Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 24

COLONIALISM AND VISUAL CULTURE:

A Study of the effect of colonialism on visual culture with particular


reference to Malaya (Malaysia)

D18NAPKAN

by:
SalwaHj. Ayob
MA Ceramics
Faculty of Art, Design and Engineering,
University of Wales Institute of Cardiff

- , v \umat

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Noel Upfold, who
encouraged me to take on this topic and so thoroughly read and commented on my drafts.
His detailed criticisms and suggestions greatly improved the final version of the
dissertation.
I am also very greatful to all the staff at the Faculty of Art, Design, and Engineering and
my colleagues for the friendly atmosphere that they have established in the Faculty.
In particular I would like to thank all my friends in Cardiff and in Malaysia for their
moral support all the way.
My gratitude also due to my parents and family for their continuous support throughout
my studies.
Finally, I wish to thank Mara Institute of Technology Malaysia for maintaining me
financially during my study at the University of Wales Institute of Cardiff.

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements...................................................................................... i
Table of Contents......................................................................................... ii
List of Illustrations.......................................................................................iii

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I

Chapter One
The Great Exhibition ..........................................................................4
Fine Art...............................................................................................7
Oriental and Primitive Art ..................................................................9
Human Showcases ............................................................................11
Chapter Two
Western Artists and Primitive Art ....................................................13
African Art ........................................................................................14
Picasso and African Art ....................................................................15
The Western Role in Malaysian Art .................................................16
Chapter Three
Malaysian Art Education History .....................................................19
Contemporary Malaysian Art ...........................................................23
Malaysian Contemporary Artists ......................................................23
The National Art Gallery and Its Role in the Development
of Malaysian Contemporary Art .......................................................25
"Vision and Idea" ..............................................................................27
Conclusion ....................................................................................................29
Bibliography .................................................................................................35

COPYRIGHT UiTM

List of Illustrations
1. Kens (a traditional Malay weapon), Pending (belt buckle), Bekas Air Penawar (Bowl
with Islamic calligraphy); 18th Century.

From the Exhibition Catalogue of Malaysian Jewellery Art and Heritage (1995).
2. Sabahan girl (with bamboo hat) threshing rice by hand at harvest time', 1995.
From a postcard - Photograph by Dennis M. Alien for FOTOFOCUS Malaysia.

3. BatekPainting ;\91\
From Sheppard, Mubin (1972) Taman Indera - A Royal Pleasure Ground: Malay
Decorative Arts and Pastimes, Singapore: Oxford University Press; Courtesy Straits
Times.

4. Tahitian Eve; Gauguin 1892, Watercolour, 40x32cm.


Musee de Peinture et de Sculpture, Grenoble.
From Walther, Ingo.F. (1992) Paul Gauguin 1848-1903: The Primitive Sophisticate,
Germany: Benedikt Taschen.
5. Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
Gauguin, 1897. Oil on canvas, 139x375cm. Museum of Fine Art, Boston.
From Walther, Ingo.F. (1992) Paul Gauguin 1848-1903: The Primitive Sophisticate,
Germany: Benedikt Taschen.
6. Prince Siddharta cuts his hair, signifying his retreat from the world. Relief panel from

Boro-Bhudur, 9th Century. Photo Rijksmusuem voor Volkenkunde, Leiden.


From Sullivan, Michael (1973) The Meeting of Eastern and Western Art: From the
Sixteenth Century to the Present Day, London: Thomas and Hudson.

7. Kelantanese WayangKulit, Nik Zainal Abidin, 1959, Oil on canvas, 81.6xl06.7cm.


Malaysia National Art Gallery Collection.
From The Exhibition Catalogue Vision and Idea - Relooking Modern Malaysian Art,
Kuala Lumpur, 1992.
8. Kternityl, Koh Shim Luen, 1992, Watercolour, 78x57cm.
From the Exhibition Catalogue Form and Soul. The Continuity of Tradition in
Contemporary Malaysian Arts, Kuala Lumpur, 1993.

9. Garden of Mystery IV, Sulaiman Esa, 1992. Mixed Media, 183x122cm,


From the Exhibition Catalogue Form and Soul. The Continuity of Tradition in
Contemporary Malaysian Arts, Kuala Lumpur, 1993.

HI

COPYRIGHT UiTM

10. "Bila teiunjuk menunding, liga jari menunding ke arah kita " Jauhari Saad, 1996,

Mixed Media, 35x52cm.


