Rahel Joseph, Manager of Cultural Affairs at the Australian High Commission (AHC), takes Michelle Woo through the 80s ‘then’ and now of 15 Malaysian artists who have formerly exhibited on the premises.
‘Menjejak Kembali’, loosely translated as Journeying Back, is a celebration of the AHC’s active hosting of exhibitions for the past twenty years. The artists who will be exhibiting their “older pieces from the 80s as well as (their) more recent work” between June 14 and 28 include: Latiff Mohidin (who first exhibited at the AHC in 1983), Tan Choon Ghee (1983), Sulaiman Esa (1984), Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir (1983), Khalil Ibrahim (1984), Yeoh Jin Leng (1984), Long Thien Shih (1987), Chang Fee Ming (1984, representing the Malaysian Watercolours Society), Tajuddin Ismail (1991), Yusof Ghani (1985), Fauzan Omar (1990), Zheng Yuande (1988), Anurendra Jegadeva (1993 & 2001), Chew Fang Chin (1990) and the lkat Weavers from Society Atelier Sarawak (1986 & 2000).
The paintings are laid out throughout the foyer waiting to be hung up as the interview begins:
Rahel Joseph: The high commission from the 80s was very much like an alternative gallery. In fact, it was listed as a commercial gallery during the 80s because at that time, there weren’t many commercial galleries around. The 70s and 80s were very important times for Malaysian art. There was this huge, sort of big bang happening.
There were a lot of people producing art, a lot of people coming back from New York, London and Paris with all these ideas, and they were looking for places to just show their work. The high commission was one of these places.
The first exhibition we had was by Latiff Mohidin who exhibited his Mindscape. It was followed by Sulaiman Esa, Yeoh Jin Leng, and Sharifah Fatimah (Syed Zubir), all the big names who would later become so important in Malaysian art. So, we had exhibitions fairly frequently, especially during the 80s and early 90s. In fact, the latest exhibition we had was by Anurendra Jegadeva, who had his exhibition last year.
(Indicating at an oil painting) This is from an early exhibition that he had here which was in 1993, that was his first solo. He was basically just starting out.
Kakiseni: Are these painting part of the high commission’s collection?
RJ: No. One or two pieces are in our collection. The other pieces are borrowed from the artists. There are two or three pieces that are borrowed from private collectors. But we basically asked the artists to give us an old piece from the time that they first exhibited here, and a recent piece. So, like for this, for example, this was from Anu’s first exhibition, and he gave us that piece which is a painting that he’s done this year.
K: Yes, you can see that he’s more refined, that he’s evolved…
RJ: (chorusing) evolved as an artist. This (indicating another piece) is by Khalil Ibrahim. This is a ’79 piece.
K: Really? It looks almost like something that could have been done very recently…
RJ: Yes… and that’s the new one over there, which was last year.
K: Are Yeoh Jin Leng’s pieces here, too?
RJ: Yes. This is Yeoh Jin Leng’s piece. He’s going to be coming for the exhibition. He exhibited here some time in ’84 with Khalil (Ibrahim). This is his 80s piece, and that is his last year’s piece. And it actually goes with three sculptures at the front. It’s quite a different work.
K: He had said something a few years back that he was moving towards a Nusantara feel with his paintings and sculptures. It’s a big change from his landscapes to that.
RJ: Right… And that is Sharifah Fatimah’s two pieces. That is something from her ’83 exhibition and that is something she did last year. Well, you can see its similarities. You can see that it has been done by the same person.
K: Yes, you can see that the style is there, or the trademark. But the use of colour has changed dramatically.
RJ: Yes… and this is Latiff Mohidin’s. This is a 90s work of his. And this is an 80s piece, a very small piece that is actually the high commission’s, which is Mindscape from Latiff’s early exhibition. He has progressed and went on and on and on till that (indicating his 90s work), which became quite different.
(Walking on) And that is one of Khalil’s recent pieces.
K: So, all these artists have exhibited before at some time or other?
RJ: Yes. We’ve had over 55 exhibitions here, both solo and group. We couldn’t invite everyone, because there were a lot of people in the group exhibitions. So, what we did was we selected the solos and we concentrated on the earlier artists. We wanted to show the 80s to the recent years, and to show what has happened and what has evolved since then as well. We tried to show a variety as well. So, we have things like Sarawak ikat (weaving), which hasn’t been hung up yet.
This ikat is a success story. The Society Atelier Sarawak which is headed by a guy called Edric Ong. He actually revived the interest in ikat textiles. He had the first exhibition in 1986 at the high commission. He also had one two years ago at the high commission as well. So much has happened in between. They (the weavers) have gone on tours around the world and there has been so much interest that the weavers themselves have introduced this new type of weaving on silk for the first time. They have really, really revived the art, and not just revived the art but also learnt new ways of adapting it and made it a commercial success story as well.
(Moving on to Chang Fee Ming’s early watercolour) The Malaysian Watercolours Society, which used to be very big in the 80s, used to have their annual show. We’ve invited one member who is Chang Fee Ming. There are two works. This is one of his works. When he was at the show (1984), he was one of the prize winners. He was something like 21 (years of age) and he’s now considered the watercolourist in South-east Asia. This painting is worth RM45,000.
K: Stylistically, you can see that several young watercolourists have also tried to copy him.
RJ: Yes, … and unfortunately his recent work is not here yet. In fact, it is quite different actually. This of course is by Tan Choon Ghee. These are two works by Tan, who has had two exhibitions here as well. And this is Yusof Ghani. This is an early piece. He exhibited here in the late 80s. This is an earlier 80s piece and this is the recent one.
K: Oh yes, this is recognisably Yusof Ghani. I wasn’t sure about the earlier piece, but this is certainly his latest style.
RJ: And this is Fauzan Omar. Do you know Fauzan’s work?
K: Yes, I’ve seen his work overseas. It was exhibited in Perth, I think.
RJ: And also Queensland. This is a 1990 piece that he exhibited at the high commission. It’s a huge piece (fourin-one), and that’s his new piece, which is lightboxes. Very different, but sort of following the same sort of theme.
K: And that’s photography, isn’t it?
RJ: Yes.
K: But it’s still very textural. And also a commentary perhaps about waste being thrown into the jungle, in this one with a crushed box of Yeo’s chrysanthemum tea (nestled beside a tree).
RJ: (chorusing) chrysanthemum tea… Yes.
KK: So, this is a 20th anniversary exhibition of sorts?
RJ: Well, it’s actually 20 years of Malaysian art, that’s what we’re calling it. We’ve wanted to do this show for some time, and we also wanted for our own selves to really have a record (of the past 20 years). For me, as a Malaysian and as somebody who works here, I am proud of the fact that, you know, now I think it’s very much the fashion that everybody’s talking about doing collaborative work, but I think they (the AHC) were doing it a long time ago. And I think this is the whole point of cultural relations. It is not just about importing an Australian work here, it’s really about making a difference in the local arts community as well.
I think for anyone who has worked in the high commission, they have benefited so much from it as well, just knowing about Malaysian art and the people who come through. It is not just about being an exhibition space, we also have a scheme called the Cultural Award Scheme where every year we select a Malaysian from the arts community and they actually go to Australia for a couple of weeks either to attend a conference or go make visits, or go spend some time in galleries. This builds on the people-to-people links, and that’s been the main focus of the cultural programme.
K: Well, thank you for your time and patience, Rahel.
RJ: Thank you.
First Published: 13.06.2002 on Kakiseni