Brandon Ritom's exhibit documents contemporary Malaysian indigenous culture

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.