Mohamed Najib Ahmad Dawa - Batik Art in Transgression Artist Mohamed Najib Ahmad Dawas journey in art is nothing

short of exciting and thrilling Not many can claim to begin life as a common struggling artist at the !entral Market and "isma #akin at $alan Masjid %ndia& 'uala (um)ur before studying his way u) to become the dean of *+M,s !entre for Art +tudies Now he assumes the helm at the National Art -allery as the Director--eneral ./ually interesting is his need to kee) searching for his )ersonal style and identity as an artist& ha0ing being born just a few years before Merdeka and li0ed through the formati0e and tumultuous years when his identity as an artist or citi1en of a new nation sometimes )ressed to be defined $ust as thrilling is his taking heed of art-historian 2eine--elderns words with regards to identity and roots3 4the )ast can be )artly reconstructed from the )resent& for art )roceeds from other art& contem)orary forms can be traced back genetically to ancient forms 5 "ith that& he looked into the batik motifs found in sarongs known as loccan )roduced in the early 6788s And he found that each of those sarongs is a )ainting by itself& containing a wealth of messages and symbols which are known only to the members of the culture %t was utterly sur)rising as these sarongs were common e0eryday clothes meant for wearing around the body %n his research& he was also sur)rised to come across a book in .ngland documenting such batik cloth designs& one of which ha))ened to come from his )ersonal collection 9rom extensi0e research& he went on to document at least four hundred original batik motifs that ha0e e0ol0ed in this region An occasion arose two years ago when he was forced to look dee) into his own life *nfortunate it may ha0e seemed but the time taken off to fight cancer and recu)erate has com)elled him to seriously rethink of what he really wanted to do with his life and what he wanted to contribute to the world 2e took to )ainting again incor)orating the symbols and designs from his research& )ainting batik on can0as with acrylics "ith clear objecti0es in mind& )ainting was now both a thera)y and a means of ex)ressions to raise the le0el of batik craft to )rofound art and to kee) ali0e the many forgotten archety)es and symbols in our modern society 4%n this situation&5 Dr Najib says& 4the artwork has mo0ed into another dimension where it is not used for 4body beauty5 as in the traditional context but for 40isual consum)tion5 To the artist& the ex)ression 40isual consum)tion5 carries the meaning of 40iewing for a))reciation 5 But the )roblem arises in selecting the right motifs for the right )ur)oses so as to function as a 0ehicle for messages& if not it will just merely be decorati0es 4Therefore& % ha0e assembled all the elements found in batik and then formulated it in a way for it to function as subject matter for the )ainting .lements like structures found in sarongs such as kepala kain, are a significant structure which re)resents the centre, or the soul of the sarong and is usually accom)anied by pucuk rebung :young bamboo shoots;

motifs 5 The triangular bamboo shoots re)resent the male and female& who are soft and )liable at youth and strong and bra0e in adulthood <airing them side by side re)resents a meeting between the sexes %n conclusion& a sarong may tell the story of a )ersons metamor)hosis or life history= Through his dee) realisation of how rich our traditional arts are while keenly aware of how much culture has deteriorated in our e0eryday life& he ex)loited whate0er motifs and designs he could and transformed them from their original medium and format to a different )latform that is the gallery context Dr Najib continues3 4Thus the use of the gallery has transformed it or transgressed it from its traditional to its contemporary context. The relationshi) between the words >transgress to contemporary within this context im)lies a break away from its traditional usage for decorating the fabric for the )ur)ose of >body beauty :wra))ing around the body; to >body of space in relation to 0isual arts The /ualities of the object at this stage change from the state of >utilitarian to objects of >contem)lation as from >catwalk to >gallery s)ace 5