KUALA LUMPUR: Discussions should be carried out with the relevant quarters, including religious experts and intellectuals, before any decision is made to ban classical arts that do not touch on religious sensitivities, not superstitious and are merely based on exemplary stories, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak.
He said all quarters, including experts in arts, religious experts and intellectuals, should sit together to discuss the matter.
“For example, the origin of wayang kulit is puppets, but in line with religious beliefs, during presentation it changed into shadows…and if the performance features exemplary stories, not religious sensitive, why should it be banned?.
“Likewise, the Makyung dance. Actually, we have to understand before we criticise…understand its origin, how it came, the message it wants to convey and the body movement…there is a certain message that we can learn from it,” he told Bernama when met at the 2019 Kuala Lumpur World Summit on Arts and Culture here.
Isham expressed the need for such a discussion to prevent the arts from becoming extinct.
“We want to satisfy the masses, so, I think it is better we have more dialogues, communications and discussions so that all quarters get an overall view of the matter.
“If we want to protect our national heritage, such as Makyung, there is a possibility other countries will ‘buy’ the Makyung and bring it to their country before claiming it to be their heritage,” he added.
He said the present day civilisation was built based on the arts and culture created by the past generation.
Hence, the need for the present generation to be grateful to be in a modern and progressive civilisation that has some openness and diverse culture, he added.
A United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural arts, Karima Bennounce, during the summit, had urged the Kelantan government to lift the ban on the Makyung, wayang kulit and other traditional artistic Malay art forms.
She said it would be a shame if these art forms were to become extinct, for with its death, Malaysians, especially the Kelantanese, would lose a part of their culture.
The world summit, which is the 8th, was held at the KL Performing Arts Centre (KL PAC) between March 11 and 14 and was jointly organised by the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (Ifacca) and the national Culture and Arts Department. – Bernama
