Art Exchange 2012 Opening by Kakiseni

Title: Art Exchange 2012 Opening by Kakiseni
Medium: Photography
Photographer: Johan Ishak
Time/Date: 9:00pm; 6 Sept 2012

Happy Deepavali

The Royal Arts Gala, 12 November 2012

My Performing Arts Agency in collaboration with the National Department for Culture & Arts, with the support of the Ministry of Information Communication & Culture & the Performance Management Delivery Unit has recently launched an entry point project for the creative industry, part of the Economic Transformation Programme under NKEA of Communication Content & Infrastructure.

The Royal Arts Gala is positioned as an iconic arts event, an addition to Malaysia’s calendar of signature events e.g. the Royal Langkawi International Regatta, The Malaysia International Gourmet Festival & F1 Gala Dinner. This is an annual exclusive & significant arts gala to raise funds & energise collaborative partnerships for the creation & development of new arts ventures in Malaysia intended to raise the profile of the arts in Malaysia & to encourage the private sector to be supportive of the development of artistic & cultural aspects of Malaysia.

Directed by the renowned Pat Ibrahim & hosted by Harith Iskander, The Royal Arts Gala showcase Journey Through The Arts takes you on a fun & entertaining tour through the history of Malaysian performing arts, highlighting the various milestones of our country’s rich arts heritage. Bringing the showcase to life are a dazzling Malaysian cast of performers including the legendary Dato’ M. Nasir, superstar Tony Eusoff, the beautiful Suhaili Micheline, the haunting sounds of rebab player Kamarul Baisah, upcoming musical stars Stephanie Van Driesen & Nadia Aqilah, accompanied by some of Malaysia’s best dancers. The showcase will also feature West End star David Shannon, who has played leading roles in iconic musicals such as Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera & Sweeney Todd.

The Royal Arts Gala is more than just a showcase. Its main mission is to develop & foster a community of arts supporters & connect them with artists, in order to facilitate creative partnerships to help develop & fund new arts initiatives.

Proceeds will be channeled into a fund to energise arts ventures in Malaysia that may include the following:

• Promotion of Malaysian artistes/arts abroad.
• Facilitating collaborations between Malaysian & international arts practitioners.
• Research & documentation of Malaysian arts.
• Training arts managers & administrators.

As a highlight of The Royal Arts Gala's fundraising initiative, an auction will feature a unique range of items available for online bidding. Spanning from fashion to art pieces as well as performances, the items were all donated by passionate supporters of Malaysian arts. Some of the items for auction are: Painting titled Crumbling Penang by Haron Mokhtar (image on the right), water colour work titled Fishing Boats by Wong Kean Choon and performance by Dato' Seri Idris jala.

Starting this year, to commemorate the inaugural Royal Arts Gala, a special award - Pingat Jasa Kebaktian Seni Diraja will be conferred by Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Ibni Sultan Badlishah to a selected recipient. Want to know who will be conferred with such honorable award? ..... You'll have to wait until the event is over.

Elephantman in Malaysia

Yusof “Gajah”, the reference many art scholars in Malaysia are familiar with in the realm of art academia. He is the epitome “naïve” art icon.

Elephantman is here in Malaysia. He has always been here. He is Yusof “Gajah”, the reference many art scholars in Malaysia are familiar with in the realm of naive art. He is the epitome “naïve” art icon. A visual art advocate who rides the “naïve” art genre like no other has in this country. Yusof only paints elephants (“Gajah” in Bahasa Malaysia). Even if you think there are no elephants in his work, look again. It’s there. Look deeper like how you would in Where’s Waldo. A full 4 feet by 4 feet oil painting of forest or underwater scenery may seem to be elephant-less but you’ll be amazed at where the elephants are positioned (example: in the bubbles coming out from the mouth of fish). Try to look for an elephant in this  masterpiece (on the right) . Yusof intends to keep this work not for sale.

