KUALA LUMPUR : ART connoisseurs who would like to examine paintings and artworks by overseas artists should head to Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) on weekends.
The unique art exhibition at the SGM Exhibition Hall on Level 7 gives visitors a chance to appreciate art created by professional artists living in different countries including Cuba, Ecuador, Hungary, Peru, Uruguay, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Croatia, France and Czech Republic.
The exhibition is on until Dec 28 but visitors are only allowed to view the paintings on weekends.
Curator Vicky Ho, 41, told Streets that the paintings on display at “The Rainbow Bridge Of Friendship — Exhibition of Donated Artworks by Overseas Artists” were all donated to SGM by artists whose works had previously been featured at Wisma SGM.
“The paintings were all donated to us by professional artists and are only for public viewing. They are not for sale,” she said.
“We have a total of 39 paintings by 37 artists from 18 countries on display at this exhibition. The artists include Vladimir Meglic of Croatia, Walter Gabor of Hungary, Jeon Sung-Ky of Korea, Noel Oafericua Pama of Philippines, Maria Silva Villacorta of Peru, Chen Junde of China, Manuel Onate of Ecuador, Ludvig Zoltan of Hungary and many others.
“We have invited ambassadors and representatives from various embassies to view the paintings today and help the SGM president Michael Kok launch the art exhibition,” she said.
Taking Streets on a quick tour of the exhibition, she threw more light on some of the paintings.
Three horses in a painting were looking at a spinning carousel in Gilberto Frometa’s What the hell is that? painting.
“Throughout the ages, before cars became the main mode of transport, horses were used by mankind for transport. Horses were also used by police to maintain law and order and even by farmers to plough their fields.
“Today, the role of the horse has been reduced and in this painting, the three horses are looking at the carousel, feeling confused about what roles they now play for man,” she said.
In artist Deng Nai Rong’s A Malay Girl painting, the artist who hails from China was invited by SGM to showcase his artworks for the 50th Malaysian Independence Day celebration in 2007.
The artist visited Malaysia and went to the East Coast where he visited some of the beaches there. It was during one of his trips to the beach that he spotted this pretty Malay girl clad in her light pink baju melayu and yellow tudung.
“This girl could most likely be the daughter of one of the fishermen living in a nearby fishing village. We see her smiling cheerfully in this painting with its backdrop of some fishing boats and the crystal clear ocean behind her.
“The painting is extremely life-like. While this girl might come from a really humble family, she is very happy with the simple life she has.”
“The painting is really photo-realistic. The location that the painting was based on and who this mystery girl is remains unknown to us,” she said.
“Noel Oafericua Pama’s ‘Hawla’ painting showcases a prostitute who has an imaginary ‘hawla’ or ‘cage’ on her head. The girl, who is sitting at a table has to put up with a man she is entertaining who is singing some karaoke tunes. The girl looks bored and dreams of freedom from her job.”
While Yamashita Sadaharu’s Winter in Shirakawa depicts wooden homes in Shirakawa during winter, Li Chimao’s “market place” is set in a Taiwan night market place sometime in the 80s. It depicts a group of people sitting with their feet up on benches while enjoying their dinner. Cats can be seen foraging for food nearby.
Chen Chia-shang’s “harvesting” painting depicts a group of Taiwanese farmers picking carrots from a carrot field amidst a beautiful backdrop of mountains.
“The farmers are waiting for the lorries to arrive so that they can load the carrots to be taken to nearby markets,” she explained.
Wisma SGM is located at 243, Jalan Bukit Bintang. For details, visit www.sgm.org.my.