amir zainorin

Subject to change - pics. from exhibition

2011-10-31T06:13:00.002+01:00

subject to change / MAP KL Malaysia

2011-08-26T10:02:00.002+02:00

ohh..nej

2011-04-04T12:11:00.000+02:00

tidak...

2011-04-03T14:36:00.001+02:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdHfxXBBGNw&NR=1

ohh...yes.

2011-04-03T14:32:00.001+02:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qcEG4TaSwE&NR=1

Most Wanted - after Warhol

2011-02-08T00:28:00.001+01:00

generous gestures - den frie contemporary art copenhagen

2011-01-21T14:33:00.004+01:00

Generous Gestures

- a festival focusing on the intercultural art scene in Denmark.

As something new, you can experience no less than 2 festivals in Den Frie Centre of
Contemporary Art in 2011. The first in line, Generous Gestures, is an exhibition event which
hides under its title a pressing need to discuss the lack of focus on issues such as
interculturalism, xenophobia and Danishness. During the 10-day exhibition, a series of public art
events will be taking place such as performances, talks, study groups, lectures, filmscreenings
and an artist kitchen.

The exhibition has been produced by 25 artists with different national and cultural backgrounds
who all have in common that they are artists living in Denmark and that they in the past year
have participated in the Danish Arts Agency’s Intercultural Mentor Program, which aims to
discuss the issue of interculturalism and the underrepresentation of intercultural artistic
practices in Denmark. Their works contribute, both politically and aesthetically, to the
discussion on contemporary art today, an area in which the players reflect the Danish society's
transition from a homogeneous to a multicultural society.

Generous Gestures is facilitated by Tijana Miskovic and Jane Jin Kaisen, who feel that their
efforts and interest in interculturalism in Denmark must be seen in conjunction with a broader
artistic, social and cultural understanding of what the National is, who society's "other" is and
what - at a given point in time - is considered a cultural, historical and aesthetic part of the
cultural heritage and how we understand the evolution of culture and society in general.

Participating artists:
Amir Zainorin, Andreas Olesen, Anne Bennike, Charlotte Haslund-Christensen, David Ramirez,
Giuditta R, Juan Hein, Kristine Agergaard, Maher Khatib, Mahmoud Alibadi, Maj Hasager, Marcelo
Lerer, Mette Kit Jensen, Michelle Eistrup, Nikolaj Kilsmark, Nynne Haugaard, Parul Modha, Rick
Towle, Samaira Ali, Søren Dahlgaard, Thierry Geoffroy and Thomas Bjørkå.

Further information and background for the exhibition events website Initial State of Limbo:
http://initialstateoflimbo.wikispaces.com/ or contact Tijana Miskovic +45 6062366

For yderligere information kontakt pressekoordinator Kit Leunbach på kl@denfrie.dk eller på 33 12 28 03.

mandela

2011-01-21T14:25:00.001+01:00

tilte: mandela

lino ink on paper

2011

william burroughs

2011-01-17T09:56:00.001+01:00

jacob holdt

2011-01-14T23:57:00.001+01:00

                                           title: jacob holdt
   medium:indian ink on paper
   year: 2010

invitation to the possible

2010-11-27T19:43:00.001+01:00

x box - performance and installation art at the national art gallery KL . i stayed 3 days in a 3 x 6 sqm box without going out and without food.

2010-11-21T17:41:00.002+01:00

begehungen arts festival

2010-08-10T23:01:00.000+02:00

This is an art festival that takes place in chemnitz, germany. i am showing the video and prints from 'mind my hat'.

escape into life -article

2010-08-10T22:50:00.000+02:00

stamp over

2010-07-25T21:24:00.000+02:00

mind my hat.

2010-07-25T20:27:00.000+02:00

Mind my hat is a short bio and a self portrait. Being on the move and staying in many different places, I get the chance to experience to live with different people and learn different values and cultures. this life journey and experiences has somehow shape and made me the way I am today .

‘We must be the change we wish to see in the world.’ – Gandhi

mind my hat

2010-07-03T02:09:00.001+02:00

prints from my new video, mind your hat.(length: 10 mins)

stamp over

2010-07-02T07:10:00.001+02:00

PRESS RELEASE

Public Art Performance by Amir Zainorin og Aida Redza.
Title: Stamp Over

Performance No. 1.
Where: : Rysegade 53
Infront of the Immigration Office
When: Thursday, 1 July 2010, 11.00 am – 12.00 pm

Performance No. 2
Where: Foran Oslo Plads 1, 2100
Infront Den frie Udstillingsbygning
When: Friday, 2 July 2010, 17.00 – 18.00

Contact: Amir Zainorin
Tel. No : 2940 9896
Email: amirszainorin@gmail.com

Stamp over

Stamp over is a performance art that deal with emotions in relations to the thing that we go thru in our daily life. These emotions such as love, anger, fear, joy, happiness are common to each and every one of us when confronted or faced in a given situation.
In this performance multimedia artist Amir Zainorin and dance performer Aida Redza, both born in Malaysia but now based in Denmark, would like to address the issue migration and the challenges that one has to face in order to adapt oneself in a new culture, social structure and values.
In our world the immigration laws has been tightened after the 9 11 event and the Muhammad cartoon crisis. Traveling and migrating from one country to another has never been more difficult. This is ironic given that the world is becoming smaller due to globalization and new communication technology that man has invented over the last few decades.
We have somehow been conditioned for individual differences and like to put people in a category, ‘they’ and ‘us’. We have fear within ourselves and to the things that we are not used to. Only if we all could see the essence in our basic human needs, that we are more or less indeed the same....then there will be no ‘other’, but it is all one.

STEMPLING ( danish translation)

Stempling er en kunstnerisk performance der handler om følelser i forhold til de ting vi går i gennem i vores hverdags liv. Følelser som kærlighed, vrede, angst og glæde er naturlige for os når vi konfronteres med særlige situationer.
I denne performance (anskuer)mutimediekunstner Amir Zainorin og danser og koreograf, Aida Redza, som begge er født i Malaysia spørgsmål om migration og udfordringerne man møder når man skal tilpasse sig i en ny kultur, social struktur og nye værdier.
I vores verden er immigrationslove blevet strammere efter 11. september og Muhammad krisen. Rejse og migration er blevet sværere. Dette er ironisk, da verden er blevet mindre som følge af globalisering og udviklingen inden for kommunikationsteknologi.
Vi er blevet opdraget med fokus på individualitet og vænnet os til at sætte folk i kategorier, ’dem’ og ’os’. Kun hvis vi kan se essensen i vores menneskelige behov, at vi er næsten ens, så vil der ikke være nogen ’anden’, men blot En.

