KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): In the latest development to the art censorship fiasco surrounding the National Art Gallery (NAG), the four artworks pulled from Ahmad Fuad Osman’s ongoing At The End Of The Day Even Art Is Not Important (1990-2019) exhibition has been reinstated.
In a statement, NAG announced its decision to do so, along with the introduction of a “support programme” to be held on Feb 21 involving the artist and guest curator Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. The Gallery further urged the public not to miss the exhibition.
However, a source has since revealed that the directive to reinstate Fuad’s works came not from NAG but rather, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) as well as the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yesterday, though this was to be kept under wraps.
Earlier this past week, Motac’s Deputy Minister, Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik had issued an appeal letter to NAG in support of Fuad and the reinstatement of the artworks, though he said it was in his personal capacity.
In the letter, he called the exhibition “international class” and urged respect for the freedom of expression.
While NAG’s restoring of Fuad’s artworks would be welcome by the public and those in the arts community after substantial uproar and criticism, it remains to be seen if ‘Balai’, as NAG is informally known as, will survive unscathed this time around.
It may not be the first time they have pulled artworks from exhibitions at the Gallery, though the pulling of Fuad’s works has provoked unprecedented and unabating outrage since things came to light on Monday (Feb 10). Yesterday, 55 art collectors signed a petition stating that they would not loan any works from their private collections to NAG in the future if they are to be subjected to censorship by the institution.
Prominent collectors Pakharuddin Sulaiman and Bingley Sim were among the most vocal, having demanded on their social media platforms for the return of their loans for Fuad’s show. Pakharuddin has six of Fuad’s works on display, one of which is among those taken down.
A public petition in support of Fuad had also received 396 signatures from those within and outside the visual arts community, with rights groups such as National Human Rights Society (Hakam) decrying NAG’s decision.
Meanwhile, after an emergency meeting by the members of its National Visual Arts Development Board, gallery owner Richard Koh, who has been a member of the board since 2018, resigned from his position in protest of the lack of action taken by NAG prior to their decision to reinstate the pieces.
Koh stated, “After hearing and witnessing the arguments for the decision with regards to the works and the chain of events that has happened, I find it very disturbing that mistakes are not admitted and actions are not accounted for.”
Things first came to light when Fuad, a multi-disciplinary mid-career artist, wrote an open letter to NAG on social media to call out their pulling of the works from his retrospective show on Feb 4, which he deemed “arbitrary, unjustified and an abuse of institutional power”.
He objected to the lack of transparency and accountability by NAG in the matter, the decision of which was undertaken after a board member lodged a complaint on their “political and obscene” nature.
Replying to the open letter, NAG director general Amerruddin Ahmad then issued a statement declaring that the removal of the works was within the Gallery’s jurisdiction, claiming that they had the right to take down any works that touches on the “dignity of any individual, religion, politics, race, culture and country”.
He further added: “An exhibition is a process and not a final product, and even if the exhibition is ongoing, this process continues, in order to obtain suitable maturity for visitors and our society”. This statement led to further outcry and anger.
It was also revealed that following the emergency meeting held on Thursday, Feb 13, the board and relevant stakeholders had initially agreed to reinstate three of the four works, leaving Imitating The Mountain (2004), a painting that features nudity. Interestingly, there are other artworks on display that contain nudity as well.
Amerruddin informed Fuad of the decision after, but the artist did not agree to anything less than a full reinstatement, and once again requested for the exhibition to be closed with immediate effect.
Now with this reversal by NAG, at least the exhibition, which has been ongoing since October 2019, and extended till Feb 29 at NAG’s request, will now run its course.