Sabah art not yet a tourism draw: Artist
Published on: Thursday, May 28, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The sun, the sea and the fauna. But definitely not art. At least that is what a street artist thinks attract tourists to Sabah.At most visitors would take a look at our art and, maybe, just buy some handicrafts and move on, said full-time local artist Awang Azmi Awang Bakar. "To pursue art it is difficult because let's admit that Sabah is never a place for art. It is meant for travel enthusiasts and honeymooners. Sabah is a nice place to travel and people come here for vacation purposes and that's it.
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"Let's say for example, you display the largest piece of art on the street. Do you think people will be interested to get a glimpse of it? What else purchase it?" he said."The institutions teach youths on ways to produce art but where are we supposed to display them? We have lots of exhibitions but nobody would even take a look at it."Azmi said it may be due to the people's mindsets. Art is something most people would do for fun or as a hobby as there is not much you can do with it in Sabah."I don't think you would even want to encourage your child to pursue art even if they have the talent in it. You would prefer them to study medicine and be a doctor instead.
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"My whole family are artists. My father is an artist but he never encouraged us to draw because he understands the difficulties local artists face," he said.But somehow, the 40-year-old artist said they all managed to draw without their father's knowledge.
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"All my siblings are artists and drawing is something natural for us. My sister used to win lots of awards in art competitions but not me. I prefer to keep a low profile," said the 23-year experienced artist.Malaysia, he explained is way behind in terms of art. That's why most Malaysian artists prefer to go to other countries such as France, Milan, London and they refuse to return to Sabah despite being persuaded by the government, he explained.In Singapore, Indonesia or even the Philippines, people would rather not send their children to school but focus on studying art instead. They would send their children to art academies if they find out that their children have talent in art.The level of Malaysian street artists is nothing compared to those from other countries – Philippines, Indonesia or Singapore. "Another sad thing is that we still receive little support from the government and local authorities. Sabah has lots of talented street artists but we cannot simply draw on streets," he said when met during the 'Stone & Caricature Painting Demo by Sabah Artists' in conjunction with the Sabah Fest 2015 Handicraft Showcase at Kadaiku store here, Monday. Azmi said that his portraits would cost about RM15 and above."Street artists like us don't earn much. The most I can earn in a month is about RM500. I can't sell them at prices that are too expensive especially in rural areas. I remember selling an art piece for RM1," he said, adding that caricature painting is not that well-known in the interior parts of Sabah. Like Azmi, Galdius Ganting from Kg Malinsau, Ranau who started drawing since 2008 acquired his drawing skills naturally. Galdius, a full-time artist at Mayuri House of Art, Laman Seni at Wisma Kebudayaan has always had a passion for art."I love drawing and my artist friends used to help me by giving me some tips … I used to observe them when they drew. That's how I learnt to draw," he explained. "I used to draw cartoons as well and I remember submitting cartoons to Daily Express in 2007 for the Kadazandusun page," added Galdius."That's how we got to know each other. We used to have the Comic Artists Association. Its patron was the late Datuk Mohd Yaman Ahmad Mus, former Sabah Art Gallery Director. "The association gathered all comic artists together and we would do an exhibition at the gallery," chipped in Azmi. Unlike Azmi, Galdius said his passion in art was supported by his family. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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