CV- Amir Zainorin
Amir Zainorin was born and grew up in Malaysia and now based in Copenhagen. He is a multi media artist and works with painting, video, installation, performance and photography. His works has a social and political commentary tone and he is inspired from the media and his surroundings. He explores the theme such as globalization in relation to popular cultures and consumer society. He has had solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries in Kuala Lumpur, London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Budapest and New York.
For more info, please visit:
www.amirzainorin.dk

CV Aida Redza
Aida Redza is a Malaysian performer and choreographer living in Denmark. In her home ground Aida is known for advocating her artistic work towards social cause and community projects with focus on integration and inclusion. Her solo works are a visible example of tight bound tradition and deconstruction intertwining new dance and physical theater to create dynamic live performance. Described as one of the most intense and controversial performer in Malaysia, she explores the relationship between dream, rebellious play and resistance, and revolution of sorts from the perspective of a Muslim woman.
For more info please visit:
http://aidaredza.blogspot.com/

NEW LIFE CANCUN

2010-04-29T11:30:00.002+02:00

NEW LIFE CANCÚN

Artists working with interventions, activism and other participatory practices are invited to apply for participation in NEW LIFE CANCUN.
This experimental hospitality initiative intends to promote and facilitate participation during the UN Climate Change summit (COP 16) in Cancún, Mexico at the end of 2010 (Nov. 29th – Dec. 10th).
In continuation of Wooloo's NEW LIFE COPENHAGEN festival - in which we secured housing for more than 3.000 activists during the Copenhagen summit - NEW LIFE CANCUN is aiming to connect visiting activists and NGO employees with local families in the area of Cancún.
An area infamous for its vulnerability to climate disasters (mainly hurricanes), as well as for the high-CO2 emissions associated with its tourism sector.
Utilizing this meeting of hosts and guests in Cancun as our exhibition platform, artists and activists are invited to explore its social architecture and suggest work proposals of an awareness, educational and/or practical-action nature designed around the topic: “NEW WAYS OF LIVING TOGETHER”.
The deadline for work proposals is AUGUST 1st, 2010.
Please direct all research questions to contact@wooloo.org
Proposals must include a detailed budget. As fundraising efforts are still ongoing, we do not yet know the size of our final production budget. However, it wont be large - so please be aware that your project must be able to be realized in a low-budget manner!
NEW LIFE CANCUN is a collaboration between Wooloo.org and the Mexican climate change collective Carbonding

seni untuk aids

2010-04-16T00:50:00.003+02:00

LIKE A PRAYER - interview with unscientific malaysia

2010-03-31T21:36:00.000+02:00

interview with unscientific malaysia
to read pls. click on the link below:
http://unmalaysia.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/like-a-prayer/

MUST WATCH

2010-03-19T09:52:00.002+01:00

http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=46

LIKE A PRAYER

2010-03-19T09:32:00.000+01:00

This blog is about people's daily prayers. It is not a religious blog but a place where you can read a prayer. You can share your prayers by sending them here . Thank you for sharing and hope all your prayers will be answered.

http://justlike-a-prayer.blogspot.com/

book launch and art exhibition at ' skuespilhuset, copenhagen

2010-01-24T11:46:00.002+01:00

Launch of new book on art and world culture, 28 januar 2010 kl 17–18 i Skuespilhuset: 'Kunst og interkultur – inspiration til kunst- og kulturlivet' January 2010 at 17-18 in the playhouse: "Art and culture internationally - the inspiration for art and culture '

Klik her for at se invitationen: Click here to view the invitation:
flyer-bogfernisering.pdf flyer bogfernisering.pdf

To celebrate the release of CKIs new book 'Art and culture internationally - the inspiration for art and culture' invite to the reception center in the Playhouse, St. Annae Plads 36, where you could meet some of the people who speak in the book, which has helped to create it.

Live performances: the musicians Simona Abdalla and Bilal Irshed.
Meet among other visual artist Amir Zainorin, museum director Jette Sandahl, theater manager Mogens Holm, journalist May Carboni, consultant Anne Boukris, and more. DJ: Gazi Peker .

This is an open event with free admission for all from 16:45 pm.

The event takes place immediately after the end of the first day of the conference 'The art of inclusion', where 235 people culture gather to discuss inclusion and diversity in Danish cultural life.

poetisk Bureau

2010-01-20T11:00:00.003+01:00

Det Poetiske Bureau sparker atter gang i PoEtnisk Tirsdag i en lidt ny form. Multilingvist og husdigter Ole Lillelund er stadig vært, nu sammen med Mahasti Yazdi, men fremover kører vi med et fast program med inviterede digtere. Denne tirsdag er vi glade for at byde velkommen til Abdulmalik Beakasyar fra Afghanistan, Salim Assi fra Palæstina, Milena Rudez fra Eks-Jugoslavien og Amir Zainorin fra Malaysia. De vil læse op på deres modersmål og i visse tilfælde vil der også blive simultantolket på dansk.

i was invited to read poetry at the Poetisk bureau in copenhagen last night hosted by ole lillelund.

here are some pictures. please click headlines to see the names of all the poets participated. tq.

artwork of change

2010-01-18T09:17:00.001+01:00

“The best part about living in Copenhagen is that you are free to speak your mind and make your voice heard without fear of being put behind bars. I also like that things here are very transparent and you can have an open dialogue or discussion about what is going on.”
He said Malaysia has been blessed with its multi-cultural societies and people with different religions and beliefs living and working together for hundreds of years.
“But this blessing is in danger of being lost if we lock ourselves in our little territory and not dare to go out to see what else is there to learn. If we want to be an example to other people and countries that we can live in love, peace, harmony and that everyone is treated equally, then we have to be more open about things.”

this article was written by wong li za of the star newspaper, malaysia. to read more pls. click headline, tq

Global Village

2010-01-17T18:01:00.000+01:00

i will be part of this group show that will take part in alkmaar, holland. the exhibition will start from 24-31 january at the grand church of alkmaar, holland. please go to headline for futher reading, tq.

kunst og interkultur

2010-01-16T22:41:00.000+01:00

pls. click headline/link to read more, tq

space gambus experiment

2010-01-15T12:58:00.000+01:00

please check this experimental music by space gambus- of kamal sabran and mohd zulkifli ramli of malaysia.

semarak seni di kota london-kosmo

2010-01-15T11:23:00.003+01:00

(to read article pls. click headline for link, tq)

made in malaysia-amir zainorin

2010-01-15T11:15:00.001+01:00

The Opening-Pelita hati

2010-01-15T11:06:00.002+01:00

Muar-born artist Amir Zainorinâ€™s works have an international flavour. Muar-born artist Amir Zainorinâ € ™ s works have an international flavor. FRANCIS DASS writes on the man who spent his youth travelling and dabbling in many jobs before he found his calling. FRANCIS DASS writes on the man who spent his youth traveling and dabbling in many jobs before he found his calling.
AMIR Zainorin has found his true calling in life by becoming an artist. AMIR zainorin has found his true calling in life by becoming an artist.
If you look carefully at his paintings, youâ€™d be hard pressed to imagine that this unassuming and pleasant Muar-born man is the mind behind art pieces that have an international flavour… If you look carefully at his paintings, youâ € ™ d be hard pressed to imagine that this unassuming and pleasant Muar-born man is the mind behind art pieces that have an international flavor ...

Finding his identity through works of art

2010-01-15T10:54:00.001+01:00

"WHAT or where is my true home?"


‘T

it is a question commonly faced by most people who have relocated abroad.

It is also what constantly nags Malaysian artist Amir Zainorin, and one that found form of expression in his works of art.

Based in Copenhagen for the past seven years, Amir, 36, is constantly asked about his identity.

Delving deep into history and culture of his past, he came up with fifteen pieces of contemporary artwork that are being showcased in his first solo London exhibition at the Brick Lane Gallery in East London.

The exhibition entitled Mad(e) in Malaysia is being showcased by R A Fine Arts of Malaysia, and will run until March 30.

The exhibition was officially launched last night by the Malaysian Ambassador to Ireland Raja Nazrin Raja Aznam and attended by more than 60 people.

"The longer I stay away, the more time I spent looking into the question of identity and my roots," said Amir whose career spanned from advertising, banking, public relations, hotel and catering to driving school.

The diverse mix of jobs which saw him in different countries, such as Malaysia, America, Holland, Sweden and Denmark, enriched his experience and drove him further to satisfy his curiosity about his past.

"The question of identity is important while researching for this exhibition.

"I went back to study the history of the country from the era of colonisation to the modern-day Malaysia and beyond.

Amir's works reflect power relations, clash of traditions and modernity, East and West as he attempts to explore how the mass media shapes our identity and sense of belonging.

Speaking at the launch, Ambassador Raja Nazrin applauded Malaysia's pop artist as someone who had successfully blended the best of Malaysia and his experience abroad by producing works which are more universally accepted, rather than just Malaysian in nature.

"Amir's work is accessible on a global plane," he said.

One particularly poignant piece is entitled The Judge - Tunku portraying the first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman as a judge, with batik designs in the background and a prominent display of the national flower.

Director of R A Fine Arts Raja Ahmad Aminullah said he was encouraged by the positive response received at the launch.

"No doubt the artist was born in Malaysia but his works are easily recognisable by citizens of the world."

The guest curator for the exhibition is Badrolhisham Mohamed Tahir.

A father of two, Amir did his apprenticeship with Malaysian pop artist Ahmad Azhari and has held exhibitions in Copenhagen, Kuala Lumpur, Stockholm, Holland and New York

the judge - tunku, digital print on canvas, 2008

An artist abroad

2010-01-15T10:47:00.000+01:00

Living and working in Denmark now, Amir was back to visit his old haunts in KL for a few months. But not content to sit and do nothing, he started work on an installation called Art, Politics and Power at the National Art Gallery, represented by a wall filled by makeshift flags, mostly created from bits of newspapers and satay skewers.
Sporting the mandatory Bohemian ponytail, Amir comes across as a fairly likeable person - always grinning, with a youthful, early 20s look and attitude that belies his 42 years, his sparse frame clad in a brand new white T-shirt.
"I get kicked and I get a kick out of it! I can be me, that's the closest thing I get to being myself, being honest to what I'm doing," says Amir, explaining his reasons for becoming an artist.
(to read more please click the headlines, tq)

Pop Ficiton- 3 Pop Artist from Malaysia

2010-01-15T10:34:00.000+01:00

“Some of his famous paintings include football legend Mokhtar Dahari and the nation’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, which are now private collections at the National Art Gallery,” said Norsita.
“I was inspired by him to become an artist at a time when I did not know what to do with my life,” said Amir, who has made Denmark his base for the last six years.

(to read more, please click headline for the link.)

POP ART- MALAYSIA

2010-01-15T10:01:00.001+01:00

"With his involvement in the Pop genre, Jeri has been given the title of 'Pop icon' or a 'legend' in the Pop genre in Malaysia. Even so, what is interesting about this exhibition is not how Jeri and his apprentices display their talents in the ways of Pop but 'different' they are in discussing mundane things especially politics. I believe they aren't the only ones expressing their opinions on politics through arts. There are many others. Therefore the question is what new things are being introduced by Jeri and his apprentices in the language of Pop? And why Pop? Is it perhaps even a mistake to categorize them as Pop artists? If we cannot answer these questions, perhaps there is a benefit for us if we examine closely the reality of Pop art such as what happened in the West six decades ago. I also would like to mention, since the creation of 'readymades' by Dadaism, art can exist in a variety of forms and materials, can be located anywhere for any reason at all; can be brought anywhere for any audience, whether it be in a gallery, museum or a garden or public space; in fact it can even be placed in the middle of a garbage dump. Maybe these are the questions that Jeri mulled over while he was still alive; what does it mean to be a contemporary artist? …The artworks which are being exhibited are clearly attempts to break from the mould in art. Obviously this teases our consciousness. This act of teasing and the space it creates results in a democratic space of knowledge where different interpretations are not just arbitrary but take place in a horizon where its probability is different in features. Maybe it is this difference which causes us to categorize them as Pop artists."

