WANTED: Someone to restore Arteri and give it 2nd life. Interested? Email: mail.sharonchin.com
Putera Bunian
Putera Bunian, putera kayangan
Turun bermain di taman idaman
Putera impian segala rupawan
Asyik sekelian jadi igauan
Negeri impian digunung selatan
Pintu gerbang berbusut jantan
Penunggu siang bernaung bulan
Menjaga malam menyuluh jalan
Asal tunggul buluh perindu
Tanah jawa tempat bermadu
Asal lah usul negeri hindu
Serapah mentera buat beradu
The Bunian Prince
The Bunian* prince, from the spirit world
Descends to play in the dream garden
The dream prince of peerless beauty
While dreaming himself, appears in dreams
From the dream country in the southern mountains
From the portal gates of the spiked anthill
He waits in the day for the moon’s signal
And reigns at night, illuminating paths
Risen from the stump of the yearning bamboo
He pursues romances in Javanese lands
Born from the enchanted Hindu realms
Mantras and chants are his lullabies
*The Orang Bunian, or Bunian People, are a spirit race from Malay legend, who live in the forest, away from human communities. They are known for their aristocratic beauty, are often invisible, and possess supernatural powers. Though benign, sometimes providing magic assistance to traditional healers and mediums, the Orang Bunian may also abduct humans to live with them in their spirit realm.
Pohon Hayat
Pohon Hayat pohon semangat
Pohon berkat pohon munajat
Akar belikat mari dipanjat
Menawar kederat memberi khasiat
Lalu turun gerimis sakti
Lalu terang sinaran gemilang
Lalu berhimpun pengemis bakti
Lalu disimpang baran pertualang
Dahan tunjang dilangit kelapan
Akar banir mencecah awan
Bukan pulang membelit teman
Angkat tabir pemisah kawan
The Tree of Life
The tree of Life, the spirit tree
The tree of thanksgiving the tree of prayer
The notched roots come let us climb
That which bestows power which confers energy
Thus falls the drizzle of magic
Thus flashes the blinding light
Thus gathers the holy hermits
Thus splits a path in the wanderer’s swamp
Let the branch pierce the eighth heavens
Let the buttress roots plunge into the clouds
Let these forces not harm my brothers
Let the veil that separates friends be lifted
Sang Gedembai
Ikut adat bertegur sapa
Dalam perigi penyu dituba
Takut sesat bertemu rupa
Salam dari penghulu rimba
Mintak simpang segala andai
Ikut lah petua orang pandai
Dihutan jangan terlupa terabai
Takut tersapa dek Sang Gendembai
Sang Gedembai
Follow old customs, address him when you enter
For the stray turtle was poisoned in the village well
If you fail to observe this then you will hear
The sinister greeting from the lord of the forest
Seek guidance at all times
Follow the advice of the wise
In the forest don’t be dreamy and remiss
For fear of stumbling into Sang Gendembai
*In Malay folklore, Sang Gendembai is a creature of the forest, often a giant, who possesses the power to turn any human or animal into stone. Those entering the forest are thus advised to be cautious and not to make any noise that might attract the attention of the fearsome Sang Gedembai.
Limau dan Kasturi
Limau kuning, limau kasturi
Disinkir dari tanah se panji
Apakan nasib sahabat sendiri
Lekir, Kasturi tak pernah dipuji
Buah sarbat dalam dulang
Bunga pauh buah selasih
Tuah, Jebat nama dijulang
Tiga sahabat jauh disisih
Tiga lemon diatas papan
Ikan goring masak tumis
Tiga teman mari raikan
Dalam dendongeng hikayat dilukis
Lemon and Calamansi
Yellow lemon, calamansi lime
Exiled from the princely lands
What fate befalls that of your friends
Lekir and Kasturi were never acclaimed
The pulpy fruit inside the tray
The mango flowers the basil fruit
Tuah and Jebat’s names are exalted
The other three are banished far away
Three lemons lying on the board
Fried fish sautéed in spices
Let us three friends celebrate
Inside the legend our story is painted
*During the golden era of the 15th Century Malaccan Sultanate, there were five friends who practised silat (an ancient Malay form of martial arts) together. Their names were Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu. However, the Malay hikayats or romances, such as the Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals) and the Hikayat Hang Tuah (The Romance of Hang Tuah), often focussed on the relationship between Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat, effectively sidelining the rest.