“Well, an elephant is divine to the Indians, symbolizes wealth to the Chinese and for Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, it reminds us of the year our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was born, the Year of Elephant of the Arabic records... " said Yusof "Gajah"

When asked about this weird habit, his answer was, “Well, all my work must have a Gajah (elephant). If there are none, those are not from my own creative mind. It may have been work commissioned by some of my clients who is fed up of Gajah. Hahaha… ”. His devotion, or rather, obsession with elephants has categorised him within the “naïve” art genre. Naïve art is a form of playful art that goes against logical boundaries. For example, an apple that is not round but square in shape. In other words, art work that perhaps a child would have thought of. Wikipedia defines Naïve Art as a classification of art that is often characterised by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true. Yusof is one of the veteran artists who had early training at art cottage Anak Alam alongside other national art heroes such as Dato’ Johan Jaaffar (journalism and theatre activist). As mentioned earlier, Yusof “Gajah” is a reference in many art faculties of tertiary institutions such as UiTM and USM. When asked what he thinks about that, he jokingly answered, “Its an honor to be a reference. I was told that if students forget to make reference to Yusof "Gajah" for naive art, they'll end up failing their thesis. Hahahaha”.

Kak Zakiah, his wife, used to be a civil servant in the Transport Department, has opted to retire early from civil service and decided to be the marketing mind for Yusof. She says Yusof lack pricing strategy for his valuable art works. The combination of the two, creative and commercial values have resulted in an entrepreneurship that promises economic value in what Yusof "Gajah" does. His oil/acrylic/water colour paintings, wood sculptures, pewter pieces, illustrated story books along with other merchandises (of Gajah) such as mugs and tshirts has allowed them to enjoy a steady source of income not only locally but from foreign countries such as Korea, Scandinavia and Indonesia. He is also famous amongst the foreign consulates/ambassadors in Malaysia. To add, his wife, Zakiah has also started to do Batik (of Gajah as well).

“Its an honor to be a reference especially when students forget to make reference to me, they ended up failing their thesis. Hahahaha” said Yusof "Gajah" jokingly

As a mark of recognition, Yusof received a gold medal for the 1996 Grand Prix Award for Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO. His success was on the back of his creative illustrative kids story book series that feature various animal caricature characters including, of course, a Gajah. I was privileged enough to be invited to his house (also his studio) where he shared with me many of his work that he dearly kept as his own collection as well as those still in progress for his clients. Yusof tends to shy away from galleries. His clients come to his house to buy his work. However, he aspires to own his own gallery (which will materialize soon in Plaza Damas) and also have his own museum.

In my conversation with him, I asked, “Why Gajah? Why not Cat? Or something close to the Malaysian story such as Tapir, or Tigers?”. He said, “Well, an elephant is divine to the Indians, symbolizes wealth to the Chinese and for Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, it reminds us of the year our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was born, the Year of Elephant of the Arabic records. By the way, my son has taken cat as his “naïve” icon”. I then joked with him, “Can I then use Cacing (worm)? So I can become Mat Cacing”. He suggested, with sincerity, “Why not Mat Nombor (Numbers)? After all you are an accountant”. In my mind, what a brilliant idea! I might just do that (painting work involving numbers).

It so happens that that day was my birthday and as a result, Yusof “Gajah” gave me a birthday present, a pewter necklace with an elephant pendant. Brilliant! What an honor to receive an iconic present from an iconic artist, Mr Yusof “Gajah”. Before I left, my eyes gravitated towards a very powerful piece on his wall. It was an abstract of an elephant in purple and orange from Yusof’s Fun Series. Purple is playful and orange is passionate (for me that is). The marriage of the two colours gave birth to a “Sexy” feeling. What is more appropriate is that the company I work for has purple and orange as its corporate colours. So, as it was preordained to happen, that piece was acquired by the company as a gift to YAB Prime Minister Najib Razak during the launch of the company (MyCreative Ventures Sdn. Bhd.) - an honour for the man they call Yusof “Gajah”.

As a mark of recognition, Yusof received a gold medal for the 1996 Grand Prix Award for Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO. 

* Johan Ishak

What Happens When 28 Artists from 12 Countries Meet? [Answer: Kakiseni Arts Exchange 2012]

"It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." - Charles Darwin

Kakiseni is Malaysia's foremost arts platform, producing major arts events such as the annual BOH Cameronian Arts Awards and the Women:100 Festival. Kakiseni seeks to engage artists in establishing Malaysia as a vibrant performing arts centre in Southeast Asia, and to facilitate forging links between regional artists and their peers across the globe. With the support of the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia, under the DIKN:Dasar Industri Kreatif Negara – The Creative Industry Policy. Kakiseni is proud to present the Kakiseni Arts Exchange 2012. This is an initiative that works alongside the National Department for Culture and Arts as well as PEMANDU, in recognition of the utmost importance in driving new Malaysian content and talent development for the industry.