(Badrolhisham Mohamad Tahir, guest curator for the exhibition)

please click the above headline to read more)

amir zainorin

digital print on paper , from the stamp series-2008

amir zainorin, the sunday times, digital print on paper-2008

Flags

2010-01-14T12:14:00.006+01:00

'This is derived from our desire to show power, be it of conquering new physical territory or epistemological space. The 99 names of God printed on 99 flags are the characteristics of God which can lead to spiritual power and closeness to God.'

to read more please go to link below, tq

http://www.amirzainorin.dk/press_5.html

The Balloon Park, Copenhagen, Denmark

2010-01-14T11:17:00.004+01:00

the beatnik poet ole lillelund infront of his house at the balloon park with pic. of himself and chairil anwar

The balloon Park

The balloon park is an independent self governing institutuion situated on Artillerivej, next to Amagerfælles and 5 minutes walk to the Islands brygge’s harbour in Copenhagen. The house or ’ rooms ’ are built of wooden tree painted in Swedish red with a military green door and white window. It was an old military camp that was built before the First World War around 1880s. The army used to store the air balloons in a big tree house next to the camp where they used them to protect the country from an air attack. The big tree house is now a horse riding school. It is also said that the army used to fly in the air balloon, so once up in the air, they could test and see how far the canon ball goes once it is being fired. It is off course a much easier way now on how to test the efficiency of a weapon and that is simply by clicking on a few buttons. Anyway that was how they did it in the old days and that is how the balloon park got its name.

The camp was taken over by the German in 1943 and after WW2, balloon park was also used to house the German refugees. In 1948, the place was taken over by the Copenhagen commune administration and the place was turn into a dormitory for male students studying in Copenhagen. There used to be an inspector that will go around the area to make sure that the rules were being kept but that didn’t stop the students from smuggling their women friends inside.

It was through Ole Lillelund, a beatnik poet and retired punk rock singer that I met at the Asian institute Christmas party, that introduced me to Erik, a computer animator, who later rent us out his house in the balloon park for a couple of years. We moved in the two rooms house around April 2005 and had our own little garden. Erik was very good with plants, so when spring came , all the flowers, from tulips, vintergækker to roses started to spring up. We didn’t have to do much gardening accept from watering the plants because Erik had pretty much did the hard work.

The rules in the balloon park are that everyman is entitled to have one room. Most rooms have its own fire place and a kitchen sink. We are not allowed to use the electrical heater and that is fair enough since we don’t have to pay for the electrical bill. We used the good old gas that came in in a yellow tank that we bought from the gas man that came around every now and then.

We had to walk about 15 meters out to the common toilets. There were about 10 small rooms with one small toilet bowl for the little children. The places were kept clean most of the time and nobody had heard of any kind of diseases being passed around since the place was inhabited. The toilets were quite airy and well ventilated since all the small rooms didn’t have any roof on top. This made it easier for you to hear your next door neighbor’s breathing or moaning when you are sitting next to each other. You can imagine what other sounds that can come out from that intimate moment. You could feel both disgusting and funny at the same time. Yes, you get used to it but I still at times feel rather awkward when caught in that circumstances. One morning I had the most painful stomach ache and I had to be in the toilet for a couple of hours. There was nothing that can stop me from crying and moaning of pain in the toilet but I was lucky enough not to feel embarrass because miraculously I received no visitors accept for my wife who came to check and see if I was still alive.
We also had a little piss bucket that we kept in the house and most of the ballooners each has one. It comes in handy especially when you had to pee in the middle of the night and didn’t feel like going out all the way to the toilet, especially not during the winter time. Those that don’t have a piss bucket normally did it in their own garden. It could stinks of piss after a few days but the smell is gone as along as you give the piss spot a rinse with cold water.

We were very lucky with the bathroom as far as the distance is concern. The bathrooms were right in front of where we live and it consists of a changing room, a guest room and a shower room. The first thing you see when you enter the bathroom is the changing room. There are a few clothes hangers attached to the benches that sit in the end of the room and on the wall were notice boards which serve announcements and the news about the place. On some occasions you could get free concert tickets because Thomas, our front door neighbor is a very well known concert organizer who have worked with the Beatles producers and had organized a concert with lead guitar of Buena Vista Social club, would put the free extra tickets up for the ballooners. One time he gave me a few tickets to Al Cooper’s concert, one of Dylan’s main keyboardists in the 70s which took place at Amager’s bio. The next day after the concert I asked him if he had gone there himself. He simply said no and said that the man was an asshole. He didn’t want to further explain why and I didn’t want to know more on what had happened behind the stage scene, but what I know was I had quite a really funky 70s night that night.

You have to past the changing room if you were a guest living in the guest room. The room is 15kr a night with three extra beds, the cheapest in town and probably the whole of Scandinavia. One time, there was an Australian guy living in the guest room. He was invited to stay as Ulla’s guest. Ulla is a ceramist artist, cheerful person, had her work-studio behind the bathroom and lives in the balloon park with her husband ‘captain’ Jacob who sails as his hobby. The Australian chap, around his mid 50s was an old American hippie stranded in Tasmania and eventually got married with one the local Tasmanian women. He off course feels right away at home here in the Balloon Park and love going in the shower where I first actually talked to him. The shower room is also actually a place where you could do some socializing by having some small talks and conversations while scrubbing your head, shampooing your hair or shaving the hair between your legs. Anyway, the Australian or American guy, or half Australian half American became acquainted to us and would drop by to say hi and one time came to visit us around 8am when I was busy preparing to go to my language school and at the same time trying to get our little son ready to go to the kindergarten. He looked as he had just woken up but were fully energized and very gay telling us about his old hippie days and would leave us a visit Tasmania tourist leaflet with a picture of Tasmanian devil with his own added bubble script saying ’ gidday princess, haven’t you miss home yet’. He told me to give it to the crown princess Mary if I see her but I sadly lost the leaflet when I actually met her.

