AS the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, so an artist can imprint a strong message to the viewers through his or her piece of art without uttering a single world. Every expression of arts is distinctive and it conveys its own unique stories.
With the aim of encouraging more people to appreciate arts as well as to provide a platform for aspiring artists, Penang State Museum and Art Gallery has been organising the ‘Penang Art Open Exhibition’ annually.
The exhibition is held to showcase the selected works of the participants of the ‘Seni Lukis Pulau Pinang’ themed ‘Movement’.
In 2018, a total of 78 pieces of artworks were received and out of that, 27 entries made the cut and are being displayed at the museum until end of next month (December 2018 till February 2019).
According to Fairudz Ikhwan Zulkifli, the Penang State Museum and Art Gallery curator, this year there were no winners for the ‘major’ category but only four winners in the ‘minor’ category.
They were Leong Wai Khong for his work called ‘Dreams – Sound & Keyboard Installation’ (Hand Drawn Illustration & Sound Installation), Mohamad Luqman Kadri – ‘Choose Your Way’ (Mix Media), Mohd Ekram Al Hafis Hashim – ‘From Dot To Line’ (Experimental Animation) and Muhamad Azuan Tarmizi – Forbidden Birth (Mix Media).
Consolation prizes and ‘Karya Terpilih’ award were also given to deserving artists.
Seri Delima assemblyman Syerleena Abdul Rashid Rashid, who graced the opening ceremony of the Penang Art Exhibition, emphasised the importance of organising competitions such as this, as it would help to stir interest in arts among the younger generation.
“Creativity is contagious, all that we need to do is to create a platform to pass on the love for arts. Being a graduate in fine arts (USM), arts and music are my passion.
“As a government, we need to ensure that we have the political will with regards to arts and music so that the industry (arts and music) will not be left behind.
“I believe our country will not suffer from lack of talents as long as we have platforms such as this which will help to showcase the local talents,” said Syerleena during her speech.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi