A symbol of Malaysia's "awakening", the ‘Malaysian Spring' was an art installation project which took its own life during the 13th general election campaign.
The brainchild of prominent landscape architect Ng Sek San, little colourful flags sprouted all over the country in the run-up to polling day, as pro-Pakatan Rakyat individuals adopted the project as their own.
But Ng's bid to revive the project on a larger scale at a National Day-themed exhibition came to naught when it was allegedly rejected by co-organiser Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN).
He claimed that the curator of Kuala Lumpur's trendy art space Map@Publika, where the 'M50' exhibition would take place next week, informed him that BSVN had "banned" his work without even seeing it.
"I was told about four weeks ago. I thought it was not really final then, and that (curator) Nani Kahar could still negotiate, but the decision seems to be final now," he said, adding that no reason was given.
Although "not upset" with the decision, Ng said that he had initially planned to build a "much bigger" version of the ‘Malaysian Spring' for the exhibition.
The architect said that he was invited by Nani, who is also curator for the Publika gallery, as she felt his work fit the theme of the exhibition which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia.
He told Malaysiakini that BSVN could not have even looked at sketches of the planned exhibition.
"It's all in my head. I think BSVN has got ESP (extrasensory perception) and can read my mind," he quipped.
In a Twitter post about the matter, he joked: "I think I have arrived."
New location
Following the rejection, Ng said he would bring the proposal elsewhere but has not finalised the location where ‘Malaysian Spring' would sprout again.
"
Art is not my core business. I do this for fun, so banning my work is quite funny for me," said the landscape architect behind the Sekeping boutique resorts and luxury condominiums in the Klang Valley.
The brainchild of prominent landscape architect Ng Sek San, little colourful flags sprouted all over the country in the run-up to polling day, as pro-Pakatan Rakyat individuals adopted the project as their own.
But Ng's bid to revive the project on a larger scale at a National Day-themed exhibition came to naught when it was allegedly rejected by co-organiser Balai Seni Visual Negara (BSVN).
He claimed that the curator of Kuala Lumpur's trendy art space Map@Publika, where the 'M50' exhibition would take place next week, informed him that BSVN had "banned" his work without even seeing it."I was told about four weeks ago. I thought it was not really final then, and that (curator) Nani Kahar could still negotiate, but the decision seems to be final now," he said, adding that no reason was given.
Although "not upset" with the decision, Ng said that he had initially planned to build a "much bigger" version of the ‘Malaysian Spring' for the exhibition.
The architect said that he was invited by Nani, who is also curator for the Publika gallery, as she felt his work fit the theme of the exhibition which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia.
He told Malaysiakini that BSVN could not have even looked at sketches of the planned exhibition.
"It's all in my head. I think BSVN has got ESP (extrasensory perception) and can read my mind," he quipped.
In a Twitter post about the matter, he joked: "I think I have arrived."
New location
Following the rejection, Ng said he would bring the proposal elsewhere but has not finalised the location where ‘Malaysian Spring' would sprout again.
"
Art is not my core business. I do this for fun, so banning my work is quite funny for me," said the landscape architect behind the Sekeping boutique resorts and luxury condominiums in the Klang Valley.
When contacted, BSVN's public relations department referredMalaysiakini to the Map@Publika curators as the BSVN curator in charge of the M50 show was currently overseas.
Map@Publika's curators have yet to respond to Malaysiakini'sresponse for comments, while calls to the office number of BSVN assistant curator's for the project were not answered.
Map@Publika's curators have yet to respond to Malaysiakini'sresponse for comments, while calls to the office number of BSVN assistant curator's for the project were not answered.
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