At another time, Ulla also had a Swedish man from Gothenburg as a guest who was staying at the guest room for a couple of weeks and was doing a photographers course in Copenhagen. He would also come and visit us often during his stay. He told us that he had this theme about father and son that he was working on since he himself have had a kind of strange love hate relation towards his father to whom he doesn’t see often. He became interested in the story between me and my dad, pretty similar to his with the exceptional of the hate relation. He took pictures of us as a family altogether in bed with his old haselblad camera and then would asked us if we can all took our clothes off. I felt something strange about it, not that i have any prejudice about taking nude pictures, because I myself have had a couple of times drawn from a life nude model, but I guess I didn’t like the way he sounded when he asked us , and so I without hesitation said no. He also took singles pictures of me with my work in the background and came back the next day saying that he had to do it again because they were not good enough.
After a few days I realised that he would often visited me when Pia and Ilyas were not around and something saying some really strange depleted things and at times coming to me very strong. I felt very uncomfortable in his company after this and started to avoid him as much as I can. I guess he must have felt it. We didn’t see him when he left the balloon park but he returned back the spoon and bowl which he borrowed to use for eating his morning cereals in front of our door. A couple months later we received a letter from him saying that he was on his way to see his girlfriend in America and asked us to give the photos of the people that he took when he was at the balloon park. The black and white photos did actually turned out pretty good and we were quite pleased with them but we never heard of him after that.

We also had our own guest staying in the guest room. Tony Kusuma is an Indonesian friend that both Pia and I knew when we were in Jogjakarta Indonesia. He was a very helpful person and would drove both me and Pia around in his moppet in the busy city. His trip here to Denmark was arranged by Jesper, whom we got to know before he left for his field work over there. We gave Jesper Tony’s contact number and told him that Tony would be glad to help and show him around, and indeed he was. So in returned for Tony’s good deeds, Jesper arranged that Tony could come here to study in ’Højskole’ in Herning. At the end of his 6 months stay, he came to visit us in the balloon park and would sleep for the next couple of weeks in the bench in the kitchen, dining room, studio all put together in one. The room was about 30sqm and it was beginning to feel a little crowded and also a bit inconvenience after a while since we have to use the kitchen every morning while Tony was still asleep. We decided to rent the guest room for Tony for the rest of his stay here. Just like me, he also had a little problem adjusting with the shower room situation. One time he came running out of the shower back to our place while his hair was still covered with shampoo and said that he had to get out of there because a woman just entered. He was also afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control his ‘little brother’.

There are five showers sticking out of the ceiling with two medium size mirrors against the wall and a few big size plastic bathtubs enough to fit a little baby elephant in the shower room. There were no patricians whatsoever and so going to the bathroom to take a shower became one of my great challenges in life. Coming from the east, growing up in Malaysia as a Muslim and Malay values and culture, this is something very understandable. As a Muslim , you are not allowed to be alone in a room with another woman even though you are both fully clothes. This is to avoid slander and gossips.
I remember when I was in the USA that I was feeling rather shy when I had to shower together with other men in the men’s bathroom in the university’s gymnasium, or felt very uncomfortable going into a sauna when there was another person around. But I soon get used to it and thought that ok, we are from the same species. But together with a woman, or women, total strangers, that was something else. I didn’t go into the shower the first two days when we moved into the balloon park. From our glass window, we could see who goes in or out of the shower. On the third day, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I simply had to wash myself. So after checking the bathroom scene for a few hours and seeing that nobody has gone in the bathroom, I quickly sneaked in and had my long needed shower. It was a great relief to be clean again but at the same time I was feeling rather nervous in the shower room with the hope that nobody will come in while I was in there, especially not a woman. Nobody did come this time but my luck ran out after a few times and I was trapped in a shower with another woman in the same bathroom. I can’t really recall with whom I had the shower with but I remember I felt very uneasy, shy, nervous and guilty. Uneasy because I was alone in a room with a naked woman who was a total stranger, shy because we both were bare naked, nervous because never was I in that kind of situation and guilty because my religion forbid me to do so. But above all was this feeling of guilt that I had to deal with for the next few weeks. I was beginning to feel frustrated, confused and afraid because the sins I committed by sharing the shower room with women was piling up and there is nothing mush I could do about it.
But luckily it was the same religion, Islam, that brought my soul back to peace and came to terms with the odd situation. The Koran says if you are trapped in a desperate situation, you are allowed to do what was forbidden. Like for example, if you are dying of hunger and there is nothing to eat except for pork meat or a dead corps, then you are allowed to do so. In my case, I had nowhere else to go to wash myself. I wouldn’t die off course but I will surely stinks like hell if I don’t do so. So naturally I chose to share the bathroom with the women and the men, just like what the rest of the ballooners were doing. My main intention to go to the shower is to wash myself and once I had that cleared in the head, then I don’t feel so bad anymore about having those showers. After a few months, I don’t feel the guilt anymore, and going to the bathroom wasn’t a big problem, it’s just that you see that you have different parts of the body with different shapes and sizes with one common interest, to get a good wash. Whether I sin or not, that is another case but let the Big Guy be the judge, He is the most knowledgeable, the omnipresent and the most forgiven person in the whole universe. But off course if I have a choice, I still would prefer to have a shower on my own and I guess the same goes to most of people that live in the balloon park and perhaps most of us.

Another interesting thing about the shower was that we sometimes had to share it with dogs. Sometimes there were people who bring their dogs with them to have shower together. I don’t really mind dogs even though it is forbidden in Islam to have direct contact with them especially when they are wet. I am not really sure the reason why but some said that it has got to do something with rabbis. Anyway, as much as I don’t mind having them around me, I think I do mind having them in the shower room. To me dogs or simply animals do not belong in the common bathroom where you share it with many other people which also include children and little babies. My son for example like to have a little bath in the bathtub and these same bathtubs were used to wash their pit-bull or longhaired dog that cleans the dirt when it moves. It is true that dog can be man’s best friend but you have to be somewhat selfish thinking not to leave your best friend out of the common bathroom.

There are over 100 inhabitants in the balloon park.
As exciting as the name of the place, so are the people that live in the area. There all kind of people that lives in the balloon park. there are lawyers, teachers, pædegogs, artist, poets, carpenters,students, musicians, pensioners, drunkards, and hash dealers.