From the Exhibition Catalogue "Risalah dari Malaysia", Germering Cityhall, Germany,
1996.
11. Traditional Malay Silverware, 18th Century, Kelantan Museum Collection.

From the Exhibition Catalogue Form and Soul. The Continuity of Tradition in
Contemporary Malaysian Arts, Kuala Lumpur, 1993.

12. & 13. Traditional Malay Silverware^ 19th Century, Terengganu Museum Collection.
From the Exhibition Catalogue Form and Soul. The Continuity of Tradition in
Contemporary Malaysian Arts, Kuala Lumpur, 1993.
14. Merah Saga, Haron Mokhtar, 1995. Acrylic on canvas, 76xl06.5cm.
From Exhibition Catalogue Contemporary Malaysian Art, Museo de Arte Espanol,
"Enrique Laretta" Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1995.

IV

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Introduction

The word colonial according to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary means
"of, relating to or possessing a colony or colonies and the word colonialism means the
policy of acquiring colonies and keeping them dependent. While Thomas describes

colonialism as being associated with intrusions, conquest, economic exploitation and the
domination of indegenous peoples by European men (Thomas, 1996, p. 1)

Whatever definition one may select colonialism has a long history, it is a


phenomenon that results from economic, political and religious pressures. There can be
little doubt however, as much recent history demonstrates that it has a great effect upon

the cultural development of both the colonialised and the coloniser. The history of
powerful Western countries in the last hundred and fifty years has demonstrated how
complex a phenomenon colonialism can became especially in a country with various
ethnic groups as in my country Malaysia. Malaysia has been under British rule for
seventy five years. Therefore, it cannot escape the Western influence in its culture
including its political system, education, social life and the arts.
I began to develop my interest in the relationship between Western and Eastern

visual culture. As an artist what interested me most was the way in which dominant
Western cultures began to look at those societies that they controlled in terms of their
visual culture. I shall look at this relationship as evidenced in a series of exhibitions

starting with the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 and followed by a number of
expositions and world fairs. As a consequent of these series of exhibition, major artists

COPYRIGHT UiTM

such as Delacroix, Gauguin, Picasso and others began to explore the primitive art of the
colony or country that was displayed in the exhibition. Since then primitive art started to

play a role in those discourses which were to set the agenda for modern art. We can now
in retrospect appreciate the contribution of the non-Western influence.
This research will also look at the continuing colonial influence on Malaysian

contemporary art. Malaysia's art history started in the 1940's, the scholars were largely
selected by the British government. During the post-independence period in the late 50's

Malaysian contemporary art began to emerge using Western art which established its
parameters of practice, soon Malaysian artists tried to develop their own art and began to
avoid the controlling influence of Western art; they tried to search their own identity. As

a developing country in the third world, we do not totally reject Western values and
aesthetics but we are now more selective. The question of identity became very important
in order to create what can be called a "Malaysian Art" and not an art which is an
imitation of others. This loss of identity somehow relates very much to colonialism, as
Said argues,
"'Both colonialism and development can be seen as attempts to define the rest of

the world (the other) in relation to the West, seeing the West as the sole source of
enlightenment, reason and progress. In addition, it is also an attempt to try
progress rubbing out its identity (or identities). Thus, this should remind us that

'development' is not just about knowledge but is also about power applied in the
construction of identities," (Said,1985,p.36)

COPYRIGHT UiTM

This attempt to 'Westernise' our culture in the name of development seemed to


be successful, the system being practised in Malaysia was based on Western value with
the important exception of religion and customs. Artists are only human, they cannot
escape the influence of their surroundings. These dilemmas are found by most Malaysian
artists including myself. Therefore, in the following text 1 would like to explore the
phenomenon and try to find some answer that could be useful to me as an artist now and
in the future.

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Chapter One

The Great Exhibition

The great exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 in London originated from the early
trade exhibitions in 1847 and 1848, which were very successful and attracted huge
crowds and made large profits. After the great success of the first exhibition at "Crystal
Palace", other exhibition were organised. The arrangement of the exhibitions and world
fairs kept on changing together with their function throughout the years. Originally the
aims of the exhibition were:1) To show resources of the colony off
2) To awaken local interest and to encourage emulation
3) To enhance British trade there (Greenhalgh, 1988, p.56)

Not long after the first exhibition in 1851, and the first Paris Exposition in 1853, every
nation in the West wished to show off their possessions and potential for trade. The
exhibition became propaganda for imperial justification. They attempted to reinforce
unity and to imbue the British public with an imperial pride. The Arts section was not

exhibited independently because every item in the exhibition was displayed to show the
imperial power.

COPYRIGHT UiTM

It is described as,
"Throughout its reign one of the foremost British Art institutions, it saw empire,
industry, art design not as unrelated things but as united accoutrements of a
powerful, centralised, imperial state," (Greenhalgh, 1988,p.56)

The standard format in Britain and in British contributions to foreign exhibitions

from 1893 onwards was one whereby colonies and dominions were displayed according
to their economic usefulness. Malaysia, or 'Malaya' during this period was mentioned as
one of the largest contributors to the Britain economy. As early as the sixteenth century,
Malacca (a state in Malaysia) had been occupied by the Portuguese because of its
economy's importance (it was the largest port for spice and herbs in the East). In the
1930's Paris Coloniale Internationale the first two pavilions of Portugal evokes this

glorious past:.....The second pavilion is devoted to Alphonso of Albuquerque, who died at the
beginning of the sixteenth cemrury, after having given to his country, among other
marvellous lands, Ormuz, Goa, Malacca..... (Greenhalgh, 1988, p.70)

The first Malaysian involvement in the exhibition was in 1851 when Labuan (an
island in East Malaysia) was listed as one of the exhibited colonies. In 1924 the British
Empire Exhibition at Wembley is the best example of the exhibition as an "Imperial
City". Malaya was among the countries who took part in the exhibition, where every

colony and dominion able to afford it built a palace to house its exhibits. Some of these

COPYRIGHT UiTM

covered several acres and cost enormous sums to erect, transforming what had been a
drap London suburb into an imperialist's dreamland.
The biggest Malaysian involvement in the series of exhibitions was in 1938 at the
Glasgow International, where a 'Colonial Avenue' was built. It was described in the
official catalogue as follows:"Represented in the Colonial Court are Malaya, the west Indies, and a composite
group of Colonies, Protectorates and Dependencies, including Cyprus and Malta.
Ceylon, British North Borneo and Sarawak (one of Malaysia's state), Hong Kong,
the Falkland Islands, Somalia, Bechuanaland, and others. They are grouped

around a central exhibit which illustrates their trade with Britain. In the backgroup

are tropical forests, fields of rice with maize, and a strip of yellow sand, with
caravans winding down toward the sea which occupies most of the foreground. In
the immediate foreground are the pots of Britain, and between them and the

distant tropics, fleets of ship sail". (Greenhalgh, 1988, p.62)

The actual artifacts that was being exhibited by Malaysia are not described
specifically, but given the agenda of the organisers and the focus upon its economic

factor it could be assumed all kinds of herbs and spices would be on display plus seed,
grain and various types of craftwork.

Other artifacts on display would be Malay

manuscripts and writing together with the Malay cultural material such as 'keris' (a

traditional Malay weapon) and other craft. (See Figure 1)


This assumption regarding its exhibits was based on Malaysian historical records
of "the burning of a ship used by Stamford Raffles (A British Governor for the Malay

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Peninsular) overloaded with an accumulation of writing and Malay cultural material,


during its voyage. Munshi Abdullah (a Malay scholar) had revealed and recorded a huge
collection which was gathered by Raffles to be brought back to England (Form & Soul
catalogue, 1993). In the "human show-cases" which were a feature of many exhibitions,
M. Bernard brought in villager from the Southeast Asia consisting of four nationalities,
Javanese, Sundanese, Malays and Batavians. They were placed in the twenty-two houses

on the site, built with bamboo and covered with palm leaves. He also gave guided tours
of the site, during which he would inform the crowd of the cultural and personal habits of

his exotics wards.