Daerah Samar
Mega jingga berarak keutara
Gegak gempita membawa ceritera
Dengar semua anak bentara
Kisah benua indera pura
Hendak mencari pamah yang lebar
Tempat beradu putera pendekar
Tidak teruji kesah sebenar
Dibawa dari daerah samar
The Misty Zone
The sunset’s northward procession
Clamouring with its cargo of stories
Come listen all you messengers and heralds
Tales of the fabled city Indera Pura
Searching for wide lowlands
The resting place of a warrior prince
Who knows how real are these stories
Drifting to us from the misty zones
Badang Bersidang
Aku begelar Badang.
Bersidang dilaman terbilang.
Megah beriras gagah
Segak berhias wajah
Duduk bertahta dibawah awan
Berteman kawan bersimpang lawan
Janggut Buragas sudah ku lepas
Muntah bergegas habis dibalas
Kederat dikanan sahabat dikiri
Mudarat diselatan subahat dihati
Badang, aku begelar
Berang bila dicabar
Badang’s Monologue
I am the one called Badang.
Sovereign of illustrious books
My grandeur is in my strength
Unsullied is my visage
Sitting enthroned beneath the clouds
Loyal to friends, obstructing foes
The beard of Buragas I have released
His vomit I have consumed for rewards
Power on my right and a friend on my left
Ruins in the south a fortress in my heart
Badang, I am thus called
To challenge me is to summon my rage.
*According to the Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals), Badang was a poor fisherman who caught a djinn (Jin Buragas) stealing from his fish trap. The djinn promised to grant badang any wish in exchange for his freedom. Badang asked to be stronger than any other human being, and the djinn instructed him to eat his vomitus. After he had done so, Badang was able to effortlessly uproot a tree. From then on, Badang’s fame as a miraculous strongman spread wide and he was subsequently appointed a hulubalang (court warrior) to the Raja of Singapura.
Tok Badang Tok Sidang
Kan ku cipta kota dan kuda
Buragas dan putera
Untuk kerenah mu segala
Kan ku kota segala dimata
Untuk mu beriang tawa
Tidurlah sayan, mimpi indah kan datang jua
Tok Badang Tok Sidang * Translation by Jai
I make fortress and horses
Villain and heroes
For your fancy and curiosities
I make believe everything perceived
For your laughter forever after
Sleep my loved one for your dream surely comes.
Syair recitation on the opening night of Dendongeng
~
Poems written by Jalaini Abu Hassan for his twentieth solo exhibition, Dendongeng at Valentine Willie Fine Art KL from 26 May – 19 June 2010.
Jalaini Abu Hassan or “Jai” was born in Selangor in 1963. Graduating from ITM in 1985, he went on to gain a scholarship to study at the famous Slade School of Fine Art in London and later the Pratt Institute in New York. Jai has exhibited in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, the USA, the UK and also in Spain and Iraq. Some of the noted exhibitions he has participated in include 12 ASEAN Artists (2002) and Malaysian Art NOW (2004) at the National Art Gallery and international art fairs such as Art Singapore and Melbourne Art Fair 2006. His works are in the collection of the National Art Gallery in Malaysia, and in private, corporate and gallery collections around the world.
Poems translated into English by Alfian Sa’at except where credited.
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Male = horse, keris, knife, tree, rocks, bananas
Female = earth, land, soil
Mortality = Heaven
libido = barren earth / lack of dripping
discuss
不再眷恋于树木，我宁愿是地瓜
Malay figurative art usually feature macho guys hor – Amron Omar, Zakii, Buyong, Jai, Shahriman?
Must be the rock music they listen to :P
Masculinity in Malaysian Art, an interesting topic to ponder.