( thi stext was written somewhere in 2006-7)

to god fearing people

2010-01-14T10:56:00.002+01:00

be fear of god, and be very fear of yourself for fearing other people from using the word god.

amir-10jan2010

The Malays, Allah, God and attacked on the churches. help me God.

2010-01-12T09:28:00.004+01:00

after david hockney

digital plrint on paper, 2009

The Malays, Allah, God and attacked on the churches.

It is 0 degrees here in Copenhagen and the news that I read about Malaysia the last couple of days has somewhat gave me the heat to cope up with the unusual cold winter weather that has hit Denmark and Europe.. The heat is the news I read from the online newspapers about a church in Kuala Lumpur that has been burnt and a few more that were attacked by an unknown group of people.

Nobody has came out to claim the attacks but it is believed that the controversy came after the court decision to allow the use of the name ‘Allah’ to Catholic newspaper, The Herald. It has marked a black day to Malaysia, a multicultural societies that have been living side by side for hundreds of years and a huge step back for racial harmony.

But I am not totally surprised by the attacks because racial tension has been there in the country all the time. It was just a matter of time before it exploded again. On 13st of May 1969, a riot broke up in Kuala Lumpur between the two largest groups of people inhabiting Malaysia. These two groups are the Malays who made up 60 % of the population and Chinese who are about 29%. This riot ended up with hundreds of people being killed which brought the country to a state of emergency. The cause of this riot was cited because of the New Economic Policy, which was introduced by the government that gives special privileges to the Malay who were perceived to be more poor and rural than the Chinese. But for many years now the biggest income gaps are not between the Chinese and the Malays but among the Malays themselves. So class differences are also more of concern to most Malaysian than ethnicity.

But the problem is made more delicate than the above. The federal constitution states that Malay is Islam and Islam is Malay which states that a Malay is a person who professes to be a Muslim and habitually speaks the Malay language and adhere to the Malay customs. Based on this, the federal and state government administer, plan and implement various governance policies, touching every aspects of the Malay-Muslim religious life.

To the Malays the word Allah is everything from the pillar of religion, faith, norms and values in life, as the Malays are automatically Muslim. They are born and die as a Muslim. The Malays are very sensitive with regards to issues concerning Islam as the feel that they own Islam and the social propriety ship couldn’t be question.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor of Social Anthropology Prof Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin said ‘ the social reality complexity of Malays in leading the Islamic way of life becomes more difficult when Islam has been turned into a symbol and political ideology, adding that it has brought political Islam into the global arena and further worsened the situation’.

The Malays feeling towards the word Allah are quite similar to the feeling of Muslims all over the world toward their prophet Muhammad. Muhammad means everything to them and in many cases more than their own family. So it is not surprise if some of them would do anything in order to protect their prophet and their religion.

Since religions and matters regarding the special privileges given to the Malays are sensitive issues to talk about, Malaysians in general don’t questions or discuss about it so much among themselves. What happened is that tensions about inequality and injustice keep building up and that it is very difficult for them to trust each other. But the reality is most people don’t want to create problems. Ironically, people here are united and will trust each other in corruptions activities. The rich Malays, rich Chinese and rich Indians will work and agree with each other when they feel that they all can get something out of it. It all boils down to their own benefit. Here we see that there is this class struggle rather than ethnicity.

The problems also lay in the system in which produce differences and polarization and this started in vernacular school which we spend 13 years and was send to our respective ethnic groups.

Malaysia has been blessed by its multi cultural societies, and people with different religions and beliefs, living and working together for hundreds of years, but this blessing is in danger of being lost because we are only like to see our own navel, and failed to see what is a round us, so despite travelling a lot, many of us are still ignorant.

There are a large number of people in Malaysia, particularly the Malays who against the use of the word Allah by non Muslim. In Facebook a group called ‘ Opposing the use of the name Allah by non-Muslim’ have about 200,000 members and growing . Peaceful demonstrations are being held in mosques to support the idea.. This way of thinking is similar to a group of people here in Denmark. Lead by Pia Kjærsgaard of the Danish Folk Party who only thinks that Denmark is only for ethnic Danish and everyone else should conform to the Danish values or they should leave the country.. There is some truth in that because in order to have contact with human full’s potential, the immigrant has to somewhat learn or embrace their new environment that they are living in and at the same time retain their own culture. But it has to work both ways. Pia Kjærsgaard and her party members has to open up and learn about other people and their cultures. If she keeps her door closed, than her world and those people alike will be a bit smaller, a bit narrower and a bit lonelier.

A big wall is built in the name of Allah, God. Miles Davis says’ we don’t own anything’. Only if we all could learn that we don’t really own anything in this world , than we will be a free man. Otherwise we will be a prisoner of our own conscience.

invisible wall

2010-01-09T02:25:00.002+01:00

today, an invisible wall is built in the name of allah=god in malaysia to separate you and me, us and other. we have to learn that we dont own anything in this world to be a free man, otherwise we will be a prisoner of our own concience.

jacob holdt's opening at lousiana- faith, hope and love

2009-10-02T10:44:00.002+02:00

pia and jacob

pia, malika and ilyas at the opening

ilyas amir poulsen

narrow escape from a shark

2009-09-30T09:13:00.002+02:00

Onsdag 8/4 fra kl. 20-23: Sydøstasiatisk filmaften: Lillelund/Zainorin

Gratis adgang for alle

Verdenspremiere på den malaysiske instruktør Amir Zainorins poesifilm, Narrow Escape From A Shark, hvor digteren Ole Lillelund læser op forskellige steder i København. Zainorin introducerer og viser tillige en anden film om malaysisk kunst. Aftenen sluttes af med Adi Yadonis dokumentar Reflections of the Misunderstood Mat Rockers om undergrundspunkscenens udvikling i Singapore fra 1970'erne til i dag, med en kort introduktion af Ole Lillelund.