"They are very clean people, and bathe twice a day, that thickset, powerful fellow, making

bamboo hats with his little son, is a Malay. The Malay are stronger than the others. These women
in the next house are Batavians. Their skin is lighter than the Malays. That man sitting running

paint onto a piece of cloth is from Java. That is how they paint their dress and napkins.....
sometimes it is done with wax, sometimes with paint (referring to batek painting)..... The
jewellery they wear is real, and belongs to the emperor" (Greenhalgh, 1988, p.89 )

(See Figure 2 and Figure 3)

Fine Art

From the early stages of the exhibitions there has been a section devoted to the
fine arts, even though the fine arts sections were not as popular as the machinery
sections. However, the fine art section does play an important role in the development of

the arts throughout the century. At international exhibitions, fine art normally implied to

COPYRIGHT UiTM

COPYRIGHT UiTM

COPYRIGHT UiTM

painting in oil or water colour, sculpture, architecture, drawing, engraving metals and
precious stones and print making. Through the series of these exhibitions there were no
specific items that were considered as fine art. The exhibits in the fine art section keep on
changing according to the organiser. In 1874 at the South Kensington exhibitions
organised by the British for example, the organiser put an extremely wide range of
practices which were counted as a fine art in the pre-exhibition literature.
"Amongst, there were painting of all kinds, including oil, water colour, distemper, enamel
on glass and porcelain sculpture, including modeling, carving, chasing in marble, stone, wood,
terra-cotta, metal, ivory glass, precious stone, mosaic, engraving, lithnography, photography,
architectural designs and drawings, photographs of recently completed building, restorations and
models, tapestries, carpets, embroideries, shawls, lace 'shown as manufactures but for the fine art
of their design of form or colour', designs of all kinds for decorative manufactures, reproductions,

i.e. exact full size copies of ancient medieval pictures painted before 1556,

reproductions of

mosaics and enamels, copies in plaster and fictile ivory, electrotypes of ancient work of art"
(Greenhalgh, 1988, p. 199).

From the list it seems that majority of the items displayed would not be
considered as fine art today. Even though painting was not given a top priority in the
exhibitions it somehow played an important role in the art movement of Europe in the

early nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1855 the art were on display reflected
Romanticism and Classicism. In the late 1878, the new generation of artists put on a

show related to Realist, Naturalist and Impressionist concerns. The French later

COPYRIGHT UiTM

contributed to the modern art movement in this century such as Fauvism, Cubism and
Surealism.

Oriental and Primitive Art

Artist's work in the fine art section within the exhibition obviously came from the
West. In 1886, a superb collection of art from India and the colonies was brought to
London. An interesting feature here were references to some of the work on show as

being 'fine art'. This is not really surprising because from the very beginning we have
noted how broad, by contemporary standards, its definition of fine art could be. The

difference was that the category fine art was normally reserved for the work of Western
artists, and the work from the various dominous and colonies was categorised as 'craft',
decorative art or even 'raw materials'. The criterion used to describe the work was also a
means of excluding non-Western art from the Palaces of fine art and placing it into
facilities for the colonies. In the absence of Western art at the colonial and Indian
exhibition however, the painting and sculpture of India was referred to as fine art.
As the exhibitions were controlled by the dominant colonial power, oriental
primitive art was rarely considered as a legitimate art. If they are reclassified it is because

of the requirements of the organisers. They would make decisions based on what was or
was not available. African art was another form of art that was never given the prefix
"fine". Fine art practice at international exhibitions thus had a hierarchical dimension
based on race and ethnicity.

COPYRIGHT UiTM

In social Darwinian terms, the European defined fine art using European criteria,
but in the absence of Europe the selectors and organisers were allowed to use the label.
Africans did not make fine art, but were condemned in advance to be craft people only.
The method of categorisation implied then not only on elitism within the visual arts but
one within people also (Greenhalgh, 1988, p.209)
Referring to the success and failure in fine art sections through the series of
international exhibition one cannot deny that it had an enormous impact on institutional
aspects of the fine art world. Technical development, for example, will enhance an
artist's level of knowledge which in turn leads to the birth of various movements in
modern art. At the same time, because of them museums and galleries were built,
temporary art exhibitions became commonplace and arts administrative bodies grew into
huge organisations.
When reviewing this material, the thing which most interested me was the fact
that at a certain historical period the Western artists began to look with greater interest at
the primitive and the oriental art in the exhibition. Even though the work that interested
them did not came from the fine art section, the work was found in another section of the
exhibition known as human-showcases. Western artists used these sections and the work
they saw as their primary source and we can now see the contribution that was made to
Cubism and some aspects of Expressionism.

