1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

utable to two culturally significant events. One, the National Cultural Congress (1971), and two, the global Islamic Resurgence of the SO's. While the Congress contributed signifi­ cantly to the appropriation of Malay cultural elements in their art, the impact of Islam was to revitalize the spiritual and religious foun­ dation of their creativity. More specifically, the early decade of the 70's witnessed the move made by a number of Malay artists to invest their art with Islamic identity. This is achieved through the adop­ tion of the forms, symbols, themes and aes­ thetic principles derived from the Islamic cultural legacy. While a few turned to art forms of middle eastern countries, the major­ ity drew their inspirations from the traditional Malay art and crafts which they deemed to embody the spirit of Islamic art. Various forms and motifs of Malay wood-carving and architecture, woven and printed textiles, metalworks, plaited mats, calligraphic motifs, folk arts and elements of Malay myths and legends were recovered and exploited in enriching their creativity. Among the artists who pioneered this movement, the name of Syed Ahmad Jamal, Ahmad Khalid, Gaffar Ibrahim, Sharifah Fatimah Zubir and Sulaiman Esa, deserve to be mentioned. In following two decades of the SO's and 90's, other important names such as Omar Rahmat, Zakaria Awang, Ponirin Amin, Awang Damit, Mat Anuar, Hashim Hassan, Raja Zahabuddin, Mastura Rahman, Habibah Zikri, Ruzaika Omar Basaree, Siti Zainon, Shukur Hashim, D'Zul Haimi, Khatijah Sanusi, Wan Ahmad, Fatimah Chik, Tengku Sabri, Ramlan Abdullah, Ali Rahman, Wan . Zahari, Ariffin Ismail and others were also added. Since the last decade the group has been active in exhibiting their works in various solo and group shows held locally and abroad. Criticisms and reappraisals of their works have been mixed. While their supporters consider their creative efforts to constitute a varitable form of Malaysian Islamic art, others remain skeptical. While some regard their pre­ sence as an significant force in the contempo­ rary Malaysian art scene, others insist that their creative contributions remain question­ able. In light of this controversy, this writing aims to achieve two objectives: First is, to highlight the efforts and the central creative involvements by the group of Malay artists in their effort to recover Islamic identity during the Post-Independent period as an expression of their commitments to their continuing search for cultural identity. Second is, to critically discuss the Islamic nature of their works in order to determine their achievements and identity the challenges which confronted them. To achieve the above objectives, this writing is divided into four parts. Part one, delves into the Islamic roots of traditional Malay art and discusses how its philosophy of beauty is determined by the Islamic concept of Adab, whose principles constitute the essence of Malay-Muslim identity. Part two, discusses the process of secularization of Malay life and culture which resulted from the impact European coloniza­ tion of the early 20th. century. Arguements will be provided to show that the commit­ ments of some Malay-Muslim artists with various forms and movement of modern "secular" art reflected their inner contradic­ tions and conflict which led to, what some sociologists refer as the Malay crisis of iden­ tity. Part three, delves into the attempt by Malay artists to "decolonize" their art and culture from alien Western influence and made the drive to recover their Malay-Islamic identity during the Post-Independent period. The last part discusses the achievements made, and challenges faced by these Malay artists in their efforts to recover the Malay- Islamic identity. 20