Removal of artwork from Pillars of Sabah ‘case of bullying’, say artists

 

Pillars of Sabah in Kota Kinabalu was a tourist attraction. (Facebook pic)

KOTA KINABALU: A co-founder of Pillars of Sabah (POS), a community art initiative in the heart of the city, believes the removal of artwork from the site without informing the artists is an example of government departments “bullying” the people.

Jared Abdullah, who founded POS with internationally known Sabah artist Red Hong Yi in 2018, criticised the Sabah Art Gallery (SAG) for the move.

He said although SAG, as the landowner, could do what it wished with the site, it should have informed the artists of its intention to remove the artwork.

Over the weekend, social media had been awash with photos showing the paintings on the 30 columns and one wall of the former colonial building had vanished, after having been gone over with white paint.

Jared Abdullah in front of the main wall of Pillars of Sabah. (POS pic)

The building, which once housed government departments and later the office of the Society for the Blind, was razed in a fire in 1992 and all that was left were the 30 pillars.

Since its launch in 2018, Pillars of Sabah had become a tourist attraction.

Jared said while the art community would accept an apology from the state tourism, culture and environment ministry, SAG should also apologise.

“What’s the point (of the apology)? It’s to stand up to bullies … we have to show that we just can’t be treated like this,” he told FMT.

He said the artists had worked with SAG, a state agency, for some time.

“We have been working on the basis of trust with the gallery who became our collaborators. Everytime we wanted to do something new with the site, we would seek their permission, so that makes them our partners.

“On this basis, we had assumed that when the time comes for POS to move on, they would have the courtesy to inform us. Although the site belongs to them, the project does not,” he said.

Jared said the third edition of the POS project was funded by the federal Cultural Economy Development Agency.

Pillars of Sabah painted over in white during the weekend. (Facebook pic)

“It’s federal funding to boost the art community for the sake of public art appreciation and yet SAG seems to not care about it. So, they have gone and destroyed something that does not belong to them.”

The first edition of POS, featuring works by local artists including Jared based on the Malaysia Day theme, was launched on Sept 16, 2018. The second, which highlighted Sabah’s threatened wildlife species, was launched in March 2019.

The latest edition, highlighting the community coming back together after the Covid-19 pandemic, was launched in December last year.

According to Jared, SAG wanted to propose another project at the site to federal tourism minister Nancy Shukri during her visit to the state capital tomorrow.

“But the project has not been approved by the state ministry and yet POS was removed,” he said. - FMT