10

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Human Showcases

One of the main displays throughout these exhibitions were the "human
showcases". They were on display between the year 1898-1914. In this particular area of
the exhibition people (especially native) from all over the world were brought to sites in
order to be seen by others for their gratification and education. The normal display
created a backdrop in a more or less aesthetic tableaux-vivants fashion and situated the
people in it, going about what was thought to be their daily business.
From the Western point of view, the human showcases were just a part of the
exhibition that interested them and gave them an opportunity to see native lifestyles.
Through this twenty five year period it would be no exaggeration to say that items of
display or objects were seen to be less interesting than human beings. Through the
medium of display human beings were transformed into objects. Such exhibitions were
very important as they guaranteed attendances and financial returns. Throughout the
exhibitions there was a recurring debate concerning the human showcases and the way
the Western visitors looked at them. In 1931 at the Paris Exposition Internationale
Coloniale in the Pare de Vincennes, for the last time anywhere, a large area of villages
were included specifically within an imperial context. By this time such things began to
attract widespread criticism, as opposition to both imperialism and racism grew.

11
COPYRIGHT UiTM

Despite the negative aspects of the "human showcases" they did play a most
important role in term of visual culture. The "human showcases" also introduced the
colony to the Western world and in a way it became a catalyst for tourist promotion.
Between 1900-1905 this display became a centre for the promotion of craft. In term of
visual culture the most important consequences was not only for the anthropologists and

ethnologists; for the first time artists began to take serious note of the primitive art. These
can be considered as the starting point at which Western visual culture began to look
serioulsy at non-Western visual culture and tried to adopt something from it and engage
in a series of intellectual debate about its significance.
Why are these major artists such as Delacroix, Gauguin, Picasso and many other

attracted to primitive art? m my opinion the exhibitions, for the first time, gave an
opportunity for the Westerner to look at something different, colourful, exciting and
perhaps challenging. The conventional wisdom of the late 19th century considered
"primitive art" as craft, but if we look deeply into it, it is possible to respond to its own

aesthetic value and meanings. Certainly Gauguin and Picasso did!


For example:
"'Thus a 'tap' runner conveys information about the economy of its Polynesian

producers: a Gola masks convey infomation about the political system of Gola. It

happens that the mask also conveys information (to the anthropologist) about the
beliefs system of the Gola and the runner conveys information about changes in
the value system of the Polynesians, just as the Walbiri sand painting conveys
information about the belief and value system of the Walbiri" (Forge, 1973,
p.268)

12

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Chapter Two

Western artists and primitive art

At the Exposition Universe of 1889 Gauguin was enchanted by the Indonesia


village and the Javanese dancing. From his letter to Emilie Bernard in March 1889 he
wrote:
"You were wrong not to come the other day. There are Hindu dancers in the

Javanese village. All the art of India is there, and my photographs of Cambodia
literally are found there, too"(Chipp, 1968, p.78)

The "Cambodian photographs" referred to by Gauguin are probably those of the


temple of Boro-Bhudur in Indonesia, a replica of which was built in the fairgrounds. For
a while Gauguin had thought of going to Java and he was the first European painter of
any importance to admire Buddhist art. He bought photographs of the relief of the great
nineth-century "stupa" of Boro-Bhuddur, which provided him with motives for figure
painting for the rest of his life - beginning with the now lost "Eve" painted in Paris in
1890. (See Figure 4)

13

COPYRIGHT UiTM

COPYRIGHT UiTM

The composition of Gauguin's last and greatest work, Where do we came from?
What are we? Where are we going? (See Figure 5 and Figure 6) may also been inspired
by one of the long narrative panels on Boro-Bhuddur. Indeed his study of those relief
with their heavy, graceful and voluptous figures, often seated or reclining in languid
poses, the atonomy reduced to essentials, the smooth contours harmoniously simplified,
provided him with a vocabulary of ready-made images, with which the women he saw in
the Marquesas must have seemed miraculously to accord.
There is no doubt that Gauguin was very successful in presenting his own visual
response using the primitive art as a source. Ingo F. Walther comments;
"There cannot have been many other artists who set out as a whole heartedly to
live in the life they envisioned in their art as Paul Gauguin did. He lived between
two worlds. In his art he held up a mirror to his own civilisation, which he
despised, and showed an alternative, primitive life in all its simple, naive
harmony. But painting it not enough for Gauguin. He wanted to experience it

himself. He wanted to prove that South Sea exoticism was not merely a forced
and magical escapism, of the kind that was fascinating his European
contemporaries in on age of world fairs and newspaper reports. Gauguin

personified a new union of art and life, imagination and order, and in anticipating
this predominant 20th century characteristic he became one of the true pioneers
of modernism" (Walther, 1992, p. 7)

14

COPYRIGHT UiTM

Figure 5

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi