Create own brand to stand out, Sarawak artists advised
KUCHING: Artists in Sarawak need to create a brand for themselves so that they can be different from artists elsewhere, said Kuching South mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng.
He said artists in Sarawak need to have an identity of their own and when they organise international art exhibitions, people will know that it is about local art work.
“Finding an identity in an art work is not easy but to do the branding. The easiest thing is to brand what you have and what other people do not have.
“For example in the past we when talk about batik, you only know Indonesian batik. Over the years, when Sarawak put out those ‘pua kumbu’ batik, it became Sarawak batik,” Wee told reporters after officiating the opening of 99 Ink Painting Art Exhibition at Saradise Gallery, Titanium Tower yesterday.
The exhibition was showcased by renowned artist Liew Chan Hua.
“We have an exhibition today by Liew and we can see the difference is that the usual ink paintings for art work is in black and white, but now you can actually see that the paintings done by Liew is not only in black and white but many colours and it is very colourful.
“What is so special in his artwork is that you can actually that these are all our local identity, meaning you can see orangutans, durians and so on,” said Wee.
“Upon seeing his art works, you can immediately actually feel that you are in Sarawak.”
Born in Sibu, Liew graduated from the Malaysian Institute of Art majoring in ink painting.
He has been in art education for more than 30 years, having served as an art teacher and the dean of the Chinese Taipei School in Kuala Lumpur for 10 years.
Liew founded Bamboo Art Studio in 1998 and moved to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in 2003 to continue his art teaching career before settling in Kota Samarahan in 2020.
This 99 Ink Painting Art Exhibition is Liew’s first solo exhibition in Sarawak after having hosted eight previous solo ink painting exhibitions, including the Liew Chan Hua Rainforest Exhibition at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing where he was invited to exhibit during the 14th China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo in 2019.
In addition, Liew has participated in more than 20 international joint exhibitions in countries such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Inner Mongolia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore as well as countless domestic exhibitions.
Liew is also a permanent member of the Chinese Ink Painting Society Malaysia.
His works are collected by various collectors such as the China National Academy of Arts, Confucius Institute of China, Korea Culture and Arts Research Association, the Sabah Art Gallery, just to name a few.
He has also been invited to co-edit more than 20 volumes of classic paintings with many famous Chinese artists, including modern and contemporary famous artists such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Wu Changshuo, Li Keran, Liu Dawei, Huang Yongyu and many others more.
Liew’s artworks are a combination of basic elements of traditional ink painting and Western painting.
His works reveal the beauty and praises for nature and mostly based on the local characteristics of Malaysia, such as rambutans, coconut trees, hibiscus, orchids, mangroves, rafflesias, pitcher plants, Borneo orangutans and rural sceneries.
The 99 Ink Painting Art Exhibition is open to members of the public from May 17 to June 17 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday at Saradise Gallery.
Also present at the event was Saradise Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Dylan Yee and Saradise Gallery manager Luna Yeo.