CORE contemporary art

Great Malaysian Contemporary Art, abbreviated as GMCA, was a seminal curated show held in Malaysia during an art expo in 2013. At the time of its commencement, locals were receptive and appreciative when Core Design Gallery represented a selection of artists’ works for it. The foundation of GMCA, then decided, was to celebrate diversity in visual arts and to drive it into an international platform.

The public here right now does relate better to commercial value rather than the critical value, so the question is why do you need critical value?

— extracted writing from an interview with one of the participating artists, Shooshie Sulaiman, in GMCA I catalogue.

Hitting a new milestone, naturally, the question of value arose at the forefront of Core Design Gallery. Within years, the gallery witnessed a shift in the art market that has appealed to and centralised the local revenue into the commercialisation of the arts. To some extent, it is part of the art industry’s plan to enable said art direction to reach a certain standard. Although, the answer in today’s contemporary arts would have put the term ‘commercial arts’ as undervalued had it not been for the increase in criticism of it. 

Fast forward to the present, Core Design Gallery is assessing new critical trends of value as we consider the local contemporary arts which are moving and diverging at a rapid pace, unlike ever before. GMCA to Busan, after careful and rigorous planning, came about as a renewed and long-awaited venture intended to bring different visual dialects that have been in development in Malaysian contemporary art scenes. This show marks an evidential global influence that has assimilated into an unavoidable intercultural appreciation. The latest selection of contemporary artists for this show — from young to mid-career — offers an insight into distinguishing the then, and the now. 

Featured artists: Ain Rahman, Haafiz Shahimi, Mohd Fairuz Paisan aka Po Oi, and Nor Tijan Firdaus.