National Art Gallery Collection

The National Art Gallery houses various collections of visual arts that range from local traditional & folk art to modern and contemporary art of various forms which dominantly caters to art by Malaysian artists & artisans in relative to the preservation and conservation of Malaysian art. The national collection consists of a collection category of paintings, mixed media, sculpture, art objects, artwork on paper, printmaking, new media art and electronic, alongside installation art.

Dialogue 2 (Don't Play During Maghrib)
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Don’t Play During Maghrib was one of the participating installation work representing an artist from Malaysia at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997, Zenobio Institute, whereas it was displayed in an Armenian monastery in Academia and was later re-exhibited in Istanbul in 1998.The piece was later acquired in 2000 as the 4th artwork in that year. Don’t Play During Maghrib was a social critical work regarding hedonistic practices in the society in the Malaysian Muslim world. The Biennale was titled “Modernities and Memories”- Recent Works from the Islamic World involving thirteen artist from Indonesia, Pakistan, Morocco, Turkey, Mali, Algeria, Sudan, Indonesia, Egypt and Malaysia which showcases artworks that emphasizes the response of the matter in the Islamic world.
Tiffin Series Garden
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
This artwork by Chee Sek Thim is one of many ceramic arts in the collection made by pouring and hand painting glaze to the surface of the ceramic object. Tiffin terminologically, is referred to as a light afternoon meal of Indian English cultural origin. Based on the terminology, the sculpture which consist of connecting subsections, were visually inspired by the shape of a tiffin carrier, or dabbas in India, or as it is locally known as ‘’mangkuk tingkat’’ in Malaysia, a widely used food carrier particularly in Asia. The piece showcases a standing cultural subject matter of value associated with Asia.
Membeli Belah di Kampung
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Village Shopping is the eleventh collection of the second year of the founding of the National Art Gallery, one of the oldest in the collection and of significant importance in its history as one of the earliest post-independence works at the recorded age of 58 years. This artwork is also a marker of the stratification of economy in the past. It is an observation towards one of the core economic activity and social politics of the society during Federation of Malaya, emphasizing on retail economy in the 50s which was highly influenced by the British divide and conquer and mass migration system.
Harmony And Unity
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Harmony and Unity is a public sculpture made by Sculptor Chin Wan Kee in conjunction with a public sculpture competition at the National Art Gallery that was meant to produce artworks in promotion and conversely discuss the issue of national unity. The end product of the program was to have these sculptures surround the compounds of the gallery. Chin Wan Kee’s sculpture consist of similar forms of varying sizes, united in one representation of colour in an orange finish that represents the importance of the concept of harmony in producing unity, through a visually attractive piece in its sheer size.
Lembu Liar
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
The sculpture was created by a Malaysian artist born in 1933 named Anthony Lau. 'Wild Bull' is considered a masterpiece of modern art by Anthony Lau. The 55-year-old (2017) sculpture was obtained as a permanent collection after 7 years of the establishment of the National Art Gallery. This work was a post-independence work, produced one year before the formation of Malaysia in 1963. It was a new approach in the construction of cement-based sculptures that was not yet developed in the early 60s for unconventional purposes. This work marks the development of modern Malaysian sculpture in the early '60s that involves moulding and carving techniques with semi-abstract style and representational art.
Secret Toys Series
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Umi Baizurah’s works are often centralized with the contemporary issue in the promotion of women empowerment and feminism in the building of a progressive society. Often, her works involve delicate feminine subjects from her childhood memories that represents the idea of women in extreme settings and medium in the totality of her holistic visual artwork presentation. Secret Toy Series is an assemblage of mixed media sculpture with ceramic as the main base medium. In the series, Umi depicts a white pony out of stoneware fashioned with a focus on femininity, women power and endurance in society.
One Drop
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
One Drop is a public sculpture made by Sculptor Aznan Omar in conjunction with a public sculpture competition at the National Art Gallery that was meant to produce artworks in promotion and conversely discuss the issues of national unity. The artist visualized the issue by referring to the artwork thesis around the National Principles or Rukun Negara that promotes unity in the mould of the constitution, seen as a One Drop solution in the form of dogma or rule by the government to address the underlying problem of national unity that stems from intolerance and extremism.
Perhubungan
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Relationship by Syed Ahmad Jamal in visual form describes the importance of maintaining a strong structural integrity of the self, as the basis of a relationship between one another. This is symbolized by the use of metal, a strong material as the medium of the sculpture in visualizing a fine relativity between two forms. This piece denote that a relationship will involve discrepancies and complexity, that one must steel themselves in the face of pressure, through consensus and tolerance that resembles the universal concept in maintaining unity in diversity.
Semangat Tanah, Air dan Udara
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Spirit of the Earth, Water and Air is the fifth artwork acquired into the collection on the year the national art gallery was established. The artwork is also as old as the establishment, and is one of the earliest oil painting on board in the national art gallery. Like many early civilizations, the animistic belief in regards to the existence of spirits and souls is commonplace social norm, and were the basis to a belief structure of a society. Such cases are still practiced by a part of the society in Malaysia even to this day.
Nafas 36