Three world-class programmes were carried out under the Kakiseni Arts Exchange 2012 beginning with the Philippe Gaulier Master Class in Acting. This marks Philippe Gaulier’s debut in Kuala Lumpur. The next programme following that is the Collaborative Outreach which saw several artists from across the globe working together with their Malaysian counterparts to develop new and exciting works which culminated in showcases to the public. The final programme under this exchange was the Meyerhold’s Biomechanics Actor Training Workshop.

The Kakiseni Arts Exchange 2012 was launched by Y. Bhg. Dato’ Sri Kamaruddin Siaraf, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia. The launch was also attended by Y. Bhg. Dato’ Norliza Rofli, the Director-General of the National Department of Culture and Arts and Low Ngai Yuen, Head of Kakiseni. At the launch, award-winning Malaysian actress Vanidah Imran hosted a talk session with Philippe Gaulier, who conducted his master class in acting in Malaysia for the first time.

According to Head of Kakiseni Low Ngai Yuen, “Malaysia has a wealth of heritage and talent in the performing arts and we hope the inaugural Kakiseni Arts Exchange 2012 will pave the way for these talents to gain greater exposure, experience and learning thus benefiting our industry’s growth. Low added, “We are delighted to have the support of the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture and Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara (JKKN) and look forward to the government’s continued support for such initiatives and programmes to propel talent development in the country.”

Some of the photos of the Arts Exchange 2012 are as follows:

Kufi Rhapsody: A Truly Contemporary Feel to Islamic Art

"Art must contribute to the betterment of humanity and it has to be important" quoted by Shukor Yahya, the Kufi Rhapsody

I attended Malaysian Design Development Centre ('DDEC') Design Summit 2012 on 24 September 2012. There were many cool presenters touching the different aspects of designs such as product designs, computer images, automotive and more. One presenter caught my attention: Mr Shukor Yahya, a true genius in Islamic Art who saw the potential in Kufi. He is Kufi Rhapsody. Shukor had travelled in many countries including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, England, Wales, the USA, Switzerland and China. With such vast experience, Shukor has developed a profound love for art to the point that he quoted "Art must contribute to the betterment of humanity and it has to be important". When Shukor started painting seriously, he revived the art of Kufi square and quickly earned a reputation for his unique approach in painting. His individuality in style makes many art enthusiasts mesmerized by the contemporary works produced by him over the years.

Shukor shared the history of Kufi. Kufi is a font developed by Timo Khan, son of Kublai Khan, who ruled Samarkhand. The local (Samarkhand) culture back then was very diverse and rich encompassing many interactions between Arabs, Urdus, Chinese, Persians and many more. This exchange gave birth to Kufi whereby cultures of these different people were synergised into a simplified artistic font. Timo later embraced Islam and the rest was history as far as Kufi's development is concerned. It flourished. This history is evidenced by an ancient furniture that was found with Chinese lettering in Kufic style. It was a wonder about which one came first, the Arabic Kufic or the Chinese and how the two cultures had influenced each other to make up a Kufi square.

"Art is the ultimate expression of human soul. It tells the tales long past and dreams the future" quoted by Shukor Yahya, the Kufi Rhapsody

Shukor has now commercialised Kufi. He went further to expand the horizons of Kufi from a simple Islamic Art to product designs such as Caran'd Ache watches. His creativity landed him Eastern Art prizes (Annya Sand Pize) naming him one of the top 15 best emerging artists in Asia. Kufi is unique in that it requires some knowledge for its appreciation. One has to know arabic alphabets in order to read it phonetically. Arabic is read from left to right. This is the same for Kufi except that the left to right goes further spiraling inwards clockwise in the Kufi square.

Shukor is passionate and hopes that Malaysian culture will some day incorporate Kufi to a more pervasive manner. Until then, he will continue to drive Kufi with his sincere passion. He ended his presentation with "Art is the ultimate expression of human soul. It tells the tales long past and dreams the future". To give a final gimmick punch to this all, he cheekily added "Picasso, your time is out. It's Kufi's time now". For those who wants to experience Shukor's Kufi, The National Visual Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, is currently showing the "Power, Hope and Land" art exhibition, beginning from 7th August until 19th November, 2012, at Gallery 2B; featuring some of Shukor's work. Alternatively, you can visit his web site at shukoryahya.blogspot.com

He (Shukor Yahya Kufi Rhapsody) cheekily added "Picasso, your time is out. It's Kufi's time now"

* Johan Ishak

Malaysia's Inaugural Malaysian & Indonesian Art Auction by KL Lifestyle Art Space

Art lovers can come and bid for fantastic masterpieces by famous artists from Malaysia and Indonesia values ranging from RM10,000 to RM500,000 including this masterpiece by Dato' Ibrahim Hussein.

