Malaysian artist zainal abidin musavat

The waves and current at the breakwater were extremely strong, pushing the boat backwards. There were two big fishing boats there as well, both struggling as much as we were. We could actually see the jetty and knew that if we could just pass through this part of the water and enter the river mouth, we would be home free. But the choppy waters kept throwing our boat back and forth, left and right.

We looked at each other's pale faces. I could only think of my family. It was almost 1pm when we reached the mainland. I don't know how long we had been in the water, but it was the longest ever ride for me. C-3PO : Sir, the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three-thousand-seven-hundred-twenty to one! Han Solo : Never tell me the odds!

Saturday, November 27, "All right, Chewie. Let's get outta here! So the plan was to leave the island on Sunday morning. Well, that very night, it started to pour and the wind blew in great gusts, howling away, "here we come! The moon was bright so I could see the coconut trees swaying roughly from where I was sleeping. This morning, when I woke up, the weather was very cold and it was still raining very heavily.

The cloud formations were huge and dark. The entire sky seemed like it was crying. The winds were blowing intermittently. Huge waves were rolling in and I could see the contrast in colour between the greyish blue sky and the greens of the water at the shoreline. It was impossible to imagine any kind of sea travel today! But when Lan woke up, he took one look at the sky and said we would have to leave immediately when the rain stopped.

Malaysian artist zainal abidin musavat: October marked the 10th anniversary

Otherwise, we would be stuck here for two more weeks without food and clean water supply. It was a grim moment for all of us as we quietly but hurriedly packed up our things and water-proofed them in plastic bags. Luckily, before we left the mainland on Wednesday, Lan had already advised us to pack light. To be honest, I was very frightened to go out into the sea in this kind of weather.

Furthermore, our boat was small, tiny compared to these monster waves, and worst of all, we didn't have any life jackets Friday, November 26, Fresh! Me with the barracuda and ebek On the island. Perhentian Kecil, Terengganu. The weather's been inconsistent. Sometimes it is bright and sunny, and in an instant, a matter of seconds, minutes, the winds can blow in these huge, dark clouds overhead.

The atmosphere, when it is dark and gloomy like this, is charged with an electric feel. My mornings are spent with my camera and watercolours. There is total silence here. Hardly a soul is in sight. Lan's place, Keranji Resort is the only cluster of chalets on this beach, and we, the four of us, are its only tenants. Around 4 pm today, we went out to sea to catch some fish for our dinner.

Malaysian artist zainal abidin musavat: Musavat, allegedly severely beating at least

I was hoping to get something like mandi abu or ebek. Lan was lucky to catch the ebek. It's a beautiful fish that looks like an angel fish. It's upper dorsal fin curves long towards its tail and has a kind of flower-like bud. I understand it's expensive too. I caught a barracuda, the locals call it ikan kacang. We also fished some kerisi, selar kuning, tamban and others.

Back on the island, I cooked the fish -- made curry and fried some of them. Dinner was lovely, especially the ebek -- no wonder Mie Pak Lah always raved about it! Older Posts Home. Subscribe to: Posts Atom. Search This Blog. I am now on facebook: facebook. If you are in KL, perhaps we can meet for a cup of coffee Post a Comment. Monday, January 1, The artist, a biography.

However, the Malaysia economy was in recession at the time. For practical reasons, he decided to join the workforce as a designer in an advertising firm, leaving behind, temporarily, his desire to paint. From there on, Zainal continued to pursue his career in advertising, eventually setting up his own business in the industry. Perhaps sixteen years of being in the hectic business took a toll upon this gentle soul who finally returned to painting, at first only as a means to unwind.

Zainal found himself drawn once again to his innate passion for paintings and since then, there has been no turning back as he renders his acrylics and oils on one canvas after another. Though many artists with fine art background might disagree about its artistic value, pop short for popular art became the art movement to define the 20th century.

Zabas from Galeri Petronas, if I am not mistaken. I attended, curious to know the thoughts of these individuals fronting Malaysia's art industry, and also because I think Raja Ahmad is doing an important job in supporting the art scene with his series of lectures and discussions. I feel that other galleries should follow in his footsteps -- not just concern themselves with the sale of art but also add value to the industry by spreading knowledge to their audience.

There were about twenty guests that day. As always, I saw the usual suspects Shutter-happy Pakharuddin was one of them. I was glad to see Tan Sei Hon again. We were both lecturing at a private college some years back and I remember he taught my students about art history and appreciation. He is now a curator at the Balai! It was interesting to observe how the talk progressed.

The panel speakers, much to my disappointment, said very little. I was really looking forward to the thoughts of Syed Nabil and the rest, who I am sure are much knowledgeable on the topic. Moments later, I smiled — there — a break in the sky.

Malaysian artist zainal abidin musavat: Journalists interview activist artist.

And from a higher heaven somewhere, a million shades of colours were filtering triumphantly through. In another moment, I was bathed in light! It is one of many paintings of Malaysian landscapes and seascapes that the artist produces each year since his departure from an exhausting career as an advertising entrepreneur. Although he had studied fine art at Institut Teknologi MARA ITMhe never really pursued a career in painting until recently, after 16 stressful years in the advertising industry.

The change, he says, began quite by accident. On a quiet Sunday morning, after a simple breakfast of half boiled eggs, toast and coffee, he began to idly sketch the breakfast scene before him, finding the effect quite relaxing and therapeutic. That breakfast scene is now immortalized in a painting called Lazy Sunday. The frequent painting trips allowed Zainal to associate himself intimately with nature — of his childhood rivers, of the seashells and starfishes lying on his beaches, and of chirping birds amongst his bushes and trees.