If artist Vincent Leong meant to instigate debate with his images of Malaysian leaders – including its monarchs - viewed from the back, judging by some of the shrill responses on social media, he has succeeded.

His display titled ‘ Kenapamu Malaysia’ (Why, Malaysia), consists of four portraits - including two characters resembling the agong and raja permaisuri agong in official yellow attire - next to each other, with a bigger photograph of the Tugu Negara (National Monument), all from behind.

 

His work was featured on Jan 22-25 at Art Stage, an exhibition held in conjunction with this year’s Singapore Art Week, a popular event for collectors and enthusiasts in Southeast Asia.

 

On Jan 29, Malay daily Sinar Harian and online portal The Rakyat Post reported ethnocentric NGO Isma and PAS Youth saying the images were an “ insult ” to Malaysian leaders.

 

On the same day, KiniTV reported two Malay ethnocentric NGOs, led by Abdul Rani Kulup Abdullah, who made police reports against Leong for “ insulting the monarchy, Islam and Malays ”.

 

While Leong himself, when contacted by Malaysiakini , chose not to comment, the work grew a life of its own among artists on their social media networks.

 

When contacted, artist and art researcher Noor Azizan Rahman Paiman, fondly called Paiman, says he saw the images on a Facebook post but did not comment.

 

He told Malaysiakini that he supports the idea that artists should be free to express their opinion.

 

However, Paiman also believes that the art community, at the same time, can be more circumspect of local cultures and norms.

 

They also cannot run away from ruminating on the context in which their art is created, says Paiman, whose own work is often branded as ‘socio-political’.

 

He has his own views about how Leong’s work could be interpreted.

 

“The primary data is the photograph, and the leadership - our constitutional monarchy system, and the country’s CEOs on the left and right sides - is the secondary data,” says Paiman, who also lectures on art.

 

The first point of view, he explains, is a simple one.

“You can view it as the constitutional monarch flanked, perhaps, by state leaders. You can think about the concept of left and right, and those on the right as carrying more weight (in terms of their responsibility).

 

But if one reads it in a wider angle - looking at the socio-political context and linguistics - he says the interpretation becomes “open-ended”, a quality which he finds appealing.

 

“The word belakang (behind/rear) could be about not giving primacy to the law ( membelakangkan undang-undang ), play dirty ( main belakang ), or using the back door ( ikut pintu belakang ),” he said.

 

‘Not created in vacuum’

 

However, Paiman underscores his belief that art is not created in a vacuum and neither does it exist in a void.

 

The emotive images are launched on a society in which values are different from the West, is “not sophisticated” in their thinking, and where the level of art appreciation is low. 

 

He said discourse in Malaysia in general - not just on art - is shallow, and dominated and manipulated by politicians and their interests.

 

“Once the artwork is displayed in public, it no longer belongs to the artist.”

 

Faced with this reality, Paiman urges temperance.

 

“It’s not that you can’t criticise; you can. But the criticism must be rooted in the culture from the East, not the West.” 

 

He says the criticism must have heart, which he refers to as having “a loving quality”. The dominant Malay culture and norms, he adds, have to be taken into consideration.

 

When it was mentioned that the late Ibrahim Hussein, thought of as the iconic Malaysian artist, caused controversy when he held a solo exhibition in Manila at the height of the Philippines-Malaysia spat in the late 1960s, Paiman asks why Leong showed the whole display outside Malaysia first.

 

“If you want to talk about location, why show it in Singapore, not Malaysia?

 

“It creates controversy, to get attention from outside. This does happen (in the art world). And the work becomes polemical,” he says.

 

He proposes finding ‘a middle ground’. Ibrahim’s ‘May 13’, for example, is on display in the artist’s gallery in Langkawi, but it cannot be sold or brought out of the country. The painting was done four months after the racial riots and killings in 1969, using the Malaysian flag as a canvas.

 

Artists, Paiman argues, need to be smart and consider external factors.

 

He says that artworks from inside Malaysia that fuel debate are not in short supply.

 

“There is a lot of artwork that are provocative which are created in Malaysia. It’s just that they do not get promoted in a negative way by mainstream media, so they are seen as ‘harmonious’, when in fact, they are not.”

 

“For me, the story (behind Vincent Leong’s images) is not about the sultan. The problem is that you see the backside of the permaisuri , which may not be so appropriate.

 

“In Malaysia, everything is hyperbolised, even small matters. Because of the political scenario, because of power (play), it becomes a problem when it should not be a problem at all,” he added.