Malaysian Contemporary Art | Aliya and Farouk Khan Collection

Malaysian Contemporary Art | Aliya and Farouk Khan Collection

ALIYA AND FAROUK KHAN had recently shared with me their collections of Malaysian contemporary art. It is a magnificent piece of portfolio. Amazing really. They have made a book out of the collection called Malaysian Contemporary Art | Aliya and Farouk Khan Collection. What a shame that this book cannot be procured from the book stores nor is it available from any galleries. It is a limited edition. Only those very rare few managed to buy it when it was issued. In any case, I perused through the portfolio and felt compelled to at least share a few of my favourites.... just the top few that I admire from the whole collection (I choose not to name the title of those pieces but only the artists - I have my own reasons):

SHOOSHIE SULAIMAN has a magnificent flare for figures especially the face of human beings. Not realists, but distorted with brilliant mixture of colours to blend those faces into the ambiance of a room. It radiates emotion only each individual who is viewing it are entitled to interpret. A series of such work, if arranged on a wide wall will just roast the appreciation to perfection. Mind you, she is the only Malaysian, to have brought back award from the prestigious Documenta from Germany.

DAUD RAHIM toys around with abstract. Definitely not a realist. An impressionist random in thoughts but bold in presentation, sufficiently myopic to give chance for viewers to explore their own set of storytelling (in their minds). My personal view is that, his strokes and colour combinations just makes a lot of sense. It creates the mood for you to tell your own story of the piece regardless of what Daud himself was thinking when he was painting it.





ANUAR RASHID captures my attention in a different manner. It is as if he is enlightening me with certain cosmic aura. Unlike Daud who chooses to boldly present his statements, Anuar gives a mystical sense. The sort of work that makes you think with your eyes focused to the floor rather than on the painting. This piece here is my son's favourite. He (my son) said, "the rest of the art works are full of ghosts but this one, shows heaven".







AHMAD FUAD OSMAN simply gives me the creep. I am not sure whether this feeling will manifest for his other work but for this one here, definitely. I mean, a clown! in the river reflection. How scary is that? You can choose to start telling your own stories like what Daud's work can do; or you can struggle to find that divine meaning like what you get from Anuar's work...... but you cannot escape that first impression this piece gives to your psychological reaction. It simply by-passes neuron interpretations and hits the modulla oblongata straight concluding almost instantaneously that creepy feeling. I must say that out of those hundreds of paintings in the book Malaysian Contemporary Art, this is my favourite. Vibrant colours yet not depicting a circus-like impression. A realist in its visual but abstract in its concept. Manifesting the sarcastic and fearful factor. A masterpiece that can actually pull you away from other paintings gravitating you to itself; offering you a chance to interpret; but in the end, you lose the battle - because it had you at your first glimpse.








These four pieces are just the top four that caught my attention. There are loads of others in the collection worthy of being complimented. Quality wise, fantastic. The collection showcases the level of intelligence our Malaysian contemporary artists have - which is really why the book was published.

Thank you Aliya and Farouk. It has been a pleasure joining you on this short journey down the aesthetic valley. Definitely a heartfelt gratitude that must be voiced out. I salute.


* Johan Ishak

Emergence of Malaysian Contemporary Visual Art

"..... the mass public from local (Malaysian) middle income earners are now economically capable of appreciating and acquiring the new Malaysian art, that is Malaysian Contemporary Art. It is as if they (the collectors) are panicking and running to grab hold of those visual art pieces!" quoted by a prominent Malaysian art collector

Malaysian contemporary art is emerging like phoenix rising from the ashes. What is Malaysian contemporary art? All these years and decades Malaysians were only exposed to a few big names in the local art landscape. When asked, they could only only mention Ibrahim Hussein, Ismail Latiff, Jaafar Taib, Azman Yusof and the likes. If Mona Lisa and Madonna On The Rocks are the infamous pieces from the early impressionists, then for us, Malaysians, we prefer to shout out Ibrahim Hussein's Ayahku Dan Angkasawan. These names and masterpiece has now been categorised as the art of the past. Whilst they are labelled as 'Modernist', they are modern for their era.

