raja'ah:art, ideas and creativity of sulaiman esa yokohama triennale ...

The University Malaya Museum of Fine Art recently
organised its first-ever artistic event with the public.
Hosted in cooperation with Kuala Lumpur’s first
sketching group, Facebook-based KL Sketchers, the
five-hour event was held in the campus of one of the
oldest institutions of higher learning in the country.
The event began at the vicinity of the museum at
9am and lasted till almost noon. The sketchcrawl was
divided into three legs, covering from the compound
of the museum and the Economics Faculty to
the Science Faculty and ending at Dewan Tunku
Canselor.
According to the museum curator, Abd Aziz Abdul
Rashid, the event was the first-ever artistic event
organised by the museum after 33 years.
“We hope to spur an interest among undergraduates
in art through sketching,” he said. “The programme
was also part of the artists-in-residence programme
with veteran watercolourist Maamor Jantan, and
naïve artist Yusof Gajah.
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“It is part of our intention as well as to promote
the Museum of Asian Art to the public. Not many
people know that the museum is an authority in
ceramics and that we are a reference museum
for it. Hopefully, through this activity with KL
Sketchers, the public will come to know about our
museum and visit it.”
After a short breakfast reception, the sketchers
totalling about 20 made their way to the various
spots around the campus, starting with the
area around the museum. The sunny but breezy
weather was a bonus to sketchers as they worked
in the shade of the well-forested varsity grounds,
putting their work on paper, using pen, pencil and
watercolours.
For KL Sketcher EW Lok, the limited time spent
at each spot did not permit him to do larger
paintings, which he loved.
“I had to resort to only using sketchbooks but I will
definitely return to do big paintings when I am
free,” said the southpaw from Petaling Jaya who is
in his mid-50s.
KL Sketcher Hisham Salmin, who also came
prepared to do a large painting, said: “I was
hoping to do one or two paintings. But never
mind, even small sketches are just as good.”
However, for member Pang M.Y. from Kluang, who
arrived in KL the previous evening for the event,
the short time frame was no hindrance. “I use a
moleskine booklet, so I can sketch a scenery quite
fast,” said Pang who is fond of buildings.
KL Sketcher founder ES Tung said that although
the time frame was prohibitive to doing large
works, the trip provided sufficient materials for
sketchers to translate their experience into large
paintings later.
| SH LEE
“Sketching allows us to capture the mood of the
place and with reference pictures, we can use the
sketching trip to translate our experience into larger
works within the comforts of our studios,” he said.
For first-timer to outdoor sketching, Yu Wui Wui,
it was inspiring.
“This is first trip and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learnt
much from the resident artists and fellow
sketchers,” said Yu.
Watercolourist Maamor Jantan, who is known for his
Cakcibor (dragonflies) series, thrilled the sketchers
with his one-the-spot works.
“You have to be daring when it comes to outdoor
sketching,” Maamor said. “Don’t be afraid. Just do
it. With practice, you will become better each time.
What is important is to put your feelings onto paper, in
ink, pencil, watercolour, or any medium.”
Sketchers also had the opportunity to see the other
side of Yusof Gajah, whose famous elephant naïve
paintings have graced various media. Yusof showed
his impressionistic approaches to sketching using ink
at the start of the crawl.