An oil work called 'Will You Still Notice Us If We Step Aside?' (2019) from Sarawakian artist Brandon Ritom's exhibition 'Portrait Conversation x Menua Kitai' at the Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: The Star/Azhar Mahfof
If you step into the Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies (CIMS) in Kuala Lumpur, you'll be treated to a series of portraits representing contemporary Malaysian indigenous names from the visual art, music, cultural and social activist circles.
For those who like landscape studies, there are many canvasses depicting lush, natural outdoor scenes.
These portraits and landscapes may seem very different, but they're both parts of a single exhibition, and both the series of Sarawakian-born British-trained artist Brandon Ritom. His show Portrait Conversation x Menua Kitai at CIMS is an attempt to capture the people and places around him, and to document encounters and conversations from a modern day perspective.
Portrait Conversation x Menua Kitai exhibit
An oil work called 'Will You Still Notice Us If We Step Aside?' (2019) from Sarawakian artist Brandon Ritom's exhibition 'Portrait Conversation x Menua Kitai' at the Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: The Star/Azhar Mahfof
Ritom's 'Temiar Lawan' (oil on canvas), his portrait of Temuan artist Shaq Koyok.
'Rachel' (oil on canvas) is Ritom's portrait of Rachel Anyi, an Orang Ulu/Iban digital illustrator.
Ritom's 'Pak Sigar Gawea', oil on canvas, his portrait of Bidayuh researcher Kendy Mitot.
'Tipung Puyang', oil on canvas, a portrait of the Sabahan artist, beadmaker and musician Eleanor Goroh.
Ritom's 'The Fairy Woods, Topah', oil on canvas.
Ritom's exhibition 'Portrait Conversation x Menua Kita' is the start of his documentation process of indigenous creative names, which will include art and interviews. Photo: The Star/Azhar Mahfof
Ritom's 'Temiar Lawan', oil on canvas, his portrait of Temuan artist Shaq Koyok.
