The Batang Kali Massacre

The Batang Kali massacre took place on the 12 Dec1948 when british soldiers killed 24 unarmed villagers during the Malayan Emergency. Despite several investigations and evidence, no charges were made to the perpetrators.


These are some of my drawings on the massacre.
They were done with indian ink on papers

Spice Up Yor Life

Continuing my spice project, something that I have been working on for the last few years. One of the interesting thing I came across was the birth of capitalism which began in the early 17th century, with the Dutch indies companies monopolised the spice trade in 1602.

Balik Kampung - Going back Home Solo exhibition at balai Seni Lukis Melaka 2015

I had a solo exhibiton in Melaka, one of the places i have grown up. The show is called ' Balik Kampung' or Going back home.
Here is some pics and text from the exhibition.

Going back Home 
Balai Seni Lukis Melaka

1 December 2015 - 31 January 2016

I spent part of my life growing up in Melaka and still go back to Melaka when I am in Malaysia, because of my mother who still lives there. When I was invited by the government of Melaka to have an exhibition at the Balai Seni Melaka, Balik kampong or Going Back Home seemed to be the most natural title for a show. I am going back home - to my roots.
My occupation by the concept of home and looking for my roots has grown out of my personal history.
Balai Seni Lukis Melaka is located close to the ‘kampung’ where I grew up. One of the places we used to live was at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, close to the historical building Stadhuys, which was built by the Dutch occupants in 1650. So the area around Balai Seni Lukis is filled of my childhood memories.
Due to my mother’s employment, my brother, sisters and I lived in several different places. When I was three years old, we moved from Johor to Kelantan and by the time I was eight we moved back to Muar to live with my grandparents.  After that we moved back to Melaka to live with my mother.
In Melaka alone we moved several times living and moving from Matakuching to Tun Tan Cheng Lock to Garden City to Ayer Molek and to Kandang.
After completing my High school, I moved to Perak to further my studies at the Polytechnic Ungku Omar. I stayed in there for 2 ½ years before starting a new job working in Agro Bank in Kuala Lumpur.
The bank job didn't suit me. After the minimum requirement of my working contract, I left to USA to continue my studies. I spent one and a half year in Conway Arkansas and then to Kansas City for over three years before moving back to Kuala Lumpur at the age of 27.
After hopping from one job to another, I ended up working with advertising in a public relations branches.
Feeling frustrated with my life and work, I quit my fulltime job after some years in search for a new way of life. I met the late Malaysian Pop artist Jeri Azhari the same year, and fell in love with painting.  I also started to express myself by writing.
The change of ‘profession’ came as a big surprise to my family and friends. The pressure of being ‘successful’ and the competition for material gain is high in Malaysia. The expectation, such as; Who can come back ‘home’ with a bigger car during Hari Raya led me to distance myself from my own family. This distance has also brought me to question Who is my real ‘family’?
I moved to live and work in the Perhentian Island in 1998, moving back and forth to Kuala Lumpur for a period of three years. After this period I became a residence artist at Jaguar Motors Art Space in Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur in 2000.
Coming back from a few month stay at the Perhentian islands, I realized that I had lost everything that I owned in the studio, including personal belongings and all my artwork from paintings, drawings, prints, collages, assemblages, old photographs and writings.  The owner had rent out the space to a businessman and they had moved all my belongings by the roadside. It went missing  after 3 days being left outside. This event more or less erased my historical past and symbolized another new beginning for me.
I moved back to live with my mum in Melaka for a few months and back to Kuala Lumpur after that.
In 2002, I met my Danish wife Pia in Jogyakarta during a visit to Indonesia. We got married in Melaka a few months later, and moved to Copenhagen where we have been based since.
These constant moves -  physically and mentally have made me think and question where and what is home?
When in Denmark I am longing to come back home to Malaysia, but when in Malaysia I also miss my new home in Denmark!
Closely related to the concept of ‘Home’, are the two themes; identity and power. These issues occupies me, looking at my home country from the distance.
The artworks Batu Api and Duit Kopi are from my Malay idiom series.  In search for my Malay identity I realized that these old Malay idioms can still be used until the present day.
The installation Batu api, is a community based art project involving local children and students from UITM in Melaka.
Duit Kopi reminds us, that power can be bought or gained by giving presents in a form of money.
 The‘Migration’ reflects the issue surrounding migration globally. People from different places would risk their lives to seek for refuge and better life in another place.
Moving from one place to another, I had to deal with the authorities looking for a new home in another country.  Denmark is one of the most difficult places to migrate to, due to the strict laws on migration. Conditions for getting a PR are given separately due to your background and profession. It took me 13 years living in Denmark before I was given a permanent resident ship.  During that time I felt powerless and my fate to continue living with my family were reassessed every two years at the immigration office.  
The Keris/Cricket series are sculptures and is taken from a historical perspective which refers to the colonial and post colonial issues. Cricket is a ball game which was introduced to Malaya when the british was ruling the country. 
Keris is an ancient malay weapon used for fighting.  In this artwork, the cricket bat is sculpted partly into a shape of a keris  and logos from as Nike and Twitter.
Since Malaysia’s independent in 1957, the country tried to reestablish their national cultural identity based on malay values. These values however are challenged by big global corporations and social medias .
In ‘Portrait currencies’, current Malaysian Prime Minister is portrayed using real paper currencies such as ringgit, us dollars, Indonesian rupee, Thai bath etc.
A series of artwork called ‘ 5 cents portrait ‘ is ‘painted’ with oil using Malaysian 5 cents coins. These portraits are taken from  paper currencies such as Benjamin Franklin from US dollar,  Queen Elizabeth from Pound Sterling,  The Japanese Emperor from yen etc. 