 

When asked what words he would offer to Leong from one artist to another, Azizan quips: ‘Vincent Leong needs to be more sensitive about punggung wanita (women’s rear). One of the images is of the wife of a constitutional monarch, and people looking at it looks at her backside.”

 

On that score, he thinks Leong “dug his own grave”.

 

“The artwork is too easily read in a straightforward manner. It disturbs those who are unable to interpret it with an open mind.

 

“But it is my hope that this issue can be resolved through academic discourse, not police reports.”

 

“This is the responsibility of thinkers who call themselves scholars. It is a topic of discussion for visual art scholars, not politicians. We exist in a situation where we have to decide whether we want to move forward or backwards.”

 

‘Artists under seige’

 

S Jamal Al-Idrus, an art gallery owner, says the backside images by Leong may not be a typical representation, but the flap it caused says more about the times we live in.

 

“There are a lot of oversensitive voices. In the last seven years since the general elections in 2008, every minor thing that can be construed as insult - no matter how far-fetched - just gets escalated.

 

“It is not as if artistic expression has suddenly gone overboard. Art is just caught up in the (Malay-Muslim) hypersensitivity we see virtually every day,” he told Malaysiakini .

 

Jamal ( left ) says the overreaction is made worse when the loud voices from the “more narrow-minded part of society” are amplified, not only on social media but also by some news portals.

 

Those whose feathers were ruffled by Leong’s images may not have seen the whole display.

 

“There is a focus on one narrow viewpoint of what the art represents. Granted, art is open to interpretation. People may be offended, correct, especially if they see only one portion of the display - purportedly of the yang di-pertuan agong and raja permaisuri agong, which was never expressly said by the artist himself.”

 

But going “overboard” with a “literal” interpretation, says Jamal, who saw the artwork in Singapore, is “unnecessary”.

 

“If you take what is shown in isolation, the more negative meaning is that the leadership or government itself is turning its back on its own people in politics, or they are being self-absorbed in their own political issues.

 

“It evokes a feeling that the real people’s interests are not properly addressed or are neglected,” he adds.

 

The second possible interpretation, according to Jamal, stirs up a different feeling.

“We are looking into the future with our leaders and government on the forefront. What we see immediately is their behind; we stand behind our leadership.

 

“In either case, from my viewpoint, the intent was not to insult. Artists use metaphors to express an idea. For most contemporary artists, they express the world as they see it.

 

“We all - artists and non-artists - are social commentators. We all have opinions about what goes on around us, and how it affects our lives. So do artists,” he explains.

 

Reference to the huge image of the Tugu Negara, he points out, is often absent in social media comments about the work.

 

Like Paiman, Jamal also questions the role of media - including social media - in fanning the flames.

 

“The issue spread like wildfire. With the speed of communication today, something trivial can escalate into a lot more than what it is.

 

‘Context is totally missed out’

 

“Context is totally missed out and gets lost along the way. In situations like this, it is unfair to any sort of creative content, be it a piece of writing, music or art.

 

“Vincent Leong’s work is a perfect example of that. I can bet you that the vast majority of those who expressed outrage has not seen the artwork and has not seen it as it is displayed.

 

“I am not sure if Isma or PAS Youth responded initially on their own (accord) when they looked at the images, or is it some comment they saw on social media and they responded (to the journalist’s query based on the comment),” he says.

 

Even with the controversy swirling around it, Jamal points out that rumpus in the art scene is not a new phenomenon.

 

“If you look at art, historically, artists have been getting into hot water for a long time.

“They have been pushing the envelope of acceptability of their artwork for a long, long time,” he argues.

 

Like Paiman, Jamal also quotes ‘May 13’, the work of renowned artist, the late Ibrahim Hussein, as an example of art that is provocative.

 

The police reports and accompanying scrutiny may have a “chilling effect” on the creations by local artists.

 

He says it is hard to predict if artists will “self-censor”, but he thinks it “does happen a lot”.

 

“Artists have been known to turn to styles that are more vague and abstract when the political climate is difficult, but in ways that you know only if you speak to the artist,” he adds.

 

A bigger loss for the country is when such hysteria pushes the artists to not only create but also display outside Malaysia

 

“When Malaysia becomes more conservative and Malaysians do not think and get more literal in how they understand what they see, it gets more and more difficult to make creative content in Malaysia,” he explains.

 

Having worked with young artists, Jamal, who has followed the Malaysian art scene keenly for the last eight years, has this to say to Leong: “Well done! You have got Malaysians to think and thinking is something we are in short supply of.

 

“Please continue to create and don’t let this speed bump deter you.”