Shahar’s artwork titled “Nightmare of Moyang Bajos” reflects on the destruction of the mangrove forest in the indigenous Mah Meri community, which represents one of Peninsular Malaysia’s 18 recognised indigenous Peoples. This is one of his many paintings that merge activism and art to fight challenges of the Orang Asli community.
HE was just a carefree child living life in the jungle where shades of green rustled in the wind and river water ran clear. That serenity came to a halt when predatory land developers encroached upon the grounds of his people - the indigenous Temuan Orang Asli tribe in Banting, Southwest Selangor.
Reminiscing of fond childhood memories that included fishing in the peat swamp and hunting small animals in the jungle, award-winning contemporary artist and activist Shahar Koyok (also known as Shaq Koyok) shares that plenty of Orang Asli across the country would have had shared similar traumatic experiences of witnessing their land being claimed.