These works question the global monetary system where the gap between the rich and the poor is seen growing all over the world due to corruptions and abused of power.
The artworks I am showing include installations, assemblage, drawings, video and sound installation. Some of the works such as ‘ The migration’ and Batu Api are collaborated with UITM Lendu Melaka.

'Everybody Must Get Stoned- A one Click Art Performance' Map Festival 7, Melaka, Malaysia

I took part in the Melaka Art Performance festival 7 in Malaysia recently. I have invited the public to participate in a performance called ' Everybody must get stoned' - A one click art performance`. The work is inspired by a malay proverb called ' batu api' or fire stone in english which means a person who likes to incite other people to fight with each other. in this performance i have invited the public to paint ' fire on the stone and then make a little performance by placing the stone to a place they have chosen. the performance ends with a click/s on my camera.

There was also a couple of musicians who happily entertained those participated in the performance with their light and happy music.

By end of the festival, a few of the stones that were placed on the site were found missing. The rest of the stones were collected and exhibited later in a gallery.

seeds of love

this art project is titled ' seeds of love'.
in collaboration with Heerup Museum in Denmark, i invited the public to participate making the artwork .
it is a minimalistic approach where we use used paper, BBQ sticks and tapes to carve the word ' love' in different languages to reflect the multicultural society living  in Copenhagen, Denmark.

the idea is to make the word' love' in as many different languages as possible using paper cuttings and plant them outside in the green area at the museum for the Culturnight festival in Rødovre.

Think Tank, Bela Biennale - Rio Di Janeiro 2014

in  nov 2014, i participated in Bela Biennale, an art festival between the Nordic country and south america, namely Brazil.
i brought with me a documentation of my new work called ' think tank'. think tank is a project i did in collaboration with Robotics Learning Center Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

here is the text written by Intan Rafiza, a curator from the National Art Gallery Malaysia on the project.


( In malay )
-->

Runtuhnya langit kebebasan dan demokrasi apabila seni itu sendiri tidak lagi menjadi cerminan hari ini.

Melihat semula karya terdahulu oleh Amir Zainorin, beliau memberi pandangan paradigm social-politik Malaysia dalam pemerhatian dan  persoalan yang kritikal melalui perspektif seorang rakyat Malaysia dan juga antarabangsa. Pengkarya melihat bagaimana seni menjadi ruang untuk  berkarya dan memberi pandangan dalam membentuk imaginasi melalui visual berdasarkan keadaan sosial sebenar dan dalam masa yang sama ianya  membina satu ruang untuk berkomunikasi.

Karya terkini yang telah dihasilkan pada 2014, bertajuk –Think Tank adalah satu karya installasi dan seni pertunjukan  bersifat interaktif yang dihasilkan untuk Bela Biennial 2014 di ruang Museu Histirico National, Rio De Jenairo Brasil. Dengan saiz yang lebih kecil dari kereta kebal sebenar, ianya adalah hasil kerjasama dengan Robotic Learning Malaysia. 

Di dalam karya ini, kereta kebal menjadi subjek utama yang mana bentuk fizikal karya mempunyai ciri-ciri kekuatan, kekukuhan dan ianya bercirikan  kenderaan pertahanan yang tinggi. Dan merujuk kepada pensejarahan beberapa dekad yang lepas, ianya digunakan dalam perang dunia pertama yang mana penciptaannya adalah sebagai alat pertahanan dan perlindungan tentera di medan peperangan, berfungsi dalam pertahanan dan juga senjata dalam pergerakan operasi perang. Teknologi dan ciptaan kereta kebal turut memperlihatkan spesifikasi utama dalam menyerang dan melindung di medan tempur. 