I don’t like where Jai is heading. He is becoming more and more like a Matahati artist. Point to note, next week Bayu is opening his solo Notice the similarities? Figurative painting is no longer rebellious! It might be in the mid Eighties when the country decided to become more Islam than thou, but at this day and age, painting doesn’t reach out to the wider public to change their way of thinking. They end up as prize collections of only too happy collectors whose idea of controversy is that little subversive gesture figured in paint.
Hi Haffendi,
Nice of you to have point out the question of ‘Masculinity in Malaysian Art’. An artist was asking me the other day whether this expression or affirmation of masculinity in the works of many figurative painters in Malaysia is a response to a perceived threat? An anxiety so to speak? What do you think?
It could be a defensive strategy to understand their “cultural standing” within this multicultural society and the images of macho men rendered with such painstaking technique and realistic quality are usually made by Malay painters. I could see a similar correlation between the very masculine image of rappers portrayed by African American and the images produced by these Malay artist. The African American rappers culturally went through tough times in American history so I could understand their dominating and sort-of defensive masculinity being personified in their music and outer-image. on the other hand, I would agree with u that these image portray a sort of a cultural anxiety, a state of unhappiness, (could be politically-linked, though this would be a very sensitive allusion) experienced by the subjects in the paintings. Though the spirit of masculinity is not only confined to the rendering of macho figures and could be felt with the color choice of their work (black and earthly down-to-earth tones), shapes that dominate their compositions (spikes and keris-like forms)and even the textures of their paintings, (course and irregular). I want to hear on your part too Simon??
Dear Haffendi,
I want to see this series as an exploration of a deeper and much more abiding, porous and open sense of Malay culture and identity, or at least that is what I want to take out from this series of work, based on conversations I had with the artist.
However, the iconography and material often say other things than what the artist is hoping to convey such as the question of masculinity and anxiety. And perhaps this is what we’re trying to grapple with.
Interesting that you read into the texture of the painting as a kind of coding of this affirmation of Malay masculinity. For some time now, I’ve been curious why is there a prevalent use of bitumen as a painting medium in Malaysia.
A gallerist once entertained the idea that the grit and dirt, the getting down to the messiness of tar is in some ways an expressive reclamation of a more primitive, earthy sense of belonging. I don’t know if this is an accurate reading.
On a more humorous note, does it have to do with Malaysia being an oil producing nation? And its usage in contemporary art has to do translating our national wealth into pictorial forms?
p.s. For those with a mind for conservation, we know that bitumen is hardly a sustainable medium, it is erosive and it is not something that is made to last. Do you think collectors are aware of this and what steps will they take to conserve these bitumen works?
As an artist, I’m interested in the formal ways of how a work of art is composed, colors, shapes, lines and etc. Maybe its just a personal reaction, and as I have mentioned of the elements that I feel are chosen for their strong, rough and masculine properties.
Yup, I know a few collectors that worry about about the shelf-life of some of the experimental contemporary works being produced. When the collectors acquired these some-what expensive works, after some time, with frequent exposure to sunlight, air and other elements, some works will decompose in front of their eyes(rusting, yellowing and breaking) due to the unconventional medium they used (bitumen, rusting steel, paper mache). I read somewhere that Eva Hesse’s sculptures are not easy to store and maintain as they are composed of industrial materials and chemicals that break down after some time. I do find a work could be beautiful for it to have a shelf-life, that it is temporary and that it dies in front of your eyes, though I know this not not what most collectors would want to see happened to their treasures. What do you on that? that artworks should last forever or it should have a “life”?
Saya melihat ada tendencies terutama pada painters untuk melukis dan menghasilkan karya yang teramat ‘dark’ secara meluas. Ini mungkin akibat faktor kesan ekonomi dan politik atau faktor psikologi individu pelukis. Atau fenomena formula yang boleh diguna pakai.
Warna yang ada pada bitumen sangat dekat, mesra dan mudah diolah. Apabila engage dgn karya2 berbentuk ini, sama ada sedar atau tidak, boleh terperangkap dengan strategi kesedihan atau amarah nya. Atau rasa romantik.
