Modern era a challenge for Malay wood craftsmen

BESUT: “There were times when the art of traditional Malay woodcarving was the pride of wood craftsmen, but now they have to abide by changes and market demand for simpler and modern patterns.”

This was the lament of Malaysia Wood Carvers Art Enthusiasts Association president Norhaiza Nordin, 56.

He said current circumstances had made it difficult for woodcarvers to express themselves as freely as carvers of the 80s and 90s.

“For example, when we receive an order to carve a wooden door, we as Malay art enthusiasts would like to produce traditional Malay art motifs as each pattern or symbol has its own meaning.

“However, we have to meet the requirements of the client, who may want a Middle Eastern or modern element. Here, the function of the woodcarver is only as a ‘machine’ who fulfils the order using patterns as directed,” he said at his workshop in Kampung Raja here.

The Sultan Mizan Royal Foundation woodcarving mentor also admitted that creating authentic Malay art carving is complex.

In fact, he said, if the engraving was done whole-heartedly, the motif created would seem alive and could even “interact” with those who see it.

“Nowadays, not many people can produce such engravings. Indeed, there are many new carvers produced by skills institutes but not everyone can carve genuine Malay wood carving art,” he said.

Apart from that, he added, local woodcarving products need to compete with imported products from neighbouring countries, which produced current designs at more affordable prices.

Norhaiza, who hails from Besut, said another challenge is when wood artisans were brought in from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia to guide local carvers.

Norhaiza said local woodcarvers took more time to complete a product compared to Indonesian carvers.

“For instance, an Indonesian carver could complete four items while ours could only manage to complete one item in the same period of time. If we want to learn from them (the Indonesians), we should be learning how to work quicker instead of them teaching us to carve their motives,” he said.

In protecting the work of local wood artisans, he proposed a specific legislation for them and their creations.

“There is no specific law to protect them, so their creations are often plagiarised and manipulated by irresponsible parties. The number of Malay art wood artisans is already small and yet their creations are often stolen,” he said. — Bernama