Dan dalam masa yang sama, bulu burung yang menyeliputi kereta kebal memperlihatkan unsur yang berlawanan diantara kedua-dua  fizikal karya. Malahan  didalam karya ini, Amir Zainorin cuba menghasilkan satu  karya dari gabungan kedua-dua unsur ini. Ianya berinspirasikan bulu burung yang merujuk kepada topi tradisional yang dikenali dengan nama ‘lelanjang’ yang pernah dipakai oleh para pemburu kepala (ngayau) pada suatu ketika dahulu. Pemakaian kostum ini adalah berhubungkait dengan aktiviti amalan buru kepala yang mana ianya adalah salah satu amalan kuno taktik peperangan masyarakat melayu borneo di Malaysia.  Selain daripada itu juga, penggunaan bulu burung  turut digunapakai oleh kaum asal yang lain contohnya dari orang asal Amerika yang membawa erti dan makna dalam kehidupan seharian. Melalui acara ritual yang memperlambangkan kebebasan manusia dan semangat -rohani-spiritual , ianya juga adalah berdasarkan suku-kaum masyarakat yang berbeza.

Melalui kepercayaan kepada alam, penggunaan bahan semulajadi ini membentuk satu idea dan kefahaman kerohanian yang berhubung dengan alam semesta. Komposisi yang dihasilkan melalui penyatuan penggunaan alat perang kereta kebal dan kerohanian melalui  penggunaan bulu burung oleh pahlawan terdahulu, pengamat dan penonton seni diberi ruang interaksi dengan memberi peluang kepada penonton melancarkan warna dari mercu meriam kereta kebal. Unsur dan teknikal interaktif ini adalah dihasilkan dalam kontek dimana pengkarya cuba memberi kefahaman dan peluang kepada penonton untuk memahami karya seni yang disampaikan.

Dalam proses membentuk idea Think Tank, melalui perspektif satu karya seni yang jelas dengan mengenengahkan kepentingan yang tidak ketara, (bermaksud penonton masih boleh mempersoalkan dan membincangan berkaitan idea) diantara objek yang digunakan melalui pendekatan penciptaan melalui teknologi terkini dan nilai kepercayaan kerohanian (spiritual).Tembakan warna dari mercu meriam terus ke ruang didinding secara tidak langsung ianya telah mewujudkan satu platform dialog seni secara visual dalam meyampaikan karya seni. Yang mana ianya turut menunjukkan bagaimana tindakan manusia boleh memberi kesan dan  akibat yang menjadi penyebab kepada  sesuatu hal dan tindakan.

Disini juga posisi pengkarya adalah menjadi pengantara dalam aktiviti komunikasi diantara karya seni dan penonton. Pengkarya memberikan satu  bentuk seni yang jelas dan nyata tentang kepentingan maksud demokrasi melalui sistem bermasyarakat melalui skop budaya dan penglibatan masyarakat awam khasnya. Kepentingan komunikasi secara interlektual diwujudkan dalam ruang kreativiti yang menjadi subjek utama dalam proses berkarya.  

Melihat semula karya seni Amir Zainorin yang menjadi koleksi tetap Balai Seni Visual  Negara Malaysia, ianya adalah diantara karya koleksi negara yang mempunyai kekuatan dari sudut perletakan imajan dan penerokaan idea dari pengkarya dengan pendekatan dan kefahaman tersendiri. Stamp Series, adalah salah satu dari 3 koleksi karya yang mempunyai proses pendokumentasian yang jelas berkenaan tanggapan pensejarahan para perajurit kemerdekaan 1957 yang berjasa dalam memperjuangan kebebasan negara dari penjajah yang mana mereka adalah terdiri dari latar belakang politik dan ideologi yang berbeza.

Dalam karya ini ianya memperlihatkan satu perspektif baru tentang perjuangan merdeka bukanlah milik mana-mana parti politik, tetapi ianya adalah berkenaan kesatuan masyarakat ketika itu. Selain daripada itu juga, satu seni pertunjukan yang telah dipersembahkan di hadapan pejabat Imigresen, Copenhagen, Denmark pada tahun 2010, yang bertajuk -Stamp Over, turut di kongsi bersama dan dipamerkan pada tahun 2012 di Balai Seni Lukis Negara Malaysia  bersempena Hari Kemerdekaan negara Malaysia  dalam pameran – Kuasa, Harapan dan Tanah. Dalam karya ini, ianya memperkatakan berkenaan isu-isu pendatang (imagran) dari pelbagai aspek dan kesan budaya, perbezaan pengstrukturan masyarakat dan sosial serta bagaimana hal ini mempengaruhi masalah dan latar belakang prinsip dalam perbezaan kepercayaan. 

Sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia, yang berhijrah ke negara lain, Amir Zainorin telah menghasilkan karya dalam pendekatan dan cuba menjawap beberapa persoalan dalam hal yang berkaitan dengan isu-isu  sosio-politik di Malaysia. Dalam permasalahan ini, beliau melihat bagaimana pembangunan negara yang menuju kemodenan secara fizikal dan adanya  perjuangan hak kemanusiaan melalui pengamalan sistem demokrasi  adalah menjadi titik utama dalam mengenengahkan isu dan persoalan yang diingin disampaikan.

Memahami erti kemajuan minda dalam ruang negara yang sedang pesat membangun, mempunyai pemikiran yang lebih kritis berkenaan isu dan juga hal yang memberi kesan kepada perspektif  permasalahan utama kenegaraan adalah amat penting dalam menjadi seorang pengkarya seni. Perbezaan pendapat atau mempersoalkan sesuatu dalam erti kata dalam meruntuhkan tembok yang menghalangi kebenaran bukanlah satu kesalahan sekiranya pengkarya seni itu sendiri tahu bagaimana untuk menyampaikannya  dengan cara yang lebih mudah melalui kreativiti dan dialog seni lebih yang berkesan (dialogis).

Think Tank – apabila zaman silam itu itu sebenarnya adalah masa depan kita.

Oleh Intan Rafiza

Nov. 2014

in english translated by Sharon Chin

Freedom and democracy fail when art no longer serves as a reflection of today. Looking at his previous work, artist Amir Zainorin supplies points of view about Malaysian socio-political paradigms through the critical observations both as a Malaysian national and as a citizen of the world. He looks at how art becomes a space for expression. Through reality-based visuals, he shapes the imagination, providing insight into contemporary social conditions. He builds space for communication.

Amir’s latest work, titled Think Tank and produced in 2014, is an installation and interactive performance piece. It was made for the Bela Biennial 2014, in Rio de Janeiro’s Museu Historico Nacional and Galeria Scenarium. The work is a  collaboration with Robotic Learning Malaysia.

In this work, a military tank serves as the primary subject. Its physical form communicates strength and resolve. Historically, tanks were introduced during the First World War. It was invented as a defensive device, used to protect troops in battle, and serving as a safeguard for weapons and fortifications on the battlefield. As technology developed, tanks have played both defensive and offensive roles in war.

The bird feathers that envelop the tank serve as contrast to the physicality of the armored vehicle. This is a reference to the bird feathers found on the headgear (lelanjang) worn by headhunters (ngayau) of the past. This costume is associated with the practice of head-hunting – an archaic war tactic of the Malays in Malaysian Borneo. Besides this, the bird feathers also reflects its use by other indigenous peoples, such as Native Americans – whose use of the material carries its own significance in their daily lives, through rituals that emblematize human and spiritual freedom.

Amir’s use of natural materials evokes the spiritual ideal of connecting with the universe. The composition pairs a modern weapon of war (the tank) with the spiritual beliefs of past  warriors (the bird feathers). The audience is invited to interact with the work by launching colourful paint from the tank’s main cannon. Through this interactivity, the artist hopes to bring audiences closer to understanding the ideas presented in his work.

Think Tank is not a didactic work, and viewers are still able to bring in many associations and related ideas, which may inhabit the space between the tank (a technological creation) and the feathers (symbolizing spirituality). The firing of paint from the tank’s canon onto the wall indirectly sets up a dialogue about what makes a work of art. It also points to the cause and effect that accompany every action we humans undertake. Here, the artist has become an intermediary, facilitating communication between the artwork and its audience. The work speaks clearly about the importance of democracy in society, involving both the cultural sphere and participation of the public.

The works of Amir Zainorin in the permanent collection of Balai Seni Visual Negara are strong, demonstrating the placement of images and exploration of ideas by an artist who has his own approach and point of view. Stamp Series -- one of the three collected works – demonstrates a documentarian’s process, and how this contributes to the way the freedom fighters of 1957 are viewed historically. They were not a homogenous group, instead, consisted of individuals from different backgrounds and ideologies.

The work presents another perspective of the struggle for Merdeka – namely, that the independence movement did not belong to any one political party, but involved a society working in unity at the time.

