MUSADDIQ MOHAMAD KHALIL

(Image courtesy by Malaysian National Art Gallery, link https://www.artgallery.gov.my/en/young-contemporaries-2021/?lang=en) Contemporary Art or Public Art cultivates artistic experience between the maker and viewer. It celebrates the people, positioning it as a democratized art exclusively from the public to the public.   'Bakat Muda Sezaman' is a biennial hallmark event organized by the Malaysian National Art Gallery. The presented theme for BMS 2021 is 'Art on Site'. An interesting approach sensitive towards the current global pandemic situation we find ourselves today. Art on site generates creative challenges towards the artist, within the ability and capacity of utilizing ideas, subject, materials, techniques, as well as content, towards respective location where they addressed themselves. Hence, such interesting event sparks significant curiosity, between expectations of the artist, artwork, authority, and audience.  TATE Museum within its section of 'Art Ter...

Artwork: Perjalanan (2019) Artist: Shaharin Sulaiman Perjalanan is the retrospective story of Shaharin Sulaiman’s life journey of being and becoming. Perjalanan translates as a journey, between man and his creator. The hylomorphic identical relationship between man and the universe, addressed by the benevolence as well as blessings of our creator. Everyday we wake up as if our actions were predetermined by our own free will, however such moral obligation upon doing justice towards one’s free-spirited soul, eventually resolves as a confrontation between the predestined and destined fate in life bestowed by the creator. Hence, the exploration of such conflict lays as the fundamental element within the manifested artworks of Perjalanan. It celebrates the reciprocal connection between man and his creator, encapsulated within the harmonious cosmos of our universe . The impact of nature towards the artist’s artworks has been essentially phenomenal, which is seen as one of a count of blessi...

‘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 th...

  (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 ...

  (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 artwork...