Some 97 artists involved in the 5th Installation Art by the Bay
By PAUL MU
KOTA KINABALU: Three art events were held concurrently in Kota Kinabalu last weekend to mark the Malaysia Day celebration hosted by Sabah.
There were the Installation of Art by the Bay, Pillars of Sabah and Lighting Show at Oceanus.
Before that, there were the murals all over the city and an art trail, all geared towards making Kota Kinabalu an art scene city.
“We hope everybody will come forward to support us because art is the pinnacle of civilisation and we want the city like that as well,” said Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy Dr Awangku Hassanal Bahar Pengiran.
The event was launched by Federal Tourism, Art and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi.
He was speaking during the launch of the 5th Installation Art by the Bay at the boardwalk of Segama Waterfront last week. The installation themed, Eco Art Inspires in Celebration of Malaysia Day on Sept 15-18, is aimed to develop eco art tourism in Sabah.
They also target to make the installation art to be commissioned and incorporated into the Kota Kinabalu City Beautification Plan.
“After five years, we have grown a little and changed the public perception that art is not all about paintings or making sculptures but it can be an installation that is organic or tangible, or neither of both,” he said.
“We got a lot of support from both the local and international artists who love art and wanted to see this event grow. I think we have kind of achieved our objectives after five years and there is always room for improvement as well.
“The growth have been encouraging as we also have artists from Papar, Pitas, Tuaran, Petagas, Kota Belud and Sandakan, coming here for the long holidays to do something to educate and exchange ideas on the arts they created,” Dr Awangku said.
Since last year the event has become international with participation from Brunei and Finland and this year, Singapore came into the frame, he said.
He encouraged local artists to interact with overseas participants to get more ideas and inspirations. There are 17 different installations on the boardwalk. There are 14 teams from Sabah and one each from Penang, Brunei and Finland. About 97 artists together with family and friends were involved.
The core organising committee consisted of UMS, Sabah Tourist Association, Lavinia Private Art Gallery, Kota Kinabalu City Hall and Sabah Art Gallery.
Source: New Sabah Times