What characterised them as a class? Well, an example would be how Ibrahim Hussein uses lines in all of his art work and another example would be how Ismail Latiff's obsession with that moon that never seems to be absence from his abstracts. This compulsion to maintain a signature is what makes them 'Modernist' Malaysian Art, an art category of the past, the past that is labelled as 'Post-Colonialisation'. So what is the new age Malaysian art? I believe, as mentioned by a prominent local art collector: "..... the mass public from local (Malaysian) middle income earners are now economically capable of appreciating and acquiring the new Malaysian art, that is Malaysian Contemporary Art. It is as if they (the collectors) are panicking and running to grab hold of those visual art pieces!"

So who are the new names in this so called Malaysian Contemporary Art category? Well, I am an art lover but I am not a connoisseur. Recently I had the privilege of being introduced to a connoisseur of Malaysian Contemporary Art, Mr Farouk Khan and his wife, Aliya Akbar Khan. Both are collectors. I perused through some of their private collections. I must say that it is an impressive collection although some (of the art work), I couldn't grasp the subliminal meanings. That is only because I am the 'new kid on the block', so to speak. Beautiful pieces by names that are already big in the local art community but perhaps, a normal Joe Bloke like me has never heard before. To name a few (that I managed to capture in my mental note from discussions): Ahmad Fuad Osman (one of his masterpiece displayed above) and Ahmad Shukri Mohamed for canvases; and Bayu Otomo and Muthalib Musa for sculptures. These are the new breed of artists. The new contributors to the Malaysian culture. The new proud of nation.

Why now, in the years 2005 and subsequent, that these art works suddenly get noticed? The art industry is a unique industry. A very high quality art work may get unnoticed for years and some may even start getting attention when the painters have long gone to the heavens (or hell), like in the case of Van Gogh. Since Merdeka (the independence of Malaysia), the art scene in this part of the world (South East Asia) has been very much influenced by arts from countries other than Malaysia (or Indonesia). This is/was an influence that can be traced from China all the way down to Thailand (Although Thais have somewhat unique religious touch to art), skipped Malaysia, and gravitated towards Singapore. For years collectors have been obsessed with such Art to the point where its supply becomes abundant. The 'commonality' of the obsession has resulted in an non-uniqueness of the art itself. For those who studied economics, particularly the neo-classical Keynesian Supply and Demand mechanism, of course they'd straight away pointed out the supply has dampened the demand.

Collectors have shifted their appreciation kiblat (direction) to the Malay archipelago that consists of artists from the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Indonesian Islands and the Southern Philippines. This group of people are commonly known as the Nusantaras, for which, the British colonial masters have irresponsibly tagged as disquiet, depression, dissatisfaction, melancholic,..... well, pretty much the opposite of optimism. After colonising, not only they have dampened the the economic well being of these people, they have also hidden their culture, particularly their artistic creativity. The Nusantaras didn't have to work hard to get the crops out. They didn't have to worry about the 4-seasons' impact to their vegetation. They can find fishes, vegetables, fruits and live stocks available from the rivers and the jungle nearby their kampungs (villages) that they lived in. Naturally, biologically, psychologically as well as historically, these Nusantara people should have developed skills in areas other than economics. In my crude opinion, I think that that skill ought to be art and creativity. When the collectors shifted their attention to the Malaysian Contemporary Art artifacts, it only confirms my hypothesis: a hypothesis that highlights the creativity and the intelligence of the Nusantaras.

Must Malaysia be represented by culture and art that do not even originated from Malaysia? Must a foreigner equate Malaysia to a piece of water colour work that has a panda eating bamboo trees? Why mustn't it be an oil painting of a Pak Cik (an elderly male) by his beca (trishaw)?

