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SENTUH: AN ART EXHIBITION HAPPENING AT GAS



24 April 2025 - Marks the awaited moment for this current art exhibition "SENTUH" happening at Gallery Art Studio (GAS) Fine Art Department, UiTM Melaka. Interestingly this exhibition showcased the milestone works from 16 selected worked of art, from the department's selected collection, where most of these works are done by final year Fine Arts undergraduates from UiTM Melaka. 

The Gallery Manager Mr Hisammudin Ahmad, elaborates that "SENTUH" is a Malay word translated as 'Touch', while at the same time each letters representing the acronym 'Seni, Ekspresi, Nature, Tradisi, Unik, Harmoni', literally translated as Art, Expression, Nature, Tradition, Unique, and Harmony. He further informs that such art exhibition highlights the aspects of feelings, emotions, and expressions in a work of art.



On one perspective, this whole art exhibition highlights the ethos of the drawing discipline, through the elements and principles incorporated in each and every work of art. The vision is clear that drawing itself is a fundamental work in art making, the revisited journey which benchmarks the artist's commitment, especially in a formal institution like the Art and Design School of Universiti Teknologi MARA itself.  

In the "Oxford Companion To Art" 8th edition dictionary, "Drawing" is remarked as; "The trace left by a tool drawn along a surface particularly for the purpose of preparing a representation or pattern. As has been pointed out since classical antiquity, drawing forms the basis of all arts."

The definition above explains drawing as the key-process of generating a work of art, one could say a preliminary stage in the art making process. Well in this advance Internet of Things (IoT) era where Artificial Intelligence (Ai) is viewed as apart of the art making process, it does makes one to think that the process planning of sketching or drawing itself is highly saturated since Ai could be doing the same work, in a matter of lesser time-frame. 



If one view's the first premise that Ai entirely replace the whole preliminary process, then perhaps one has lost the touch and sense of creativity itself, and it is within this spirit of touch is where this "SENTUH" art exhibition falls in between. First not merely as a resistance towards technological advancement, and second altogether does not portrays Ai as a sense liability, where in some cases the it does provide leverage in terms of the artwork. 

In this exhibition, "SENTUH" or touch is seen as the superior quality of humans against tools, be it technological or cultural. The ability to translate ideas from mind to matter, is the possibility to touch between both realms. In photography, it's not about the camera, but the person behind that camera, which makes the picture significant. The expression, and empathy to stay awake, and aware of one's surrounding makes human creativity outstanding, as well as relevant.




Interestingly, this art exhibition invites its audience to experience the "Aesthetic Distance" which demarcates between the virtual and non-virtual space, whereby one experience a work of art, and are touched by these work of art through the empathy spirit of being humans ourselves. The ability to reflect, reject, or reward oneself towards a new idea, is embedded in the capacity of the human nature to synthesise, as well as empathises creativity of the community, and culture where we find ourselves.

The subjects presented in the selected works of art, evokes layers and layers of visions and reflections, through significant choices of subjects, narrated visually through modes of representation, semi-representations, as well as abstract visuals. These subjects narrates a story of 'Time' and 'Space'. It is through time and space that we experience emotions, feelings, as well as expressions. these unique qualities touches the 5 letters which bolstered the acronym "SENTUH";  which are Art, Expression, Nature, Tradition, Unique, and Harmony.


Nature presents herself, through the spacial essence in between the earth and skies, "Tanah Air" parameters of the land and the sea. Time disguised itself as the temporal presence of day and night, the sun, and stars. These dichotomy, as well as binary opposites, provides a distinct, and distinguish experience to all the other phenomena circulating in between time and space.  It is through time and space, that we become the best judges of ourselves, we experience life, and reap the rewards through the good or bad times. 

‘There are no good or bad memories, since it stays with us either way’, and by responding in Making Art, there are rooms for reflection, and reaction to these stimuluses.

Salvador Dali once remarked in an interview; “Every painter paints the cosmology of himself…Raphael painted the cosmology of Raphael, Raphael is from the Renaissance period. Dali paints the Atomic Age, and the Freudian Age, Nuclear things, and Psychological Things”. Through this statements the artist worldview (cosmology) is within itself a collection Aesthetic emotion and experience.

In a nutshell, it is this touch of "SENTUH" which demarcates the blueprint and understanding of how human creativity shall remain significant, as well as relevant, through time and space. To experience each pieces of the work of art, is do devote oneself towards the immaculate experience of "Aesthetic Distance" between the organic unity; Artist, Artwork, and Audience.
 



'Keep on Charging!'

MUSADDIQ MOHAMAD KHALIL
Department  of Liberal Studies
UiTM Alor Gajah
PACAQ- UITM RIG 2025
G.A.S UiTM Melaka 2025


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