'Ilham Art Show' offers a space for diversity for Malaysian contemporary art

Tetriana Ahmad Fauzi’s 'Evil Begone, Keep And Tend To Yours Truly' (mixed media on paper, 2022) catches a visitor's attention. Photo: The Star/Low Lay Phon

Step into the Ilham Art Show 2002 and you will be greeted by the sight of a white Roman pillar on its side, a flock of flying black roosters and a stylised rubber plantation in the background.

Many of the artworks seen at Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur are huge pieces – in fact, Samsudin Wahab’s mixed media work Ibu-Pegun (Mother-Still), which is a giant coconut coir head, even spills beyond the doorway of the gallery.