Painting a true picture of home
Actress and dad pay homage to the nation with 59 artworks
KUALA LUMPUR: In a homage to their country, national artist Ismail Embong and his daughter took six years to complete 59 artworks depicting the faces of Malaysians from various ethnic groups.
Using masterful brush strokes, Ismail and his daughter, famous actress Emma Maembong, have painted the faces of Malaysians against the backdrop of their traditional homes as well as elements such as cuisine, craft and games.
Their work was unveiled during the Splendours of Malaysia-Paintings of Ethnic Cultures of the Land Exhibition at the Soka Gakkai Malaysia cultural centre here.
The artworks had Malaysian roots, said Ismail, adding that these could not be claimed by other cultures as they were uniquely Malaysian.
“A painting must have a root. For the paintings in this exhibition, no one can take them and claim that they are from Mexico, for example, as they are original to only Malaysia,” he said after the launch by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday.
During the years they worked on the art, the father-daughter duo travelled across the country, meet- ing diverse groups of people as well as researching their background, architecture, culture, traditions and customs.
Stressing the importance of documenting ethnic heritage in arts, Ismail said art was about translating images generated by one’s own memory and the contents of one’s heart and soul onto canvas, and not about copying others.
“Most Malaysians are too dependent on Western arts and ideas. For example, we take their abstract arts but these are not localised. They are the same when done anywhere,” he said.
Also on display at the exhibition is a 152.4m-long scroll depicting the timeline of the Melaka kingdom – from its founding in the 1400s until it came under Portuguese rule in 1511.
Describing art as “food for the soul”, Dr Mahathir said using this as a medium to promote cross-cultural understanding in a multi-ethnic, multi-racial nation was a commendable move.
“Given the more than 100 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups in Malaysia, I’m sure many would appreciate that to fully grasp the diversity, it may require a lot of effort and hours.
“Efforts to diffuse the diversity and present it as an exhibition like
this will allow visitors to get a glimpse of the different cultures in Malaysia and appreciate their finer points,” he said in his speech.
The exhibition is from Oct 13 to Dec 2 at the SGM cultural centre in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.