Adakah depressi ini dibuat/mengalami secara sedar atau tidak, itu menjadi hipotesis saya.
Semasa pameran Pelan2 dan Bilik Gerakan di Annexe in 2008, saya bercinta dengan bitumen. Waktu itu hampir semua pameran di kl berpesta dengan medium ini, baik figuratif, representational/non-rep. Nah, saya mula berfikir untuk ikut serta juga dan cuba untuk faham apa yang misterinya medium ini, juga untuk ikut rasa sedih dan marah, atau buat-buat marah dan buat-buat kecewa.
Series of paintings terhasil yg menggunakan bitumen, menghasilkan pattern corak horizontal dan accidental drawing. Proses yang dilakukan berulang-ulang kali. Segalanya dirancang, ditulis prosesnya, dicatat waktu suhu bilik dan dieksperimen jangka waktu basah kering nya. Sebuah proses eksperimen yang agak biasa.
Dan hasilnya, saya sangat gembira dan berpuas hati dengan siri ini, ini sangat pelik untuk saya.
Selepas pameran itu, saya kira, saya sudah mual dan mula questioning myself. Atau memang sikap saya yang sentiasa suka buat bermacam benda. Jadi saya mula beralih medium yang lain. So di sini, bagi saya, medium boleh membawa mesej dan juga tidak ada apa-apa mesej, hanyalah proses susun atur design.
Jadi, saya kira, adalah okay jika ada seniman yang terus setia pada spesifik medium atau dan bila-bila masa dia juga boleh bercerai talak tiga dengan medium itu.
Just sharing pengalaman berkhalwat dgn bitumen. ;)
The macho man is guarding his dreams and loved ones but nothing lasts forever, the clouds will shadow the land and time will destroy the canvas eventually ;_;
Bananas rot very fast one ler.
wahhhhh’
art class here, simon, u were the curator for that show, haiya stop talking about bitumen la, how much money did u make from that bitumen work? haiyaa simon dont la spit n lick back
Mata hati mata hitam,
I was the curator of the show not the gallerist. Unless I am being shortchanged by the gallery, as far as I am aware is that curators are being paid a fee, not commission based on sales. This is Malaysia after all, not Indonesia. anyway, what does that have to do with the discussion about bitumen over here? and what does spit and lick back means?
“u were the curator for that show”
aik, last time you guys used to disclose this sorta thing. lupa ka? self-promo ok, but buat siang-siang la.
Orbserver, as far as I am aware of, we have NEVER EVER used to ‘disclose this sorta things’. This is after all a blog, not a magazine. Like all blogs, the content will be highly personal.
Furthermore, this particular entry is filed under our ‘Gallery Category’ and the entry is meant to highlight how contemporary art dialogues with literature. This is not a review or an opinion piece which requires us to state our vested interest in a particular show.
“we have NEVER EVER used to ‘disclose this sorta things’.”
did a search. ini dia. not review or opinion peice aso:
/2009/03/17/investing-in-art-with-valentine-willie-a-bfm-899-podcast/
“*Full disclosure: one of the contributing editors, Simon Soon, is curator at Valentine Willie Fine Art”.
“Like all blogs, the content will be highly personal.”
true. but take boingboing or bldgblog – they always manage to state: my bro’s coming to kl; i’ve got a new book out, etc etc. more casual, personal tone than most of the arteri posts, too!
“This is not a review or an opinion piece which requires us to state our vested interest in a particular show.”
aik, haven’t you heard of phrase ‘any coverage is publicity’? wat could it hurt, anyway?
sorry if i offend, just pointing out something. i thought you guys lupa!
“spit n lick back” means SIMON SOON
Orbserver, in case you ni not caught up with the latest news, I am no longer a curator at VWFA? Not since last year?
In anycase, you made it sound like a bad thing! And in case you think most of our readers don’t already know, MOST PEOPLE actually know I used to work for Valentine? You think u heboh heboh means you’re making a big deal issit?