A performance piece, Stamp Over, first performed in front of the Copenhagen immigration office in 2010, was exhibited at the Balai Seni Lukis Negara in 2012. This was in conjunction with Merdeka Day, and was part of the the “Kuasa, Harapan dan Tanah” show. This work explored the issue of “pendatang” (immigrants) – looking at the differences in the way communities and societies are structured, and how this affects the underlying principles of multi-culturalism. 

A Malaysian citizen who now lives abroad, Amir Zainorin has nonetheless continued to produce works that center on the social-political issues of Malaysia. The matter of human rights and democracy in a rapidly developing country that is bent on modernisation is a major starting point for the artist. Understanding what it means to be mentally progressive, thinking critically and being concerned with social issues are essential in being an artist. If artists are skillful in communicating their intentions, having differences of opinion or questioning the rightfulness of a situation is something to be encouraged.

 Think Tank – when the past actually tells of our future.

By Intan Rafiza

Curator National Visual Art Gallery

Tranlation from Malay to English by Sharon Chin

Amir Zainorin - 'Me, We' by Sharon Chin

Amir is someone I’ve yet to meet in person. I know him only through email, blogs, Facebook and a parcel containing catalogues and a DVD of his work he sent to my house. Yet from these thin, mostly electronic, threads we are weaving a conversation, the beginnings of understanding, and perhaps a friendship.

What do I know about Amir? He grew up in Kelantan and Johor. He studied in the US, returned to work in Malaysia and now lives in Denmark with his wife and son. It’s no surprise that his art deals with identity and representation – living and working in different places can turn your sense of self into putty. Even crossing the street or buying bread becomes a cultural experiment!

The questions of identity are the eternal ones: Who am I? Who are we? At the same time, these questions have an everyday urgency, like buying bread. Somewhere in between there lies a political dimension, where this ‘who’ becomes a ‘what’ – What am I? What are we? In that political space, identity is associated with power.

What is it like to be Malaysian right now? Interesting would be one way to put it. Scary would be another. Since the March 2008 general elections, we have been living in times of huge political change. The political dimension has expanded to touch every aspect of life. You couldn’t escape it even if you wanted to – the roads will likely be jammed tight because of some by-election.

Issues of identity have become especially heightened and complex. Old certainties are now up for questioning – the social contract, the monarchy, even the federation itself. It is as though we are waking up from a collective dream, dazed and confused, but more energized than we have been in decades. Our political masters feel the ground shifting beneath their feet. In order to rally support to new political needs, desperate games are played that draw lines deeply in the raw, soft sand of our identities. Being told what we are (Bumiputera, Si botol, Si mata sepet, Dan lain-lain) makes us much more manageable, just like in the colonial days.

It is into this space, that Amir brings his art and his questions: Who am I? Who are we?I won’t betray the spirit of Amir’s work by limiting its scope to this specific moment in Malaysian identity politics. He clearly states: ‘Even though I am a Malaysian citizen, I don’t see myself as a ‘Malaysian artist’. I am just an artist, born in Malaysia with a big interest in what is going on in the world. My influence is global, not only based on my roots in Malaysia.’ However, by locating it here, we can see how Amir’s search is not about trying to establish answers. Instead, it’s concerned with enlarging the space of how we can look at and make meaning of ourselves.

He starts with a view of himself – a self-portrait. The video Mind My Hat shows him donning variously the headgears of the Sultan, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, a Jew, Yap Ah Loy, Uncle Sam and many others. Watching it on Youtube, I wondered about the lo-fi quality – you can clearly see where the images have been digitally altered to replace Amir’s face with that of the abovementioned subjects. It uses the rough cut n’ paste techniques of most internet ‘mash ups’, that is, digital videos, music or images that consist of original content altered in some way. Amir’s self-portrait treats images, including his own, like disposable shells – each one recognizable for an instant, then falling away to reveal nothing but another image, and another. We may well ask ourselves what such disposable images are doing in a gallery, a place where we expect images (paintings, photographs, etc) to be precious… valuable…

The question brings us to the subject of Pop Art. There is tendency in Malaysian artists and intellectuals to confuse Pop Art with a technique or ‘style’, rather than recognize it as a particular moment in the development of modern art in Europe and America. Campbell soup cans, bright colours, Andy Warhol, silk-screened images of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley selling for millions of bucks – this is what Pop art means for many people. In an essay for one of Amir’s previous solo exhibitions, Mad(e) In Malaysia, Badrolhisham Tahir says as much: ‘Amir is known as a Pop artist. This is what many don’t understand and want to know more about.’ He goes on: ‘Sometimes a public story can become a powerful myth and even though we know how Amir became an artist, the public story has so much power, it becomes believable.’ Unfortunately, Badrolhisham doesn’t delve much deeper into the relationship between Amir’s ideas and Pop art, allowing the myth to hang in the air as part of the artist’s constructed identity.

