SUNDAY VIBES
IT was Rumi who quoted: “Love is the bridge between you and everything”. Metaphors like bridges have been used by poets and artists to unite two seemingly irreconcilable things. They point a way for people to make sense of an alien concept by relating it to something familiar. They illuminate by association; how the world connects directly to another apparently isolated one.
That idea of two cultures stuck at either ends of the same bridge could be applied to the art and the corporate worlds today. As we know, business is about clarity and measurability, but art loves mystery and multiple interpretations. Yet they need each other to thrive.
For the corporates, there is no better way of infusing a sense of taste and sophistication into the company culture than through investing heavily in a collection of art; and for the art world, corporate patronage provides the necessary funding to support the dynamic ecosystem of artists, exhibitions and even institutions.
The desire to collect, grow and promote arts and culture has been the mainstay of many organisations for decades.
It began in the 1950s when David Rockefeller decided that Chase Manhattan Bank should begin to acquire art.
Soon, other banks followed his lead and began purchasing artwork of their own. Rockefeller knew that organisations buying art are really investing in themselves — and in more than a monetary sense.
Art speaks to culture, self-expression and creativity. What’s more, when organisations buy artwork, they are supporting the arts which extends beyond merely buying from local artists. They are helping to preserve and grow the cultural identity of the nation.
Bridging the gap between business and art, national utility firm Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is powering up the art world through its latest offering at Galeri Prima, entitled Tribute to the Nation’s Pride.
The exhibition showcases Malaysia’s rich and diverse cultural heritage while featuring TNB’s transformation over the past seven decades.
For the first time, the utility company will be featuring 40 artworks from its impressive collection as well as photographs dating as far back as 1949 sourced from the archives of TNB as well as the New Straits Times.
What the exhibition reveals is the remarkable scale and breadth of the art that has been collected since the 1960s.
For decades, TNB has been amassing artwork produced by local artists and have also commissioned a few established artists to explore and produce artworks in connection to the utility company’s activities and role in the nation’s development.
“It would take trust between a good artist and a good business, both fiercely protective and careful about their image, to allow something really impressive to come from an unlikely collaboration. And the result is fantastic,” notes curator Dr. Mohd Jamil Mat Isa, of the commissioned artworks done by renowned artists including Datuk Mohamed Hoessein Enas and Redza Piyadasa.