The Malay Cultural Symbol in Malaysian Modern Sculpture

Abstract

Sculpture is one of the three-dimensional genres in visual arts. More specifically, sculpting as an art is embodied in the group of fine arts and becomes a single discipline in the branch of fine arts, which is primarily characterized as having two dimensions. In Malaysia, an early development of sculpture invited some negative perceptions among the locals. The society believed that sculpting carried an element of worshipping that was opposed to the values of Islam, causing sculpture to become unpopular and scarce. The formation of sculpture was transformed when sociocultural change left an impact on visual arts, causing the negative perception to further change as well. The sponsoring of the National Cultural Congress in 1971 had become the catalyst to such a surge of change. The values of the Malay culture have become the guidance to local sculptors following the issue of national identity that was sparked by the congress. Thus, to identify the Malay cultural symbols, our current work focuses on two local sculpture works produced by two well-established Malaysian sculptors. A qualitative approach such as the observation method, library research, and also interviews for the written data has been adopted to obtain information. It is hoped that the study outcome is able to elevate the status of the Malay culture as a new movement of arts in Malaysia. Seeing that today sculpture as works of art have exhibited art symbols that are rather universal, or scarce in the defense of Malay culture as the national heritage, a new generation of artists should expand the efforts further made by local sculptors in continuing the national heritage for years to come.