1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

tive motifs of calligraphy, geometric shapes and stylized plants forms, the artists of the 40's found delight in reproducing landscapes and scenes from nature in their works as they had seen represented in the works of Euro­ pean artists (al-Lamaya F a rqu i: 1984) In lamenting the subversive and divisive influence of modern secular thought on the Traditional Malay art, Awang Had Salleh avers: "An aspect that is most pronounced concerning the state of the arts in Malay­ sia today, is the existence of two separated and dichotomous worlds - the Traditional and the Modern. The former is slowlv dwindling and declining, while the latter, ascending but alien. Between them, no connection, and no relationship exists. Thus, on the one hand, there is the traditional wood-carv­ ing , woven songket, Islamic calligraphy, etc, and on the other, modern sculpture, abstract a r t ... whose philosophical basic is decidedly Western!" (5). 25