So let's get back to the colonisation story. The Nusantara creativity in Malaysia has been deprived from public appreciation for years since Merdeka - 55 years of post-colonnialism. This is merely the outcome of prioritisation by the Nusantaras themselves. Let's just ignore Indonesia for they have managed to put their cultural and artistic heritage at a higher elevation for the world to notice. Malaysia has gone through quite a milestone. They fought for independence via political methods which went on for ages since the early 20th century until now. This is to ensure their survival in this world. Next step would be, or had been, refining their economic policies to ensure that they are on par with the rest with respect to wealth. This was quite apparent in the various Government initiatives since the 2nd Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, and was made intensified under Tun Mahathir, the 4th Prime Minister. So far the 2 equations are: Politics = Survival and Economy = Wealth. The 3rd stage would be to define or redefine their existence via culture that has art as its subset. Who are we? Who are Malaysian? Must Malaysia be represented by culture and art that do not even originated from Malaysia? Must a foreigner equate Malaysia to a piece of water colour work that has a panda eating bamboo trees? Why mustn't it be an oil painting of a Pak Cik (an elderly male) by his beca (trishaw)?

* Johan Ishak

Dilema Seniman

"Seniman di awan perlu disauhkan kembali ke Bumi nyata"

Pada suatu ketika aku berpeluang berdebat dengan seorang seniman, seorang karyawan, seorang penulis yang juga seorang kawan lama. Naluri beliau amat kecewa dengan sikap rakyat negara ini yang kononnya buta seni. Kita, dikatakan tidak mengendah seni sebagai satu aspek kehidupan yang relevan. Lihat saja bagaimana negara asing menerima seni seadanya sebagai komponen pembangunan budaya dan minda manusia yang menjanjikan kesinambungan evolusi yang progresif. Seni di negara ini hanya memberi makna jika ia membabitkan pulangan wang yang setimpal. Aku hanya cuma mampu berkata "Seniman di awan perlu disauhkan kembali ke Bumi nyata". beliau bertanya "Apa maksud kau?" Aku bilang, "Senang saja 'brader', seni perlu di'komersial'isasikan". Beliau berkata "Itulah dia dilema seniman. Kalau nakkan duit, maka seni tidak bermakna. Seni tidak bebas. Seni cuma diperlacurkan demi wang".

Sebelum rakyat dapat menerima seni sebagai aliran utama untuk punca pendapatan, ianya perlu memberi kesan ekonomi yang cukup untuk memberi peluang bakal-bakal seniman untuk mengecapi kehidupan yang menjanjikan rezeki yang stabil. Kalau seorang anak meminta dari kedua ibubapanya "Ayah, Mak, saya nak belajar muzik (sebagai contohnya)". Nescaya ibubapa akan menolak idea itu sama sekali. Kononnya bidang iktisas (profesional) yang lain seperti kejuruteraan, perakaunan atau peguaman lebih menjanjikan masa depan yang cerah bagi anak-anak mereka. Sebenarnya, mereka tidak salah. Mereka hanya impikan apa yang terbaik untuk anak-anak. Maka dengan itu, secara keseluruhannya, kita perlu memertabatkan seni secukup tinggi untuk sampai ke tahap relevan yang memadai bagi rakyat menerima seni sebagai bidang profesional yang diterima umum.

Siapalah sangat seniman yang boleh mengais rezeki di negara ini? Aku bukannya peka sangat terhadap dunia seni tanahair tetapi kalau diungkapkan kembali minda aku ini, cuma segelintir nama sahaja yang dapat aku lafazkan. Seni lukis mungkin ada dua tiga nama seperti Allahyarham Ibrahim Hussein, Ismail Latif dan Jaafar Taib. Seni reka cuma satu nama yang terkeluar dari pemikiran ini, iaitu Hijaz Kasturi (entah Dato' atau tidak). Seni perfileman ada banyak tapi aku cuma ingat Dato' Yusuf Haslam. Seni muzik lebih banyak pengikutnya seperti Dato' M. Nasir, Ahmad Izham Omar dan KRU. Kartunis, tak lain tak bukan, Dato' Lat. Seni tarian misalnya ada Pat Ibrahim. Memang kita boleh senaraikan nama dengan panjang jelanya tetapi, bolehkan seniman mengais rezeki yang secukupnya? Pokoknya, cuma sebilangan kecil sahaja yang dapat mencapai tahap ekonomi yang memberangsangkan.

Punca akar umbinya ialah masyarakat itu sendiri. Jika masyarakat tidak menerima seni sebagai satu aspek kehidupan yang penting, maka sampai bila-bilalah seni tidak diberi pengiktirafan yang bermakna, atau setakat minimanya, sekurang-kurang diberi peluang untuk berkembang. Memang banyak institut pengajian menawarkan bidang seni untuk siswa/siswi seperti Universiti ITM atau Lim Kok Wing, tetapi graduan-graduan seni masih menghadapi benteng yang mengecewakan apabila perjuangan seni itu hanya boleh mendatangkan pendapatan dari sudut akademia sahaja.

