View on a single page 13. 07. 2005
Don’t Rain On My Painting by Lydia Chai
A pleasant outing it was not to be. We travelled up the escalator at the entrance only to be greeted by a leaking roof overhead. Not only does it give visitors the image that the building is run-down, leaking water will surely damage the escalator as well.
I wandered into a gallery where Sabahan art was being exhibited (Saruk Kinabalu, from 30 Jun – 18 Sep, 2005). I was excited to see work from fellow Malaysians across the pond. It was my first time seeing attempts to contemporise the art of ethnic textile weaving through collage and printmaking. My enthusiasm quickly turned into shock and horror, though, as there was water dripping from the gallery ceiling right next to a painting! I notified the lady security guard outside the gallery and the cleaners were told about this quickly. Still, I did not get the impression that a higher authority was notified. I hope that the technical problem of leaky ceilings will be fixed immediately.
Then, I went into a gallery featuring a major retrospective by local Chinese brush artist Chung Chen Sun (5 Decades of Chung Chen Sun, from 23 Jun to 21 Aug, 2005). I do not care much for Chinese brush painting myself, but I must say some of the work was quite beautiful. In particular, a dark painting of the edge of a towering cliff – it was like staring at a void and it evoked the sublime. The exhibition spans five decades of pure dedication to a craft, so it is a lot to take in, but even then I could not enjoy the art as I would have liked to. Something else was preoccupying my mind.
I noticed that most of the dehumidifiers had stopped working because they were full of water and needed to be tipped out so that the water from the air could continue to be distilled.
Dehumidifiers are important contraptions to keep artworks dry. As this particular gallery contained many brush paintings on fragile paper, a dry environment is especially crucial to protect the quality of the art material.
I notified an old security guard outside the gallery. At first, he did not understand what I was saying because I did not know the Malay word for “dehumidifier.” When he came into the gallery and realised that I was asking him to please tip the water out constantly, he responded to me in Malay, “You just shut up and mind your own business. Don't meddle, just shut up!” and walked away.
Any other Malaysian might not have persisted as I did; I walked over to another old security guard who seemed more willing to carry out my suggestion. I explained to him the importance of such a practice. Soon, he and the first cranky security guard were tipping out the water from each and every dehumidifier in the gallery. However, as the cranky one was doing it, he was verbally abusing me loudly in front of other visitors. The more understanding security guard gestured at me not to make a scene.
“Nyanyuk (senile)?” I said, and he nodded.
I wanted to make sure that this incident would not happen again. I chanced upon the artist’s personal assistant who is there to look after the artwork for the duration of the retrospective. When I recounted to him the incident, he said that he is not allowed to meddle with the dehumidifiers and that his job is only to look after the paintings. The irony of his statement was not lost on me. It is just such a “tidak apa” attitude that irks me.
Besides the bad service, I would like to comment on the poor presentation of artworks at the gallery. Why is Nor Azizan Rahman Paiman and Suhaila Hashim’s art-work “On Air”, which was awarded the Major Prize at the Young Contemporaries Award in 2002, shoved into a corner at the foyer on the top floor? This art-work is supposed to be a little contained room for viewers to walk into and interact with the speaker phone and closed-circuit tv. Now, it is merely detritus littering the hallway. The tv screens in the installation are not working and there is no lighting to indicate that it is for viewing. If it is not to be presented properly, in the state that the artists intended, then it should not be left around for visitors to wonder what on earth it is.
Furthermore, whenever a space within a gallery is not in use, the administrators think it is enough to cordone it off with a piece of cloth or cardboard. This is also very unprofessional.
The administrators of the Balai do not need to travel far to observe what it takes to run a National Art Gallery professionally. A trip to the Singapore Art Museum will suffice. It is obvious that the people running our Balai do not accord artists and artworks enough respect. They do not know how to take care of art, much less promote it.
Why should our young artists aspire to exhibit in our National Art Gallery when, chances are, their art would be (1) poorly presented or (2) damaged?
This experience at the Gallery only reinforces my opinion that Malaysia does not have a culture of maintenance, we only know how to build new things.
The turn-up at the said Laman Seni event showed that many Malaysians ARE interested in art. The National Art Gallery should take pride in such a wide audience and take their work seriously.
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Lydia Chai is an artist who has just returned home from New Zealand and manages an online database of articles on Malaysian art (database.gnuted.com). Too many people ask her if she can do the haka.
User Comments
| posted by Gina Fairley |
| I am delighted at the refreshing criticism of Lydia Chai. I recently arrived in KL, and took myself off the Balai to get a grasp on Malaysian art. Crazy-Lah! This first impression was a building empty of art and people – I have yet to see an exhibition curated from the permanent collection. I have since visited the Balai several times, and continue to be appalled at the lack of standard museum practice and vision of an institution that celebrates a nation’s visual culture! Does Malaysia think that freeways alone indicate a country’s development? Lydia invites us to take a journey to the Singapore Art Museum, but even closer to home the Islamic Art Museum is a fabulous example of professional practice. Having worked as a Registrar and Gallery Director in Sydney and San Francisco, I walk away from the Balai each time fuming with frustration: Where are the freight elevators and doorways to carry large works?; What is that ridiculous stair that you can’t hang works around (take a better look at the Guggenheim if you want to copy it); Are tiled walls really that good to hang art on? and what are those two gleaming vestibules of air, the dead staircases either side of the entrance? Has anyone every used them? I have never seen a museum so poorly conceived, nor an attempt by the Balai to address the problems and work with them in creative ways. Ignoring them is apathy. And that is not mentioning the leaks, rippled carpets, lopsided labels, burning lights on delicate works, invigilation … etc? I am discovering that this is a vibrant arts community with some fabulous work on display. How is this community expected to flourish and grow in an international arena if its National Art Gallery lacks a similar vision and level of professionalism towards artistic practice and cultural heritage?
