Jai’s outtakes

1. JALAINI Abu Hassan’s CerpanCerpen is a fine example of how it is not what you look at, but how and what you see. For instance, in Romen Kebun Getah, he looks beyond the image of a rubber plantation: “This is my imagined world of memory, mystery, romance, secrecy, hardship. It is a kind of portal or gateway to another world,” says Jai, as he’s called.

2. In 2004, Jai delved into the world of shamans, mysticism and tradition in his Mantera exhibition. In conversation with him for this story, it is obvious that it is a topic that continues to intrigue him.

His grandfather was a bomoh, his father a medic with the British Army, and he sees himself as a modern-day bomoh of sorts – a mediator between the “real” world and the unseen, whether it is the supernatural (as in the case of his grandfather) or art, emotions and memories.

“An artist is a bomoh who can ascend and descend into a realm not available to others. He is a link between the conscious and unconscious world, the real and unreal, one who can bring back gifts to the community in the form of artwork,” he says.

3. Cerpan-Cerpen is complemented with a showcase of Jai’s writing in progress, old family photographs, reading materials, references and memorabilia – an intimate glimpse into the artist’s personal life and loves.