Apa yang perlu berlaku adalah 'komersial'isasi seni di negara ini. Masyarakat perlu mengubah minda untuk memberi peluang kepada dunia seni. Memang kerajaan ada peruntukan untuk seni tetapi tidak mencukupi pada firasat aku. Seni perlu wujud dalam naluri kita. Sebagai contohnya 'Theatre'. Semenjak Istana Budaya ditubuhkan, makin ramai penghuni Kuala Lumpur boleh menerima seni itu. Dengan itu muncullah pelbagai usahawan yang mahu berkecimpung di dalam bidang 'Theatre'. Itu pun bukan semua yang sanggup teruskan perjuangan. Baru-baru ini aku melayar 'blog' seorang ahli 'Theatre', Boudeng. Aku berasa sedih kerana beliau secara terang-terang mengumumkan yang beliau tidak lagi mahu meneruskan perjuangan 'Theatre'.

Ada banyak lagi bidang seni yang masyarakat patut menghayati. Sebagai contohnya seni lukis. Tidak banyak yang sanggup membelanjakan wang untuk membeli lukisan sebagai pelaburan. Kalau di Paris atau di New York, pelukis boleh membuat duit yang lumayan. Saya difahamkan bandaraya-bandaraya di Amerika sudahpun mempolisikan peruntukan wang untuk seni bagi projek bangunan. Makna kata, jika sesebuah syarikat ingin membina bangunan, ia mesti melibatkan seni, kebanyakan dalam bentuk 'Sculpture'. Walaupun ini merupakan satu pemaksaan, ianya, mungkin, satu hari nanti akan memberi kesan positif kepada ekonomi negara. Lihat saja Menara Berkembar Petronas. Tidakkah banyak pengunjung dari luar negara yang datang ke Malaysia? Mereka (pelancong) membelanjakan wang di negara kita dan dengan secara tidak langsungnya memberi kesan positif kepada ekonomi negara melalui wang pelancongan.

Kita sudah lihat bagaimana manusia dari segala pelusuk dunia membelanjakan wang untuk pergi ke Louvre di Paris untuk hanya berdiri selama sepuluh saat di hadapan lukisan Mona Lisa oleh Leonardo Da' Vinci. Banyak lagi contoh-contoh yang masuk akal seperti seni Gaudi di Barcelona, Statue of Liberty di New York, lukisan-lukisan oleh Raphael dan Michaelangelo di Vatican City, seni perusahaan kaca di Venice dan banyak lagi. Di Malaysia apa yang kita ada? Kalau Tun Mahathir tak benarkan Menara Berkembar Petronas, yang ada hanyalah lukisan di dinding pagar Penjara Pudu. Itu pun sudah hancur diroboh. Tak usah pergi jauh. Saya difahamkan di Vietnam ada Lembah Pelukis ('Valley of Artist') di mana pelancong boleh pergi membeli pelbagai lukisan di sebuah perkampungan pelukis. Bayangkan Vietnam yang tidak sehebat Malaysia dari segi ekonominya pun boleh wujud kesedaran seni sebagai sesuatu yang relevan. Ya! memang Malaysia pun ada, contohnya pembuatan wau, songket dan ukiran di Pantai Timur, tetapi tidaklah sehebat artifak-artifak seni yang boleh diperolehi dari Bali, sebagai contohnya. Aku berasa amat sedih. Bukan sahaja sahabat lama yang aku baru jumpa hari ini, malah seminggu yang lalu pun aku berjumpa dengan pengusaha seni 'sculpture' yang memberi ulasan yang sama, iaitu, seni di negara ini tidak boleh buat duit. Sebagai pencinta seni, aku berasa keinginan untuk berkecimpung di dalam bidang peng'komersial'isasi seni untuk memperjuangkan nasib seniman ataupun bakal seniman negara di masa hadapan. Setakat ini aku belum menjumpai aliran yang boleh memberi aku peluang untuk mengais rezeki yang stabil sambil memperjuangkan seni tanahair. Kalaulah diberi peluang, kemungkinan aku akan turut serta inisiatif-inisiatif yang seumpama itu.