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| posted by tteoh |
| I thought KL Islamic Art Museum is consulted and managed by IMG Artists (www.imgartists.com)? not Malaysian? Sometime ago, I read in UK's Sunday times culture magazine rank our Islamic Art Museum as one of the world most unique and excellent mega musueum comparable with spain's Guggenheim. Yeah..National Art Gallery is kind of embarrassment. Perhaps the goverment should spend some money to outsource our National Art Gallery to these so-called foreign management team as we did it so succesful with our Islamic Art Museum, MPO, Concert Hall, KL Convention Centre, and the Petronas Art Gallery. Things always get better when we spend big money on buying whatever we could not posses at the moment..
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| posted by notthedirector |
| After Sharon Chin's 'What's that Balai' and Lydia's article...I wonder how many more people out there who are going to take pot shots at this easy target. While we hope for things to improve, the failure of this national institution can be interpreted as an opportunity forthe people to take charge of art. If Balai has no credibility nor the ability to fulfil its responsibilities, it is up to the people then to work around it. In fact, this call has already been answered by the 'Not that Balai' festival. But we need more and I'm sure the artists and people out there can do it. We have to appreciate the fact that unlike Western countries, we have very few art gatekeepers and the art mechanisms are still very simple. With a lot of heart and some luck, good things can be done. With or without the Balai's help.
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| posted by saja sibuk |
| Not that I know anything of the arts and architecture but from what I understand, the current balai building was built by YTL in exchange for the prime site that was the Majestic Hotel. I wonder if YTL consulted the Balai or did their research before constructing the building. (see KLPAC for their current design "expertise"!)Apparently it was in a worse state during the handover and the bsln/ministry had taken some steps to address building defects and clearly unsuitable design. Looks like there's still plenty to do... of course reading Farish Noor's interview in the Sun today, maybe it's a reflection of the state of our nation building efforts!!
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| posted by betta sim |
| Notthedirector, Balai = The people Not That Balai = The people Come on, just because it's not brilliant, just because it sucks really hard, doesn't mean it's a failure. I don't think Lydia's article should be dismissed as a 'pot shot' at an 'easy target'.
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| posted by KritixKiller |
| Yes , an easy target. We cannot attack the obvious! It can't be a failure if BettaSim thinks it isn't! No need to say how it succeeds, exactly, but Betta is an indigenous patriot! We must accept, keep quiet and love the White Elephants they spent our money on. And yet, not ever go to any of them. Our POV must be Blind approval. People who criticize hurt us because what? they want to go live in Sydney is it? We WANT to be 1st wld infrastructure run by 3rd wld because otherwise tomorrow cannot get job. Bella wants an AMN! Horey! AFUNDI mediocrity!
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| posted by notthedirector |
| Kay 'pot shot' was uncalled for. Everyone in the local art scene knows balai sucks but hardly anyone puts it to words, so yes, articles like Sharon and Lydia's are really valuable in fact. Not having a healthy national art museum and art schools is a serious handicap. What I am worried about is that if we continue to focus on how badly crippled we are, we might forget about our other qualities and potential.
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| posted by ron |
| nice one lydia. it's important to raise awareness of our shortcomings, but let's not forget to make good/great art too.
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| posted by redcarp |
| what i gather from lydia's article is simply this, the national artgallery is a case of a culture lack of professionalism. now does it reflect as well, the other overseeing institutions, and other management of grand buildings and malls? what about the art scene itself? i wonder
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| posted by Albert |
| You are a brave one Lydia! Soon you might be banished or exiled. Many problems attend our NAG one of which is that disgusting building is a gift from YTL - that was his gift to the nation! Common sense would dictate that the design and building of such an important building should be subjected to an open competition. Instead, it's common knowledge what actually happened. If we were living in a truly open society there would be a public enquiry to this sad state of affairs. By the way, praying to God would not help. As to the actual running of the place, well, that is another story. Lydia, please continue to be brave - we are fully behind you, a mile away!
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| posted by msianartlover |
| Balai has always been much loved and loathed, all in the same breath most of the time. Malaysia has a prolific group of artists, from all genres possible, young and the old, all trying to find their place and fill our humble, mundane daily grind with colour and spirited expression. Balai is supposed to be the channel for all: where the most loved pieces of art history is a stone throw away from the latest quasi-suicidal piece from the newest angst-ridden artist on the block. Balai should be the place where art works are loved, caressed and cared for like a newborn infant, comforted on its own little corner of worship. It should be where there is no segregation of who should be exhibiting - where artworks are recognised for their sheer mettle and potential, not for who the artist rubs shoulders with on the board, and gets displayed no questions asked, even if his/her pieces look like they've not matured since the 6th grade. Sigh, Balai should have been a good many things. I have no doubt that there are passionate ppl working in Balai. I know a few. I wish the red tape was more colourless and porous, letting instead of ghastly rain seeping through, it welcomes all forms of artistic expression of quality, calibre and potential. I am however, forever hopeful. There's always a silver lining somewhere. Perhaps if the money (and effort) was used to buy the silver lining instead of fools' gold, we could see a breath of fresh air seeping through the coldness of Balai, and coming through the cracks on the ceiling. I laud Lydia for saying what should be said outfront, and not behind hushed pleasantries.
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