Also, did it ever occur to you that the BFM post might not have been posted by me??
Like I’ve mentioned before, this is a blog and you should know better that the content that drives the blog are dependent on the author. Our ABOUT US page states,
‘We seek a new way forward by suggesting that art practitioners need not rely solely on dedicated writers to create discourse and disseminate information about our activities.’
I have covered quite a number of my projects or things I participate in on this blog, often in various forms… check out Pyongyang, Mit Jai-Inn, Art Expo Malaysia, Buka Mulut, Narratives in Malaysian Art… And I’ve only reviewed or cover shows that I like which are mostly exhibitions by friends and acquaintances. Are you gonna accuse ARTERI for being nepotistic now?
Being an active participant in our art scene, there’s nothing stopping me from blogging about things I find interesting. No we’re not like Boing2, and we do not need to be. Boing2 is hardly the standard template for blogging or represent the sum of blogging ethics.
And as I have stated before, this entry is filed under our ‘Gallery’ category which highlights the dialogue between poetry and visual art. in Jai’s exhibition. We have never included any write up for our Gallery section.
So what exactly are we ‘lupa’-ing in this instance? Our policy has always been the same? What is there to lupa????
Dear observer and eddy,
Thanks for your comments. But I think its dangerous to make sweeping negative statements about our writers and in this case Managing Editor when it seems you are not aware of the situation in regards to jobs, commissions etc which Simon has now addressed for you..
It is tricky when we all wear many different hats and work with lots of galleries, write, teach, perform, play and be a part of the arts scene. We don’t always announce who, where, what not to be deceptive but just because sometimes it does not feel necessary, at the time la. But I guess this means assumptions get made, this is normal I guess. And so thoughts on where does bias end and impartiality begin float around. Its a precarious position to navigate and such criticisms and questions will naturally emerge. Especially because the artworld is driven by emotion and personal relationships more than anything else.
However, i think we should agree that we do not have a lot of people writing, covering art, and as dedicated professionals in the arts we have to take on lots of responsibilities to make sure things keep moving forward. Why such a noble position, because we love what we do and want to do it. But distinctions and clarity become difficult at times. Agreed.
At ARTERI we have had to be realistic about who and what we are. We try to do as much as possible but sometimes we cover things in our own backyard to keep content going. We are not perfect and don’t claim to be distant observers because we are in the centre of art production, which just where we want to be! We want to be positive and keep energies high so we draw on things that give us creative energy la.
We want to cover as much as possible! Perhaps you can help us? But at least talk to us directly or be constructive we are all trying our best..
E
oops this is Eva McGovern, Managing Editor of ARTERI, Independent curator, writer, lecturer, who also does freelance work with VWFA and other commercial galleries in KL and Southeast Asia :)
Salam 1Malaysia
machassss, rilak ah bros, we’re brothers from different mothers.
Thanks everyone for their comments.
Kindly keep it non-personal.
I would like to invite more feedback and input regarding this issue of ‘disclosure’.
It is true that the art scene is small. Many of us are involved in at least a few projects at once. However, sometimes we may forget that there is a more general audience that does not keep up with the ins and outs of who is working on what.
On the whole, the ‘disclosure’ policy on Arteri is inconsistent at best. At the moment, we are encouraging more people to write about their own projects to be published on Arteri. NOT in a self-promotional way, instead the focus is on uncovering the process and ideas behind art-making. This is to discourage people from asking Arteri ‘please cover my event’, instead requiring them (and us) to rethink what art coverage, art writing and art criticism can and should be.
I’ve said it before, good intentions does not always mean that we do things well. Self-promotion is not the goal in Arteri, but perhaps due to lapse in time or judgment, it comes off that way.
For my part, I believe the disclosure policy should be that we disclose when we are personally involved in a particular project. This can be formal (Full disclosure: so and so was an artist in this show….) or informal (I organized this exhibition, here’s some pictures of it…).
Please add your feedback.
And keep it civil.