Helping hand for artists
Art Market Malaysia provides a much-needed platform for aspiring and disabled artists to present their work to the public, writes
“I’M here already,” reads the WhatsApp text on my phone. I look up and see a woman clad in a colourful blouse and light brown shawl a few tables away from me at a cafe in Jalan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. I wave at her and she quickly approaches my table, her smile wide.
The woman is Hazrita Mohd Hatta, the founder of Art Market Malaysia, which was created to raise the standard of art and provide local aspiring artists with a platform to present their work to the public.
As an aspiring artist, it’s important to build a portfolio first and Hazrita, who has a background in sales and marketing, essentially acts as the middle person.
Having worked in the field for about 20 years, she uses her skills to promote and sell artists’ works through events and the media.
“I started small with an event with Kraftangan Malaysia at the end of November 2015. Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), the response from artists, crafters and the public was encouraging,” begins Hazrita as she makes herself comfortable on her seat.
Since its inception in 2015, Art Market has been involved in many events, the main one being the Merdeka festival.
Sipping her iced white coffee, Hazrita continues: “The first Merdeka-themed event was in 2016. I was lucky enough to get a space at the National Visual Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur and organised a five-day event. We received an even bigger crowd so I decided to make Merdeka event as Art Market’s main event.”
Since then, Art Market has been receiving invitations to organise their events at malls around the Klang Valley. Last year, the Merdeka event was held at 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya.
This year, Hazrita hopes to attract an even bigger crowd at Da Men Mall in Subang Jaya. Themed “Sayangi Malaysiaku”, the Anak Merdeka Exhibition festival will be held from Aug 29 to Sept 16.
“It’s special this year because we’re going to have it for Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day as well,” she shares, smiling.
Visitors can participate in the many interesting activities that have been lined up by Art Market such as a colouring contest for children, Merdeka quiz for university students, poetry recital night, storytelling competition for children, and traditional games such as congkak and batu seremban.
“Do you remember those games?” she asks, and I nod enthusiastically. “For the storytelling competition, there are two categories, Bahasa Melayu and English. For the Bahasa one, I want children to tell folk stories such as Tanggang. I grew up reading about all these Malaysian folklores so it will be cool to have that at the event.”