Pop Art developed around the 1960s, at a time when western society was being reshaped and defined by its relationship to mass media (by late 1950s, TVs were to be found in almost every American home), fame and consumerism. Things other than objects could become commodities – such as human values or images. The perception of something could be more valuable than the thing itself, hence the rise of branding and advertising. When it came to determining value, fame (i.e. when something is widely known or reproduced) was just as, or more important than, exclusivity. Warhol explored these ideas in art by becoming an art machine, manufacturing images in the same way a factory produced canned soup. He commented on the system by being fully complicit in it. Decades after his death, his work continues to command astounding prices.

Today, we are living in a different world, one defined by instant connectivity and information technology. We can now broadcast ourselves every moment of every day, using digital text, images, video and sound. Amir’s ideas about how mass produced images influence the way we perceive identity, value and power are indeed related to those that gave rise to Pop art. In the series of digital prints, he creates new stories and narratives by digitally piecing together images found on the internet or taken on his digital camera. The images come from modern art, history, advertising, news, the landscape, family portraits, etc – it doesn’t matter. They are all flattened to create new, instant and disposable fairytales for a generation of Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter users.  

Like Warhol and the other Pop artists, Amir also plays these ideas off the art world. One work consists of Facebook updates collected from his network of friends over a period of 3 months. During this time, he updated his own status daily with thoughts about art. He has arranged these to produce a large digital print that reads ‘Status’. Placed in a gallery, these little fragments of selves literally and symbolically claim their status as art. Another work, Mr Prime Minister, looks like an average painting, but in fact, it has been out-sourced to a company in China that specializes in copies of famous masterpieces. Skilled labourers produced the painting according to a digital image created by Amir in Photoshop. These funny, quietly subversive works make us rethink how we view and value art.

Given that so much media content is disposable, how do we reconcile the fact that words and images continue to exert such power on us? It was only recently that cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) caused uproar across the world, erupting in violence and even death. Closer to home, the right of non-Muslims to use the word Allah has been fiercely debated. Again and again, this modern technological age will bring us into close encounters with those who are different from us. We will see and hear things that shake our beliefs, values and worldviews. How do we negotiate between what we must hold sacred and what we can hold in common? Or perhaps it is better to say: what we can hold sacred and what we must hold in common? Who am I? Who are we?

Yes, words and images hold immense power, but let’s not forget, so do actions. In a performance held at the entrance to the Danish embassy, Amir turns the usually de-humanizing process of visa application into an opportunity for human conversation and exchange. Meanwhile, his online project Like A Prayer asks people of any (or no) faith from all over the world to submit a prayer via email, which is then posted on a blog for everyone to read. Similarly, I see his three interviews with Malaysian art icons Redza Piyadasa, Jeri Azahari and Rahime Haron as acts of listening and recording. It is interesting to observe how actions are not subject to same games of representation and power. Through his interventions into real and online life, Amir illustrates that actions not only communicate, they open up pathways – roads for us to make meaning in art, in our lives and in the world.

Sharon Chin

Nov 2010

Nordic Country and Fottball - Ava Galleri - Rio De Janeiro

Title: Messi

Medium: papercuts

Year: 2014

Title: Neymar

Medium: papercuts

Year: 2014

This exhibition is supported by The National Visual Art Gallery Malaysia

Paper Cuts at Gallery Alstrup

Paper Cutouts and other works



The paper cut outs  address issues on identity. These cuts outs
are taken and made from old art magazines
done in 2013, following up from Amir’s collages that he has developed eversince
year 1998. The paper cutouts though have a different approach than his
collages. They are very simple and minimal in execution where the depth of positive
and negative space are interplayed with one another.


The portrait seriesfrom the paper cut outs for eg. reminds the audience of oneself through another
person. The self reflection is made possible because of Amir’s used of mirrors in the background of the images.

The other works from the paper cutouts series make some kind of attachment or connection to the
immediate surrounding.  The negative space that he created gave the audience to see right thru the works to the back of the wall in the gallery or any given space.



In this exhibition, Amir also shows his paintings done on paper. One of the works is a portrait of an
American Beatnik poets, William Burroughs,  standing with a rifle in his hands. The work is done with word play where Amir has painted the portrait using rubberstamps instead of the normal paint brush. The used of rubberstamps to make the paintings was inspired by his frequent visits to the Immigration office in Copenhagen and from a public art performance which he did infront of the
office.