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Raja Shahriman is a respected metal sculptor whose works showcases mastery in the art of metal tempering and welding using the reconfiguration of the age old techniques of metal working for the making of the traditional weapon of the Malay world, the kris. In his Nafas series, Shahriman showcases his manifestation of form that is highly inspired by the movement of Silat, a traditional form of Malay martial arts. Nafas 36 discusses and embodies these matters as a modern visual record of the style made using the techniques used in keris forging.
Jin Api
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Spirit of the Fire, a sculptural bust made of carved wood is one of Anthony Lau’s works that uses a mythical subject as the main subject matter of his sculpture. Terminologically, the fire Djinn’s origin can be traced back to an Arabic origin, in regards to a Djinn commonly known as Ifrit/Efret. In local context, among the cultural and animistic beliefs in traditional society was the existence of the four types of Spirit that influenced the phenomenon of the world, namely the Spirit of Fire, Air, Water and Earth.
The Raw Generation
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
The Raw Generation, in particular revitalizes the old Malay saying ‘’Bersatu Teguh Bercerai Roboh’’ which transcribes to: ‘’To be in disunion is to fall, to be strong is to unite’ as the main concept of this piece citing the importance of unity in society. The Raw Generation by Ramlan Abdullah may be read as the manifestation of the artist’s fondness towards the importance in the concept of unity by society throughout time especially in withstanding the paradigm shift of globalization and the adaptation of modernization.
Perayeran Pulau Pinang
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
This artwork is the third collection of the National Art Gallery as well as the first batik painting in the collection. This painting was completed in 1952, and today (2019) its recorded age is 67 years old. This piece refers to a theme, whereas based on the composition and title of the artwork, depicts an environment and activities in the waters of Penang island for a time, through the visualization of a group of people carrying out activities in relative to the maritime economy.
Pemain Rebab No. 1
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Pemain Rebab No. 1 is a work by Mad Anuar Ismail that visualises the shape of a Rebab player. The Rebab is a traditional musical instrument which is also a local cultural heritage. According to the artist, the shape of the sculpture is inspired by a piece from the depiction of Merong Mahawangsa on the origins of the fiddle which tells the story of an individual who was caught by evil powers and later imprisoned underground. This individual was then tortured by being flipped/crossed over and his back sliced with a sword by the mentioned power, which resulted with the individual screaming in pity, producing sad and gloomy echoes. According to the artist, the shape and the justification of the sound of the traditional Rebab is based on the position of the tortured individual and the above narrative are for its sound. Inside this artwork, the artist looks at the story and origins of the subject more clearly by visualising the emphasis on the sculpture’s finish, where the wood is carved like a spinal structure. Pemain Rebab No.1 ialah karya Mad Anuar Ismail yang menvisualisasikan olahan bentuk seorang pemain rebab.
Ayam Jantan
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Ayam Jantan by Anthony Lau is an iconic piece in the national art gallery representing the modernist approach of assemblage sculptures using TIG welding, which was popular in the 60s. The technique today is still practiced by under-graduates of fine arts to help them understand the fundamentals of form building which often depicts traditional and local subjects. Ayam Jantan comprises of four unique differences in representing physical characteristics, through the manipulation of lines and shapes. As a subject, Ayam Jantan in local context exudes societal memory accompanying the countryside where they are native to, compared to the urban areas of Malaysia.
Pago-Pago
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
The Pago-Pago is an artwork produced by Abdul Latiff Mohidin in 1964, a prolific abstract painter and poet from Negeri Sembilan. The Pago-Pago is an iconic work for Malaysia because it represents unity through iconological study of identity, plurality and harmonization of the region through visual art by composing several cultural subjects and elements from South East Asia into one visual subject matter. It is deemed an important work in mapping the history and development of Modern Art in Malaysia, specifically during the development of abstract art in the 60s in the context of unity and harmony, fashioned after regional cultures.
Bentuk Meninggi
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Vertical Form by Ibrahim Ghaffar is an assemblage piece based on wood objects of various forms and characteristic that is symbolic of western and eastern design in terms of geometric and organic forms. This creates a juxtaposition of different forms and functions, therefore revealing an odd looking object that looks unique but structurally durable. This piece can be studied as a response towards identity issues which erupted from the clash of cultures and understanding that became one of the main dilemmas of local artists in the production of works that is characterized as having local identity.
Column XIX
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
Tengku Sabri Tengku Ibrahim is respected in his mastery as a woodcarving and woodworking artist that has a central theme which emphasizes on modern interpretations of traditional subjects and forms. Among the core issues of modern arts in Malaysia in the 90s was the revivalist movement of traditional and Islamic approach towards works, which was also seen as indirect response to the 1971 National Cultural Congress’ definition of a National Culture that promotes a holistic approach in defining Malaysian diversity through the promotion of unity.
Pemandangan Malaysia Terbesar
National Art Gallery Collection National Art Gallery Malaysia
This artwork is the second collection of the National Art Gallery in 1972 and is a Major Award winner for the Landscape Competition held at the National Art Gallery in 1972.

National Art Gallery Collection

Dialogue 2 (Don't Play During Maghrib)

Tiffin Series Garden

Membeli Belah di Kampung

Harmony And Unity

Lembu Liar

Secret Toys Series

One Drop

Perhubungan

Semangat Tanah, Air dan Udara

Nafas 36

Jin Api

The Raw Generation

Perayeran Pulau Pinang

Pemain Rebab No. 1

Ayam Jantan

Pago-Pago

Bentuk Meninggi

Column XIX

Pemandangan Malaysia Terbesar