Seoul takes the pulse of SE Asian art

Adorned in pastel hues rendered with soft brushstrokes, Im Pesey’s painting, on view at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, glows with a warm, impressionistic feeling.
The Cambodian artist’s “Liveliness” depicts Phnom Penh’s bustling Central Market in the early 1990s, not long after the terrible civil war ended.

Cambodia’s Im Pesey is among artists showing their work at the Asian Students and

Young Artists Art Festival in Seoul.  Photo/Korea Herald

“I wanted to show the situation in Phnom Penh right after the war, with people restarting their lives and various commercial activities springing up across the city,” Im says. 
“People must have felt calm and peaceful back then, after decades of bloody war with the Khmer Rouge regime. I used my imagination and old photos.”
Im is one of 30 artists from around Southeast Asia presenting 60 pieces in an exhibition organised by the Asean-Korea Centre in Seoul. Asean is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The show is being staged in conjunction with the Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival and continues through August 20. 
The Khmer Rouge period represents “a very sad story” in Im’s homeland, he says. The Maoist regime carried out genocide, murdering or starving to death up to three million citizens between 1975 and 1979.
“Everything was destroyed and Cambodians had nothing to live on,” he says. Several members of his own family were among the casualties.
“I wasn’t born until later, but I heard the appalling tales from my relatives and teachers. Students are taught this history so that the ghosts of our dark past will never haunt us again.”
Im, who also teaches at the private Japanese-run Yamada School of Art in Phnom Penn, says the new voices of Cambodia want to be “part of the new story” unfolding in the country.
“We need to build our economy, society, education and culture, and art is very important in this respect.” He believes artists have a duty to restore the glory of ancient Cambodian art like that seen at the world-famous Angkor temple complex.
The Khmer Empire (802-1431) centred at Angkor created magnificent edifices and stone carvings. Traditional arts and crafts include textiles, non-textile weaving, silver work, stone carving, lacquerware, ceramics, temple murals and kite-making.
The Khmer Rouge scorned all creative endeavours, but art has since experienced a revival thanks to increased support from the government, non-governmental organisations and foreign tourists.
The average Cambodian knows little about art and has little money to spend on it, Im says, but growing numbers of foreign visitors and businesspeople have become patrons.
“Still, artists have to work hard at promotion, advertising online and building connections,” he says. “It takes strong conviction to be an artist.”
Art is crucial for promoting Cambodian culture and society, he says, since the country remains culturally obscure on the world stage.
“Artists have the power to bridge Cambodia with other countries. I want my paintings to give joy and merriment to people who might otherwise feel melancholic and stressed. I want to illuminate our beautiful people and nature.”

Oni Jamsari brings her creations from Kuala Lumpur. Photo/Korea Herald

Oni Jamsari from Kuala Lumpur is showing two artworks featuring women’s silhouettes. Longing for the time when Malaysia’s capital was still relatively undeveloped and rivers, woods and farmland were nearby, she depicts in one of the pieces the city’s unadulterated landscape, harking back to an age without electricity. She even incorporates building nails her father used in their home.
Jamsari says Malaysia has Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous artists bouncing ideas off one another and collaborating without prejudice.
“Ethnic Chinese artists draw traditional Malay clothing or use the cloth as a structural material. Muslim artists decorate their work with Chinese and Indian symbols. Because we all grew up together, it’s very easy and natural to identify with different national designs.”
Jamsari concedes that it’s not easy earning a living as an artist in Malaysia, but “there are still ways to be commercially viable”. These involve networking and promotions online as well as in the traditional media.
“Artists need to push themselves to be smart and stay in touch with potential buyers and dealers,” she says. “You need to keep exposing yourself through exhibitions, media interviews, etc – but not too much, just smoothly.”
She says Korean movies, TV series and pop music are popular in Malaysia, but Korean art is far less known. She suggests that Korean artists raise their profile through exhibitions and university residency programmes, or to look for teaching opportunities in Malaysia.

Umi Zaty Bazillah Zakaria from Brunei is presenting three paintings inspired by the country’s identity as a Malay Islamic monarchy. One shows the landmark Water Village in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Brunei artists tend to adhere to Islamic references in their paintings and calligraphy, she says, but they also experiment with trendy techniques, including digital technology. The more traditional Islam-oriented work, though, is “what people buy” there, she says – Bruneians purchase art “for a specific purpose”.
Nudity and political messages are permissible but veiled from the public eye, Zakaria says.
“You can depict sexually or politically provocative things, but you can’t really show them in public. You need to set your own limits as an artist. Keep those things to yourself.”