In this performance, he placed a table and dressed himself up as an “immigrationofficer” and stamped on pieces of paper using rubberstamps with text that included Approve, Rejected, Alien, Other, Exotic, Obey. This spontaneous public art performance drew curiosity from the people that passed by and those that
were going to the Immigration office. Some stopped to ask him what he was doing and started to play along with the performance and some actually thought that he was working for the Immigration office. By doing this performance in public space outside he was able to create a temporary alternative environment where, the often times anxiety producing and depressing reality was subverted through
play.
An installation work entitled ’ the untold story ’ is a roll of white paper hanged from the wall and
rolled down to the ground. This work has a philosophical approach to it and  is inspired by the quote ’ History is written by the victors’ . At the top of the paper, the word ’ the untold story’ is collaged to the paper while the remaining of the paper remained blank. There is a guideline in this work which ask for the audience participation where they are invited to write in the blank space of the paper of any story that they wish.



An artwork titled ’ Holger Danske in Arabic ’ is a playful work which is done with ceramics.  The work was inspired by the artist’s visit to Kronborg, the famous Danish castle in Helsingør where he came to face with the big sculpture of Holger Danske. Holger Danske is regard as a Danish
National symbol and so is  Amir’s use of the red and white colors in the artwork which reminds of the Danish flag.
But he chose to use arabic calligraphy or alphabets instead of using the normal latin alphabets to
write the name ’Holger Danske’. The audience who come close to the artwork will
be rewarded with a note explaining about the work which is placed next to it
and to those who don’t will be left wondering.
’Spicy skull’ is an assemblage made of plastic and spices. A skull is covered with spices such as star
anis, chilly, curry, cumin, etc. This piece has a historical narrative to it in how the west and the east came into contact with each other. Malaysia was colonized for 500 years  before getting its independence in 1957.  Back then, Melaka, a state in Malaysia was the most busiest  port in the world for traders  trading spices and the fact that three different western countries fought each other to get hold of the port can be
seen reflected in the artwork.

Land Art Rebild

Artwork title: Seeds of love
Year: 2014

Location: The park near Rebild Convention Center

Why seeds of love?

Love is the most important element in life. In order for love to grow, it has to be planted at an early age. Just like a plant, it begins with a seed and later it needs to be nurtured for it to grow.

Seeds of love is a text based artworkshop where I will be working with the school children for a week creating art from trash or found objects. They can be made from piece of paper, milk carton, pap kasse, etc

The children will be guided how to carve or cut the word ' love' and stick them on BBQ sticks.

The target is to create as many words as possible that could fill a single field with the word 'love'.

A refugee crosses his tracks

Title Project/Performance Art: ‘ A refugee crosses his tracks’.

Location: To be performed during the opening day of Land Art Exhibition.
Rolling a round bale of hay from a farm to the the exhibition space Thingbæk Limestone Mines Communication Centre.


‘ A refugee crosses his tracks’ is an art performance inspired by the Norwegian/Danish author Axel Sandemose’s novel called ‘A refugee crosses his tracks’. The novel describes a village life where social and moral standards are dictated by the Jantelaw. The law among other states that, you’re not to think that you are anything special, as good or better as we are.

This performance addresses movement, migration, crossing boundaries or tracks to fit in and integrate.

The wheel of hay is also a symbol of the wheel of life. Where does it takes us? And do we dare to break out of the boundaries where we feel safe and blend in with the crowd? The wheel of life is not easy to push. The act of rolling the hay in a small town in Jutland is symbolic to my life journey, and attempts to fit into new surrounding. As an immigrant living in a new country and also a person that is used to the city life, I still feel like an outsider in many cases.


photo credit: Viel Andersen and Jette Noyes

Dart

This is an interactive art performance took place in Kulturhuset Brønden, Denmark, as part of the exhibition for the Global Village traveling exhibition. The public were invited to throw the dart art the target and the first person to reach 51 points win a mono print, portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. as a prize. Nuno, a young man from Portugal won the competition beating 24 other competitors. Have a look at some of the actions!

Remove the cancer of racism in our heart and soul

Remove the cancer of racism in our heart and soul

Everyday, one of my daily rituals after getting up in the morning is to switch on my computer and opening up my Facebook account to keep up with the news from friends and family from back home. It helps cure my longing from being there and feeling homesick especially when I am living in another continent and a country faraway where there is only a handful of Malaysians living here.

