PETALING JAYA: The presence of private art galleries is not a threat to the National Art Gallery, but to complement it, said Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
He said the government encouraged the setting up of more private art galleries to create awareness among Malaysians, especially children and to attract more tourists and art enthusiasts to come to Malaysia.
“Yes, there are a lot of private art galleries, but their presence is not to compete with the National Art gallery.
‘We believe, one piece of art could bring tourists to a certain place, like the art wall and gallery in Penang and the Mona Lisa painting in Paris.
“In order to sustain the art and culture, we need tourists to come. Likewise for performing arts, if there is no audience, there is no income and the art will just die,” he told Bernama after launching the Talent Development and Art Reproduction for Emerging Artists In Malaysia programme at Ilford Galerie Malaysia here yesterday.
The programme, organised by Hasanah Foundation (Hasanah) and Giclee Art, is the country’s first artist incubation and art reproduction programme and aims to promote and commercialise work of local creative talents to the global market.
It also aims to groom and promote local artists in visual art, photography and digital art.
Muhammad Bakhtiar said Malaysian arts had the potential to act as a draw factor for tourists to come to the country.
For example, the export value of the art sector was expected to grow to RM3.8 million in 2018, 15 per cent increase from the previous year. This was driven by the rising demands from tourists and international collectors, he said.
Meanwhile, founder and managing director of Giclee Art, Wesley Wong, said the programme provided up-and-coming talents with mentorship and a platform that could help bring their work to mass commercialisation in both domestic and global markets.
The pilot initiative features 15 Malaysian artists who will be mentored over a 12-month period by some of Malaysia’s most renowned creative experts in their field. Talents were chosen based on community recommendations and the fact that they have not been represented by any galleries, he said.
He added that one of the unique features of the programme was the reproduction of the artists’ work in high-quality digital print, which would be royalty managed and individually tagged with RFID, to enable them to sell the prints online and at local galleries.
By working with Ilford Gallerie, these artists will be able to showcase their best work and turn their passion into a sustainable source of living for the long term, said Wong. – Bernama