Aku bermimpi suatu hari nanti kalau anak aku berkata "Daddy, saya mahu belajar muzik (atau seni lukis, atau seni lakonan, atau seni apa pun)", aku akan dengan senang hatinya berkata "Silakan anak". Tapi apakan daya, aku pun takut untuk membenarkan kehendak yang sedemikian. Tapi apa-apa pun, kita semua, masyarakat secara keseluruhannya perlu barganding bahu memberi peluang kepada seniman dan bakal seniman di negara ini. Bak kata Dato' Ibrahim Hussein sebelum permergian beliau kembali ke Rahmatullah: "Seniman, walaupun tidak praktikal, kami berkarya dari lubuk naluri yang datang dari keperibadian seniman itu sendiri untuk dunia yang kita semua kenali" - translasi dari ucapan beliau di dalam Bahasa Inggeris yang berbunyi "Artists, creative people, we're not practical, we work from the heart. It comes out of your private world and into the world everyone knows"

"Seniman, walaupun tidak praktikal, kami berkarya dari lubuk naluri yang datang dari keperibadian seniman itu sendiri untuk dunia yang kita semua kenali" Kata-kata Allahyarham Dato' Ibrahim Hussein

* Johan Ishak

MyCreative Corporate Video at Launch Day 12 Sep 2012

Raising Malaysia's Creative Juices: Government of Malaysia launches MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd to spur local creative industry

".... this move (launching of MyCreative) is expected to give new breath to the industry, to raise the standard and importance of the creative industries, especially in terms of the economy ...." YAB Prime Minister

PUTRAJAYA, 12 SEPTEMBER 2012 – MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd (MyCreative), a new initiative by the Government of Malaysia and part of the plan to elevate the creative industry in Malaysia, was launched by YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia today. MyCreative is a government investment arm to spur Malaysia’s creative industry via strategic and innovative funding in a form of equity or debt investments.

The initiative was initially announced by YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Razak during the 2012 budget proceedings, allocating RM200 million to be dedicated to this purpose. With this, MyCreative was incorporated on 20 April 2012 under the Malaysian Companies Act, 1965 by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (‘MOF (Inc)’).

Commenting on the launch, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Razak said, “This move is expected to give new breath to the industry, to raise the standard and importance of the creative industries, especially in terms of the economy. With the availability of MyCreative, the creative industry entrepreneurs can potentially obtain capital either in the form of equity or loans from MyCreative. This capital provides an opportunity for new ideas to be put forward in the form of viable businesses with the potential to generate income from the creative industry.”

MyCreative will invest via equities or loans from allocated funds in potential viable Malaysian creative businesses. The company hopes to boost the attractiveness of the Malaysian creative industry particularly job creation. It will also look to increase the gross income from the creative industry to significantly contribute to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). On the whole, the company is expected to elevate the status of the Malaysian creative industry via public awareness and social impact.

Sharing insights on the set up of MyCreative, Encik Johan Ishak, Chief Executive Officer of MyCreative said, “According to statistics from the studies done, GDP contributed by the creative industries amounted to RM9.4 billion, which is 1.27%. This figure is low compared to countries such as Canada at 7.4%; Great Britain at 6.4% and Singapore at 5.6%. However, by 2020, RM9.4 billion is expected to increase to RM33 billion, which is 2.2% of the projected Gross Domestic Production, if the industry is growing at 11% annually. Thus, it is imperative for MyCreative to be established and that the aspiration is achieved.”

Malaysian-owned businesses eligible for this funding include visual arts, performing arts, music, literature, content creation, fashion and design as well as traditional and cultural arts. This includes and is not limited to businesses such as art galleries, theatres, dance academies, book publishers, fashion academies and martial arts, amongst others. They can be from viable start-ups to growing companies who pitch ideas that are deemed viable from an economic point of view and support in elevating the status of the Malaysian creative industry.

Companies may apply by submitting a form together with their business proposal via MyCreative website at www.mycreative.com.my.

".... GDP contributed by the creative industries amounted to RM9.4 billion, which is 1.27%. This figure is low compared to countries such as Canada at 7.4%; Great Britain at 6.4% and Singapore at 5.6%. Thus, it is imperative for MyCreative to be established and that the aspiration (to boost creative industry) is achieved .... " CEO MyCreative