The place is Denmark, a country of 5.5 million people who made the world headlines some years ago when a Danish artist drew a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad. The infamous incident led to the burning of Danish embassies, flags and protest from the Muslim countries all around the world.

One of the laws that the Danes are proud of is the freedom of speech and press. You are free to practice in what you believe in, religion, God, no God or what not, as long as you don’t hurt anyone. You can be a Muslim and practice your religion freely; nobody is going to stop you.

If you decided to be an atheist the next day, nobody really gives a care. You don’t have to worry about Islamic police come charging at your door and forced you to repent according to their understanding of what Islam is or worry about being arrested for committing apostasy, a ‘murtad’ and be fined and jailed for a period of time just because your opinions are different from them.

In Malaysia, the ongoing case with 80-year-old Kassim Ahmad is a fine example of how religion is being forced on you, whether you like it or not.  This is opposite to the basic teaching of Islam, which says that faith or religion should not be forced to a person. The only way you can find peace and freedom through Islam is when you freely submit to it. By forcing people doing something they don’t like doesn’t solve anything. It simply makes it worse. People will only rebel to it.

Another example is if you are born a Malay, then you are automatically a Muslim. You have no choice but simply have to accept that Islam will be your religion for the rest of your life. Islamic faith is being imposed on you because that is just how things are here. Force id used to instill fear so that the people in power will easily be in control of people and all for the wrong reason. If you do the otherwise, you will be seen as a sinner, a wrongdoer of insulting Islam and should be punished in the name of Allah.

As year passes by, the decisions made by the lawmakers is making the country moving backwards in terms of humanity. The action taken towards Kassim Ahmad was unjust.  Simply by arresting him for having different of opinions was unIslamic.

In this multi-ethnics country that boast about giving it citizens freedom of religion, why are we not even allowed to discuss about Islam, about what does it takes to be a good Muslim? Why are we not allowed to be different from others and let us be our own selves?

Doesn’t Islam encourage its followers to discuss about the hadiths and the content in the Koran so that we to have a better understanding of what the teachings are all about? Are we not taught to settle our differences in a peaceful manner just like the Prophet have shown us?

Well sadly to say there is no such thing as freedom of religion in this country. We are not allowed to voice out our opinions about Islam. We have no rights to be ourselves and the only way to settle our differences is through authoritarian use of force by the so call moral Islamic police, who blindly follow their orders by their masters whose faith were driven by their ego trip on power and control.

Being a good Muslim doesn’t automatically make us better or superior than any other people. Islam teaches us to be good to others and to treat everyone equally, regardless of their skin colors or beliefs. The minute we started to believe that we are the chosen one that is when we can find ourselves in no better position than those Jewish people who believe in the same manner.

In my conversation with people from back home, I was surprised to find out that even some highly educated young Malays have this kind of mentality.  This slave mentality, which imprisons their minds are driven by their own fear to be the righteous one, and fighting all for the wrong reasons in the name of jihad and Malay rights.

The Malay rights were formed to help the poor Malays to improve their living and economic condition.  But the Malays rights are quite outdated since the people only served to a few people. Government contracts for example are given to Malay owned ‘Alibaba’ companies, many of whom did not have the capability and capacity to undertake them and forced to hire others to actually do the work. The Malay rights have also neglected a vast majority of Malays and helped some very much more than others. It is time to unveil the truth and get rid of the hypocrisies behind this policy. Moreover, besides the poor Malays, there are also poor Indian, Chinese and other poor ethnics Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak who in need of dire help.

The mindsets of Malays need to be changed. Groups such as Perkasa and Isma are doing a fantastic job dividing the country, embarrassing and damaging Islam and the Malay race in the eyes of the world. I am deeply sorry and sad to hear the Malays who would say something like ‘ if you don’t like this country, then go back to where you belong’. These people are sick and their mind are brainwashed as if to say that this country only belong to them. Their way of solving problems through hatreds and threats are against the teaching of Islam and will only lead disaster. 

What is a good Muslim anyway? Who is the real devil? Just because we started to go to the mosque and pray 5 times a day make us better Muslims than those who don’t? Do covering ourselves from head to toes make us a better Muslim than those who don’t? Or just because we are Sunni Muslims make us better Muslims than the Shia Muslim? We could perhaps be abetter Muslim but not necessarily be better human being. 

Malcolm X said ‘ the true practice of Islam can removed the cancer of racism in the heart and the soul …’

If we can do that, Malaysia will be in no doubt could join Denmark, who has been frequently ranked as the happiest country in the world in cross-national studies.  Until then, there is still plenty of work to do.