Abstract
In order to appreciate an artwork, beauty is not the main issue to be studied, but instead, it is the elements that make up the beauty. Therefore, to investigate the elements, subjects, forms and meanings are the three aspects in the study of art that are used for such purposes. All these elements are interconnected and cannot be separated because of the unity of an artwork is formed from these elements, and further explained the ideas of artists. Thus, in defining the elements of artwork, it is important to study physical data that function by connecting the context of an artwork. The aim of this study is to examine the symbol of Malay cultural traditions in the context of visual art in Malaysia embodied by local artists as the expression of their cultural ideas. Accordingly, a qualitative descriptive study method has been adopted to identify the forms and meanings of the symbols of Malay cultural traditions in Malaysian visual arts,. Two painting artworks from the 1980s and 1990s have been chosen in order to investigate their forms and meanings. After the independence, the symbols of Malay cultural traditions have been embodied by the artists in the search for artistic identity. The results of this study are expected to expose the public generally and art enthusiasts particularly, to appreciate the artworks. Hence, the Malay culture can be well preserved as today's young artists tend to choose the modern universal symbols rather than the symbols of community culture. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p30
Highlights
Art is a phenomenon of human beings activities
In embodying the art of feelings, it is the dominant factor for human beings other than the interests of observation and experience. (Pooke & Witham, 2010) Art is a symbol that is included in the symbolic levels of expressions, feelings or expressive symbols
Each symbol has its own function and the symbol contains the beliefs that would normally be the essence of respective religions, the cognitive symbols that form knowledge, the symbols of moral judgments that form the values and rules, as well as the symbols of expressing feelings or expressive symbols. (Bachtiar, 1982) All of these are revealed based on the lives of human beings who live in the cultural context
Summary
Art is a phenomenon of human beings activities. Human beings produce art in order to understand life or communicate ideas with other human beings. As according to TjepTjep Rohendi Rohidin (2000: 74-75), human beings are biocultural creatures; the products of interaction between biological and cultural factors. He/She is the symbol of the cultural scope This is proven from the ancient time where artistic symbols have been embodied for expressing ideas of arts with various purposes that have been produced by human beings. Day by day, it seems that the symbols change their processes due to different desires and purposes
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