State of faith in Kelantan

An ink on paper portrait of Kelantan's iconic Islamic scholar Tok Kenali by Poodien.

You can almost see people jumping out of their skins when the Azan blares across the gallery. The Muslim call to prayer gusts suddenly, almost out of nowhere. But then again, it is also something you would expect from an exhibition on faith in Kelantan – the land of segregation, banned arts and entertainment, compulsory modest dressing, among others, under the pervasive shadow of the state’s long-ruling Islamic political party.

Yet, the religious ruminations in the Khabar Dan Angin: Excursus On Faith In Kelantan exhibition at Kuala Lumpur’s National Visual Arts Gallery aim at more than simple religious definitions or earnest contemplations of spirituality.