chairil anwar-nattens stemme- gendigtet af ole lillelund

2009-09-29T14:45:00.003+02:00

Chairil Anwar : NATTENS STEMME

Poesi, paperback, gendigtet af Ole Lillelund, 90 sider, 120 kr, udkommet 19/6 2009
ISBN978-87-92280-08-4

cover of chairil anwar by amir zainorin. collage on canvas, 2003

Chairil Anwar, grundlæggeren af den modernistiske poesi i Indonesien, har alt for længe været et totalt ukendt navn i Vesten. Denne situation råder Det Poetiske Bureaus Forlag bod på med denne enestående gendigtning af multilingvisten Ole Lillelund; gå ikke glip af denne unikke mulighed for at smage på en fremmedartet og dog velkendt poesi fra et hjørne af verden du normalt ikke hører så meget fra. Køb nu

Anmeldelse i Urban
Anmeldelse i Politiken

Guanoelegier-ole lillelund

2009-09-29T14:35:00.005+02:00

Ole Lillelund : GUANOELEGIER
Poesi, paperback, 80 sider, 120 kr. inklusive cd, udkommer 10/7 2009

ISBN978-87-92280-09-1

cover of ole lillelund by amir zainorin.collage on canvas.2003

Ole Lillelund har snart prydet Bureauet med sin skarpslebne poesi i to år og nu pryder han også vort forlags katalog med sin første udgivelse siden sangbogen 'Sange fra kanten af en blå zafir' der udkom for fem år siden. Guanoelegier er ikke bare en bidsk kommentar til Rilke, men en sylespids poe

malaysian arts festival denmark 2009

2009-09-29T14:25:00.000+02:00

UNCUT09: MALAYSIAN ARTS FESTIVAL 5 -15 August 2009

The first Malaysian Arts festival in Denmark will be presenting a number of recognized artists from Malaysia who will be making live performances within the two weeks. The festival will give the public in Copenhagen and Roskilde a possibility to expand their knowledge of Malaysian art and expression.
The tile ‘Uncut’ has a double meaning. Part of the title is referred to the uncensored and open dissemination of art form. The other part of ‘Uncut is referred to the same word pronunciation in Malay ‘ angkat ‘, which means to lift. One of the festival’s goals is to lift and introduce Malaysian art to a new audience here in Denmark.
The public can experience the dancer and choreographer Aida Redza (b. 1969). Here in Denmark is Aida known for her performance at Kronborg in 2002 and her part in the Images of Asia 2003. Aida is one of Malaysia’s most intense and controversial choreographers. Her dance and choreography explores the relation between dream, play, resistance and revolution from a perspective of a Muslim woman.
20 Malaysian visual artists will exhibit their work in a group exhibition. Among them are National Laureate A.Samad Said, Ruzekki Harris, Samsudin Wahab, Zulkiflee Zainal Abidin, Suddin Lappo, Melissa Lin, Rahmat Haron and Haslin Ismail.
The public will have the possibility to participate in a workshop with one of the artists; Fathullah Luqman Yusuff ( b. 1972 ). Fathullah, who is both singer/songwriter and visual artist deals with art therapy as a tool to work with children and teenagers.
At the festival there will there be presented a numbers of Malaysian short films. You can watch film interviews with a couple of the front figures in the Malaysian art world. The films debate about multiculturalism and tradition versus modernity. The interviews also debate the role of art in the society.
At last there will be poetry reading, music and dance performance during the festival while a variety of Malaysian food are being served.

About the organizer:

Uncut09 is organized by Malaysian visual artist Amir Zainorin and volunteers from the association Jambatan in cooperation with Malaysian artist and curator Nur Hanim Khairuddin, who is the editor for art magazine Sentap in Malaysia. Jambatan, which is a Malay word meaning ‘bridge’, seeks to build up a network between Danish and Asian artists. Uncut09 is organized with support from the National Art Gallery Malaysia, University of Science Malaysia, Sentap and Tourism Malaysia.

PROGRAM

The official opening of the Festival will be officiated by H.E. Dato' Kamarudin Mustafa, from Embassy of Malaysia, Sweden on 7 Aug 2009 at 5 pm at Gallery Shambala, Rosengården 7, 1177

København K.

GALLERI SHAMBALA

Rosengården 7, 1177 København K. TEL: 2940 9896

5 – 15 August

Group art exhibition of 20 contemporary artists from Malaysia

Opening time: 15.00- 18.00 Mon-Fri

10.00 – 14.00 Saturday

MUSEET FOR SAMTIDSKUNST

Stændertorvet 3D, 4000 Roskilde. TEL: 4631 6570

14 – 15 August

Screening of films from Malaysia

Day 1: 14. August KL. 19.00 – 22.00

Video interview and Short films

Day 2: 15. August KL. 19 – 22.00

Video interview and Collection of films from University of Science Malaysia

VERDENSKULTURCENTRET

11 – 13 August

Nørre Alle 7, 2200 København. TEL: 3536 0528

Day 1: Tuesday 11. August

COLLABORATORIUM PROCESS – KL 16.30 – 20.00

A studio based process will facilitate participants to experience a collaborative work with Aida Redza, Fathullah Luqman Yusuff and Amir Zainorin towards giving opportunity to create and showcase an interdisciplinary performance work to be presented on the 13 August.

Day 2: Wednesday August 12. 2009

DANCE WORKSHOPS KL. 10.00 – 19.00

Salen: Verdenskulturcentret

Workshop Fee: 100 Kr. per session Aida Redza - a Malaysian dancer and choreographer will conduct her first new dance workshop rooted in tradition. The dance workshop is open to all interested in the process of 3R - Ritual, Rhythm, and Repetition in performance of the expressive body. The workshop is open to all interested. There will be two sessions of the workshop; A slow Intermediate class for young and new beginners from 10 - 12 am, and an advance Intermediate class from 5 -7 pm.

Interested participants please contact Aida Redza at tel: +45 2227 9072 or email aida.mohdredza@gmail.com for dance workshop collaboratotium process.

COLLABORATORIUM PROCESS – KL 13.00 – 16.00

A studio based process will facilitate participants to experience a collaborative work with Aida Redza, Fathullah Luqman Yusuff and Amir Zainorin towards giving opportunity to create and showcase an interdisciplinary performance work to be presented on the 13 August.

Day 3: Thursday August 13. 2009

SALEN: VERDENSKULTURCENTRET

ARTWORKSHOP - KL. 10.00 – 13.00

An art workshop will be conducted by Malaysian artist Fathullah Luqman Yusuff,

He will be making a group painting workshop session with the theme – spontaneity, impromptu, experimental and playing with color lines.

