prizes with a serious goal towards recognising its future should acknowledge this. In this respect, Bakat Muda Sezaman should be commended for recognising this. Where else in nineties Malaysia could then emerging UiTM graduate Roslisham Ismail aka Ise Parkingproject stage his brave and challenging 3m x 3m x 3m performance/video documentation?
Perhaps more practical concerns come to mind. The Soka Gakkai hall has only that much space. In spite of the above, participating entries make a strong showing of the versatility and confidence of painters and sculptors in Malaysia, although knowing how artists work, the entries only began flooding in at the eleventh hour. Artists being, after all, artists.
The five winners are not hard to guess, they easily surpass the rest of the entries either by their technical/formal accomplishment or conceptual potential. Samsudin Wahab, Gan Chin Lee, Shaifuddin Mamat, Mohd Al-Khuzairie Ali, Mohd Bakir Baharom each take home a cash prize of RM 3,000, a trophy, RM 2,000 in vouchers for art supplies and a much coveted solo-exhibition. They also receive a travel grant to Southeast Asia art hub Yogyakarta where I’m sure a heady programme-packed kretek-filled tour of Indonesia’s creative capital will create the much needed networking opportunities that have increasingly come to shape contemporary art dialogue and exchange in this region.
With a jury panel comprising of 16 art world professionals, I was a little dismayed that the catalogue did not include any judges report. The sort of weighty pronouncement, whether collective or individually written, would have account for the choices in winners. Not so much as a form of justification but more as a reflection of the process in which the selection was made. Besides, some drama could have been borne out of dissent. That nothing gets more attention than two judges quibbling over the winner of the Man Booker Prize (in the literary scene) is a clear indication of the potential cultural impact and interest art prizes can generate.
Be that as it may, the MEA Award is off to a good star. Let’s hope the organising committee take the suggestions mentioned above into consideration. Viva la MEA!
Artworks by winners:
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(SS)
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looks like our artworks.
eh matahati… look like your artwork like that
Would you agree that in the process of encouraging more dialogue between Malaysian and Indonesian artists, a process of Jogja-fication is taking place??? Or already happening?
Thank you Arteri for the coverage.
We take your suggestion to heart and will include it in the next award.
Our bid in ‘investing in the future of Malaysian Arts’ should not be seen as purely commercial. Investing in something can also mean putting in an effort that has no commercial gain because it is needed for the industry/society/community. ( It is similar the Islamic concept of Fardhu Kifayah )
We hope that thi effort will be the catalyst for many more recognitions.
Kudo’s to Arteri for your balanced reporting. We need more constructive opinions.
Salam
NAZLI
Thank you
Dear Mohd Nazli,
Thank you for the clarification! We, here at ARTERI, are immensely delighted that someone has taken up the cause of promoting Malaysia contemporary art by organising a competitive platform through which dialogue, debate, exchange and discussion about art will happen.
We certainly hope to see MEA develop into an award that has the same cultural impact as Bakat Muda Sezaman in the near future! Once again congratulations on the great job done!
– Simon
Adakah pihak penganjur akan mengadakan sesi diskusi bersama-sama pemenang MEA?
Bolehla dengar pendapat,idea,proses dalam menghasilkan karya-karya mereka ini ;)
Show pun dah tamat, apa pulak mangadakan sesi diskusi? Pentingnya satu sistem anugerah “baru tapi tak bebas” untuk seniman mudah tempatan?
Malaysia temporary art?
who are the judges comorising 16 art world professionals?
who are the judges comprising 16 art world professionals?
please do provide names of the 16 art world professionals as Im an interested young artist who is seeking advice and guidance.
I am interested to know the names of the 16 art world professional as we may need their help in our upcoming art award. Thank you.
YOU GUYS ARE SO SERIOUS INDEED, FIRST DISKUSI, AND THAN, THE NAME OF JUDGES, WHY?
WHY NOT JUST BIAR DIA ORANG SEBAGAI THE ANONYMOUS ART PROFESSIONALS?
Hi Sang Khecil,
I think it is not a matter of being serious, information published should contain details and not gross over accuracy.I for one would like to get to know the professionals in art, why should we always “biar dia”, is this the right attidute ? Or just Malaysian attitude?
I cannot help but comment on the last comment, “WHY NOT JUST BIAR DIA ORANG SEBAGAI THE ANONYMOUS ART PROFESSIONALS?”
The value (or lack of it) of a competition/ contest lies in the panel of judges. If these judges are not acknowledged experts on the subject matter, then the winners are just lucky that they are picked, maybe without merits – no different from lucky draws.
Should the winners walk away with heads held high knowing that they truly deserve the title and prize money? In my opinion, all depends on who the judges were.
YOU CAN IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN MELIHAT YOU ORANG HANYA MEMENTINGKAN THE NAME OF DIA ORANG. MANAKALA, ADA PULAK ORANG MEMBERI COMMENT YANG SILLY TENTANG “A COMPETITION…DEPENDS ON WHO THE JUDGES WERE”!
THE FACT IS, DO YOU THINK YOU ORANG AKAN MENANG DALAM MEA AWARD TAHUN YANG AKAN DATANG IF YOU KNOW WHO WERE THE JUDGES? ARE YOU MAKING ART FOR ATTRACTING DIA ORANG AJE?
C’MON, IT IS JUST A GAME! THE OBJECTIVES AND RULES OF GAME IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF JUDGING LA – “MATAHATI WANTS YOU”!
WHAT DO YOU THINK? ^_^
I do agree with those that request the identity panel judges to be revealed, as a strong panel of judges will add credibility to this award.
Just imagine the following two panel of judges:
A panel comprises of Latiff Mohidin, Tew Nai Tong, Dato Syed Ahmad Jamal, Khoo Sui Hoe and other names that we know.
-vs-
B panel that comprises of Ah Niao, Ah Kao, Ahmad, Abu, Arimuthu and anyone we pick on the street.
Which one do you trust?? How do we know if all the judges in this “secret” panel are from Matahati group??
I disagree that the participants will create something to suit the judges’ taste. I’m sure if 16 judges are professional, they know how to make impartial and independent judgement.
So.. why and what are you hiding??
Hide n seek time or peekaboo hahaha funnyla nk main sorok lak dia…
RUPA-RUPANYA MASIH TERDAPAT RAMAI PENGIAT SENI CONTEMPORARY YANG WIDELY BELIEVED THAT THE NAME IS THE POWER, TAPI BUKANNYA THROUGH KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF ART, BETUL-BETUL KESIAN LAH…
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW IF AN ARTIST, TERUTAMANYA SENIMAN LOKAL WILL SHOWED THEIR APPRECIATION WITH LOUD AND CHEERS TERHADAP KARYA-KARYA SENINAM YANG LAIN?
ANY ONE OF YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE DARI SENIMAN GENERASI KEDUA SEPERTI EN.CHONG KAM KOW, DOK.ZAKARIA ALI, DOK.SULEIMAN ESA…ATAUPUN ZUL, JAI AND ARTIST MATAHATI WHICH ARE MUCH MORE YOUNGER IN THIS COUNTRY?
ARE THEY LEBIH MEMENTINGKAN TRADING PROFIT SENDIRI SAHAJA? ATAU GILA TENTANG KUASA SIMBOLIK? JANGAN-JANGAN SYOK SENDIRI AJE! :p
Tak mau gaduh lo! malu la negara jiran art dia orang dah masuk WORLD katogeri. Orang Malaysia ni tak abih2 nak galuh sam sendili… Sama2 bantu lo…muda and tua … tua and muda. Jangan asik2 yang tua je tak adil lo!!!