MUSADDIQ MOHAMAD KHALIL

‘Semangat budi’, revolves around the philosophical corpus of Knowledge that is contingent upon cosmology, ontology and axiology of the Malay Worldview. ‘Semangat budi’ is a Malay word. ‘semangat’ is describe as the ‘Spirit’ or ‘Will’ while ‘budi’ is described as ‘deed’, ‘seed’, or ‘cultivate’. It represents the German Art Term ‘Kunstwollen’, Coined by the celebrated Austrian Art Historian, Alois Riegl. Hence, defined as the Will-to-Form by E.H Gombrich, ‘Semangat budi’ is the artistic as well as aesthetic urge, to produce arts and crafts in the Malay World. The origin of ‘Semangat budi’ can be traced back to the cosmological understanding of the Malay World Society. In particular, cosmology is the understanding between man and the universe; he finds himself. The westerners value independent conviction between man and the universe, placing individualism as the highest philosophical virtue, where Man is the centre of universe, as well as the measure of all things. In contrast, the orient

Artwork: Tribute to Merdeka (2020) Artist: Mohamad Khalil Amran The artistic purpose as well as aesthetic principle of  'SEMANGAT BUDI' , resolves around the corpus of knowledge, contingent towards the philosophical w eltanschauung  or worldview of the Malay World. Before we proceed, let us define  SEMANGAT + BUDI, as described by the Malaysian official Institute of Language and Literature ( Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka ).  The Malay word  ‘ Semangat’  is fairly translated as 'Spiritual', 'Spirit', as well as 'Will'. On the other hand, the Malay word  'Budi'  is fairly translated as 'Seed', 'Deed', as well as a 'Cultivate' form. Thus,  Semangat Budi  as an artistic purpose is reasonably understood, as the 'Will-to-Form', reflecting towards the German art term ‘ Kunstwollen’. Alois Riegl, the celebrated Austrian art historian, in his writings ' Late Roman Art Industry (1901)',  was the first to frame the concept

  (Image courtesy by Rosli Zakaria) Artwork: Mapping Al Aqsa  Artist: Ramlan Abdullah 10 May 2021, the Israel's  military airstrikes carnage the Gaza Strip barbarously, ceaseless act of cruelty where not only execute atrociously towards the Palestinian's, however such barbarism were done in total blatant, upon disregarding all International laws, in the name of humanity. Within the holy month of Ramadan, such act of brutality tarnish, and torment the character, as well as credibility of  the global established humanitarian agencies, especially the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).  In solidarity, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, expressed Malaysia's concern on such barbarism executed in the name of war. The Malaysian Prime Minister stated: 'Malaysia demands Israel immediately cease its aggression against Palestinians in the Occupied Territory, including in the Gaza Strip...The continued excessive use of force by the Israel against the Palest

  (Image courtesy of, https://www.agendadaily.com)   Early May 2021, administered by the Penang Island City Council (PICC), within acknowledgment of Penang Public Arts Review Panel (PARP), erection of 'The Cow' structural replica, dictated the roundabout of Bukit Bendera, Jalan Ayer Itam, Pulau Pinang.  Consequently, such public artwork  attracted the attention of local citizen, as well as the global netizen within the social media community. Moreover, such situation occurred during the state of Movement Control Order (MCO), where we find ourselves confronted by the uncertainties of Covid-19 pandemic situation, locally as well as globally. Approaching the 'Hari Raya Aidilfitri' ( Eid al-Fitr ) celebration, just around the corner, apparently the roundabout replica structure, took the Nation's attention by storm, rather than the engaging celebration, celebrated by Muslim communities around the globe, especially in Malaysia. This situation has brought our attention upo

Regardless of such catastrophic situation it presents, the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, penetrates the development of local as well as global, creative industries and academic institutions, alarmingly. Nevertheless, such new-normal is confronted upon creatively, interpreting as well as materializing significant artworks, to-be exhibit, in such creative approaches, harnessing the ability and capacity of human beings, to think outside of the box. 30th April 2021, marks the most awaited moment, for the premiere launch of  ARUNGAN, an exhibition initiated by such creative project 'My Office My Studio' (M.O.M), organized by creative educators as well as practitioners, from the School of Art and Design, UiTM Melaka. The abbreviation M.O.M, is fairly suggested, representing such inspiring creative project as ‘My Office My Studio’, where its main objective, is upon providing a flexible as well as maneuverable, creative platform for artist and designers, to exhibit creative artworks