Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 25/09/96
Tajuk/Title : THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF
`MALAYSIAN ART - CONTEMPORARY
PAINTING & TRADITIONAL ADORNMENT`
1. I feel particularly pleased to be present here
today to officiate at the opening of this Exhibition
entitled, `Malaysian Art - Contemporary Painting &
Traditional Adornment', organised by the Malaysia
Tourism Promotion Board with the active support of
the National Art Gallery and the National Museum of
Malaysia.
2. On exhibition today are 17 paintings in various
media and styles and a number of sculptures
representing the vibrant art scene in Malaysia.
Accompanying these works, you will also see an
exquisite collection of jewelry and adornments, many
of them in gold, embedded with gem-stones, which
reflect the filigree and fine work found in such
traditional Malaysian crafts. The exhibition also
presents a selection of traditional Malaysian
textiles which reflect various indigenous motifs.
To give you an idea of the intricacies involved in
the creation of our famous gold-threaded "songket"
or brocade textile, you will also be able to view,
over the entire duration of this exhibition, a
master weaver of this fabric at work, brought to New
York for this occasion from the Malaysian State of
Terengganu. Although presented on a small scale,
this exhibition encapsulates the life, spirit,
culture and heritage of Malaysia. I feel proud that
today we are able to present an exhibition such as
this to the American public for the first time here
in New York City. I understand that a similar
exhibition had previously been presented at
Pasadena, California in 1988.
3. Malaysia, as you know, is a melting pot of
different races, religions and cultures. These
elements are reflected not only in the daily lives
of the Malaysian people but also in the culture,
arts and heritage of Malaysia. You would therefore
see in the works on exhibition here traces of the
rich and varied cultural background of our people.
4. In recent years, the rapid economic growth in
Malaysia has triggered an upsurge in various forms
of creative activity in the country. Economic
prosperity has led to a growing appreciation and
pride in the arts. Malaysians today are beginning
to spend more time and money in acquiring and
enjoying the intrinsic beauty and richness of
Malaysia's own art and crafts.
5. There have been rather spectacular developments
especially in the area of Malaysian art. With the
higher prices that they are able to secure for their
works, many artists have now decided to become full-
time artists. Consequently, we now witness an
increase both in quantity and quality of artistic
creations. Keeping pace with this development is
the increase in the number of art exhibitions.
Hardly a week passes without the opening of one or
more exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur, the nation's
capital, Penang or in the other major cities in the
country. Even the different States seem to be racing
to establish State art and cultural galleries and to
acquire artistic works and cultural items for these
galleries. Private galleries have also mushroomed.
There is also increasing support for Malaysian art
from private corporations. They have started
acquiring art works for their own collections and
are now more ready to sponsor at exhibitions since
it gives them a "cultural image" which they want to
project. In addition, Malaysian art has also hit
the international arena. Over the last few years,
international auction houses like "Christie's" and
"Sotheby's" have also started auctioning Malaysian
paintings. This has no doubt contributed to the
growing acquisition of Malaysian art both for its
aestetic value and also as a form of investment.
Having said this, I hope that you will enjoy the art
works that are on display here since they represent
some of the finest pieces by some of our best
artists.
6. The Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, the
National Art Gallery and the National Museum of
Malaysia all deserve our compliments for the efforts
that they have made to organise this small but
splendid exhibition. To those of the Permanent
Mission of Malaysia, I must also add my thanks.
Despite the busy work that the Mission is now
engaged in, it has still found time to assist in
making available this space and also in assisting to
make this Exhibition a success. Malaysian Missions
in other parts of the world should also emulate this
and in their own small way help to promote Malaysian
art and crafts and, most importantly, the warm
Malaysian image.
7. I hope that this exhibition will create greater
awareness and appreciation in New York City and in
the United States of the charm and character
inherent in Malaysian paintings and adornments. We
would be happy if this exhibition stirs your
curiosity and interest to visit Malaysia to explore
for yourself not just our arts but also everything
else that Malaysia has to offer. I am sure that you
wll be charmed by the welcome that will await you in
Malaysia.
8. While we are embarking with solid determination
to make Malaysia a developed nation by the year
2020, this goal should not be focussed just on
materialistic advance. We must not lose sight of
our culture and our heritage. Because, a nation
without a culture or a heritage is like a man
without a soul.
9. It is now my most pleasant task to officially
declare open this Exhibition.
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