Participants will be invited to use their whole body in relation to the canvas which is placed on the floor rather than painting on an easel or against the wall.

FREE ENTRANCE

Interested participants please contact Amir at Tel: +45 2940 9896 or email amirzainorin@gmail.com

SHOW/PERFORMANCE AT VERDENSKULTURCENTRET – KL. 18.00 – 22.00

A special performance will be staged at Salen and Cafetaria Verdenskulturcentret.

kl. 18.00 - 18.45 Poetry reading

Venue: Cafetaria

by Fathullah Luqman, Amir Zainorin and guest poet Ole Lillelund from Denmark.

kl. 19. 00 – 19.30 Music performance

by Fathullah Luqman - singer/songwriter, visual artist and poet.

He is known as an outsider edge musician and since 1997 he's been trained by artists from Malaysia and Indonesia in a more personal method of learning, leaning towards figurative expressionist style. Fathullah has done both solo and group exhibitions and he is also involved in art workshop/art therapy session as a medium to use art to reach out to society especially to teenagers and children.

kl. 19.45 – 20.15 Dance Performance

Venue- Salen

by Aida Redza – dancer and choreographer.

kl. 20.30 – 21.00 Collaboratorium showcase

Venue: Salen

by Aida Redza, Fathullah Luqman and Amir Zainorin.

22.00 Closed

Entrance: 75 kr inclusive of Malaysian food which will be served during the show.

For more information please visit the festival blog at www.jambatan.blogspot.com

interview with arteri

2009-09-29T11:26:00.002+02:00

please check this interview that i did with sharon chin of arteri last august 2009.

here is the link:

http://www.arterimalaysia.com/2009/08/24/scandinavian-sambal-uncut09-malaysian-arts-festival/

interview-space 16 online gallery

2009-09-29T11:19:00.001+02:00

I grew up in an environment of popular culture. Watching Walt Disney, the Lone Ranger, Six Million Dollar Man, Superman, to mention a few. My father was a singer in a Ghazal (Band) back in the 60's, so music has also been a big part of my life.

*The Dance, 170cm x 120cm, digital c print on paper, 2009
Image courtesy of A. Zainorin

[*MORE... Malaysian typical dances on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imiYNPEPS-M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnUagvHGA2A&feature=related]

One of the main inspirations of making collage is because of its simplicity and the idea that you don’t necessarily have to buy paints or colors to make art.

Can you discuss your process in general? How does it all start, what techniques and materials do you use?

I have worked with many different materials. I first started with oil, and later on switched to acrylic and at the same time started to make collage and assemblage from objects I found from the street.

did this interview with sand t of space 16 online gallery recently.

check this link please..

http://as16online.blogspot.com/2009/08/featured-artist-amir-zainorin.html

The Global Village exhibition Holland

2009-09-28T23:39:00.000+02:00

the cross-print and pen on paper-2009

can be viewed at Grand Saint Laurens church of Alkmaar, Holland.The exhibition will take place from Saturday 23 January 2010 till Sunday 31 January 2010.

The theme of Global Village is globalisation (like internet, media, mass consumption and climate change). We don�t want a pro- or con-globalisation exhibition. We see globalisation as just there, with it�s effects and opportunities (like this project). 55 artists from all 6 continents show innovating art (like installation, video en digital art) about this theme.

At the exhibition 55 artists with innovating work (like installation, video and digital art) show their art about the theme of globalisation (like internet, media, mass consumption and climate change). The artists are coming from all 6 continents; Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, see Global Village artists.

bbc

2009-09-28T21:46:00.000+02:00

perhaps a couple of useful article about my art. please check out the link below.

new straits times

http://www.nstp.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/2512157/Article/indexpull_html?query_start=7&query=%27%27

kosmo

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2009&dt=0401&pub=Kosmo&sec=Varia&pg=va_01.htm

the dance

2009-09-26T22:10:00.000+02:00

skraldekunst workshop-junk art workshop with heerup museum 2009

2009-09-26T21:56:00.000+02:00

just finished a week long workshop with children from 10 different school in copenhagen. the workshop took place at heerup museum and at the radhudspladsen. the workshop is in conjunction with the environmental summit 2009 in
copenhagen.

Heerup Museum and the Malaysian-born artist Amir Zainorin will host garbage workshops, where you can build your own "garbage car" from recycled.....

http://www.buster.dk/b/a2.lasso?tt=f&fid=1&s=2009009&s=2009009&ser=2213

egghead

2009-09-26T11:28:00.000+02:00

jacob holdt

2009-09-26T11:21:00.000+02:00

jacob holdt will be having his solo exhibition at louisiana museum of modern art in humlebæk in denmark and the opening will be this thursday 1 oct 2009. jacob is a great artist even though he doesnt want to admit it. he said he is just a photographer.

i was introduced to jacob thru my wife pia poulsen a few years ago when i came to denmark. pia travelled with jacob to new york some years ago visiting his old friends from the ' american pictures'. i would strongly recommend you to read the book 'american pictures' which unfold many untold stories about the people in america. i told my american friend about the book and when he saw it, he said to me that he had to be out of the usa to know more about what is going on in his own country. i felt the same because i never heard or seen any pictures of the hard core poor black and white americans when i was in the usa back in the late 80s. and those were considered to be the better days in the states than it is now.

jacob holdt-digital print-2009

Vagabond years
Arriving in America with only $40 for a short visit, a young Dane, Jacob Holdt ended up staying over five years, hitchhiking more than 100,000 miles throughout the USA.

He sold blood plasma twice weekly to be able to buy film. He lived in more than 400 homes - from the poorest migrant workers to America's wealthiest families such as the Rockefellers. They not only gave him a hospitality and warmth, but their continuing friendship to this day.

pleae read more at this links.

http://www.american-pictures.com/

back to zero

2009-09-02T14:38:00.000+02:00

my email address was hacked last couple of weeks. so i had to closed my account and my blog. but this will be my new blog. for a start and since malaysia, the country i was born in just celebrated it s independence day on 31st august, i attached one of my works that was inspired by this celebrated pic of the first prime minister of malaysia, tunku abdul rahman.