Think outside the box, artists are told
Published on: Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Liew with the winners during the event.
Kota Kinabalu: State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew hopes the Sabah Art Gallery will always be ready and sensitive to the current changes.
She said practising a work culture out of the norm and thinking outside the box also needs to be practised to get extraordinary results.
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“The excellence of an organisation is not just measured by the achievement of work targets or the income earned but also evaluated through services with integrity, quality and contributing to the community.
“Therefore, it is my great hope that the Sabah Art Gallery continues to stand firm in line with its mission and vision, especially in efforts to dignify the art industry of Sabah,” she said, congratulating the gallery on its 40th anniversary with the hope it will keep up the commendable work.
She was speaking when officiating the 40th Jubilee of Sabah Art Gallery and the Prize Presentation Ceremony as well as the Opening of The Jilin-Sabah International Children and Youth Online Art Exhibition 2023/2024 at the gallery at Jalan Arkib, here, Tuesday.
Earlier, Liew said the three-in-one event was held to appreciate all the efforts that were contributed by the late Datuk Yaman Haj Ahmad Mus, the founder and former Director who established the Sabah Art Gallery in 1984.
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She said adhering to Yaman’s principle of “Bring Art To The People”, the gallery preserves this principle by devising various efforts and initiatives so that art continues to be close not only to artists but also to the community.
In conjunction with this year’s 40th jubilee celebration, she said the Sabah Art Gallery has organised several programmes to commemorate Yaman’s struggle as the founder of the gallery and an artist who had contributed tremendously to the development of the Sabah art industry.
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Among the programmes are The Richard Lim and Benedict Chong’s Solo Exhibition which is currently taking place at Level 3 and Level 4 galleries; The Retak Pertujuh Exhibition which is an Invitational Exhibition held by the Sabah Painting Gallery every year; The Meraki exhibition which is a group exhibition of the winners of the KPTNS Special Category 2022/2023; The Datuk Yaman Hj Ahmad Mus Retrospective Exhibition by exhibiting his work as an artist; and the biggest annual programme which is Karya Perdana Tahunan Negeri Sabah (KPTNS) Award-Giving Ceremony held in conjunction with the celebration of the 71st Official Birthday Celebration of His Excellency The Governor of Sabah.
The KPTNS programme’s submission is open on Feb 5 until July 31, 2024. The exhibition in conjunction with this programme will be held in October up until February 2025.
“I am convinced that programmes or exhibitions held to appreciate artists, both old and new, are important to inspire the younger generation to continue their existing artistic journey.
“There is no doubt that the art industry also has a great impact on cultural preservation as well as being an important asset for the tourism sector,” said Liew.
Speaking about the tourism sector, she said last year the Sabah Art Gallery collaborated with the Jilin People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries by holding a programme called Jilin-Sabah International Children and Youth Online Art Exhibition.
Jilin is a province in China and this programme was held to celebrate diplomatic relations between Sabah and Jilin (China) that have reached a decade.
“A total of 179 participants from 41 schools throughout Sabah participated in this programme, and a total of 221 participants from Jilin, China. I hope that this kind of initiative will continue and together, let us popularise and culture art so that it is better known and close to all levels of society,” she said.
She also gave away the prizes to the winners of the programme.
Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Josie Lai, Sabah Cultural Board General Manager Mackey Apison, Sabah Art Gallery Director Sara Elisya Ahmad Shah, Sabah Museum Department Director Arif Abd Ahmad and Sri Pelancongan Sabah CEO Thonny Chee, among others, were also present.
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