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It took many years, but Zainal Abidin Musa is finally living his boyhood dream of being a painter It wouldn’t be presumptuous to say that Zainal Abidin Musa was destined to be an artist. From as far back as he can remember (five or six years old, he says), he has loved to draw and paint — the desire was like a wellspring bubbling from deep within that could not be quenched.
 Growing up the first few years in Batu Gajah, Perak, the young Zainal drew landscape on paper using crayons. He recalls, “Everyday, the first thing I would do after I came back from school was go to my easel [which he made himself], take out my drawing block, crayons... and draw.” Zainal laughs quietly at the memory of selling three of his drawings for RM1 to his teacher in primary one, and at how his classmates and teachers would crowd around him while he showed them his works of art. The joy he derived from creating artworks and sharing them with others was something he revelled in.
Today, he can indulge in that joy everyday, having made a name for himself as an impressionist landscape artist in Malaysia. But the road he travelled to get to where he is today was not at all straightforward. It took many years of meandering, of being sidetracked in the journey of life, before he could finally live out his dream and passion unimpeded.
Sitting in the veranda of his home-cum-art studio in Seri Kembangan, Zainal talks frankly about his journey, riddled with roadblocks, with nary a hint of bitterness. The soft-spoken, unassuming artist reveals that growing up, his parents didn’t see the value in pursuing art. An incident that is etched in his memory was when he came home one day to find that his easel had been cut up and used as firewood for cooking. “But that didn’t discourage me. It was a passion I had,” he says simply.
When his family moved to the countryside from Batu Gajah, it opened up a world of beauty and inspiration for Zainal to capture on to paper. “I was so happy to go from town back to the kampung because of the birds, the jungle — that exposed me to nature,” he says. And nature was what drew him back to painting many years later.
Zainal graduated with a fine arts degree from Institut Teknologi Mara in 1983, bagging an award at the Malaysian Young Contemporary Artist competition with his final project. But as the economy was in recession at that time and as he had his immediate family to support, Zainal took up a job as an FA artist at an advertising agency.
“Those days, we had to do everything manually... cut and paste, typesetting. It was a tough job,” he says. “But I was happy because I was given the opportunity by my boss to go out and service some clients, do some sales, marketing. That was very new to me… and it was interesting. For the first three years, I worked almost everyday. It was mad but I really enjoyed it. So, all my art ambition was pushed aside.”
  He set up his own ad agency a few years later, and even ventured into trading and the construction business. He was doing quite well for himself but things took a bad turn when the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98 hit. The presssure began to take a toll on him.
To unwind, Zainal took weekend trips to the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and there he would paint the beautiful scenery he saw. “I was just doing it as it was very therapeutic, and not really to start my career [as an artist],” he says. But then it hit him — this was what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. It took him some time to decide, but he knew he had to follow where his heart was leading him.
“To decide to [get into] painting after 16 years was very tough,” he shares. “But I was prepared to leave behind what I had.” To support himself, he took up a part-time teaching position at Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology, moving on to head the Fine Arts Department but left that post after 1½ years as he was “unhappy with certain ways things were being run there”.
Even in the midst of mounting financial difficulties and rejection from his family, Zainal still carried on painting. But being an unknown, no gallery wanted to take his paintings. “I’m the type who won’t give up, so what I did was I went to the New Straits Times, because they provide their lobby to do exhibitions,” he says. “It was tough to go there... my contacts there knew me as the CEO of a company to now having to beg for space to do an exhibition. It was a bit torturing.”
But his efforts paid off. He held his first solo exhibition in 2003 titled Weekends, at a venue where a cross-section of society passed through daily. The series comprised landscapes of vast spaces of sea, land and air. There are sunny scenes of the serene seaside, of trees and the dancing shadows they produced, all done in the recognisable impressionist style that plays heavily with light and its changing qualities.
Zainal wrote in the brochure for the exhibition: “[The paintings] express my innate desire to leave behind the city life. Unconsciously or not, my paintings reveal large, open areas… breathing spaces that were a reflection of my desire to escape. I suppose, in a small way, my paintings break away from lofty ideals and are instead a tribute to simple composition, simple lines, rich colours and textures.”
It is this very simplicity and familiarity of subject matter that make Zainal’s works so accessible. But what struck a chord with buyers and art collectors, perhaps more than anything else, was the sincerity of the artist’s heart and soul as reflected in the pieces.
“People were saying that landscape is low art, but I couldn’t be bothered because to me, what is important is that you have to be very sincere towards art. You don’t paint because the trend is like that. I painted the places I visited during the weekends, with full of feeling in my works,” he says.
Zainal counts French impressionist painter Claude Monet as one of his major influences. “Monet did not want to engage himself in the philosophical debate of art. He just wanted to paint, like how a bird sings, as he said. That’s what I feel as well.. just do something that I enjoy and let people share in it.”
His second solo exhibition, titled Sunrise on Water and Other Stories, was a series of dreamy works of horizons bathed in muted hues of the rising sun. In this series, Zainal progressed from representational works to slightly more abstract pieces and says this is where he is headed. He is working on putting up a show of his Belantara series of ferns and nature, one of which won the first prize at the Passions International Art Competition in 2007. He is also working on abstract landscape pieces, fuelled by a recent trip to the east coast.
But he should not be pigeonholed as merely a landscape artist. His Illiterati series of four still-life paintings done in 2004 are social commentaries on the US’ invasion of Iraq. He writes in his blog about the works: “The situation in the world made me pause to reflect on many things: about nations exerting power upon others, about their use of wit and cunning to outdo each other — but only succeeding in creating destruction for mankind. It expresses the ignorance of learned people — the illiterates of the so-called literati.”
Zainal says he has plans to do sculptures, printmaking and woodworks, “simple things that people have forgotten”. Whatever artistic direction he chooses to take, one thing is clear: Zainal is a man who has fully come into his own, an artist very much in his element. His works speak for themselves. Zainal Abidin Musa can be contacted at (019) 617 3706 or via email at
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. For more information, visit www.zainalabidinmusa.blogspot.com.
Blue-chip performance
Theatre
Kaki Blue
Until Aug 16 (8.30pm; Sun 3pm)
KLPac, Sentul Park
Jalan Strachan, off Jalan Ipoh, KL
RM40 to RM100; RM30 for students, senior citizens, the disabled and ex-NS trainees
(03) 4047 9000
KLPac’s musical comedy, Kaki Blue, is a story about the courage and spirit of today’s youth. It looks at the many uniforms and roles we put on and shed as we grow up in this country. The musical follows three teens, — Lin, Nee and Ah Shan — who have just completed their SPM. Just as they think they can celebrate their freedom, they get drafted into service at the Butterworth Kem Bina Negara. Join them as they don their new uniforms as wira and wirawatis in the new camp, under the guidance of Major Sabar.
What Does It Mean To Be… Free?
Aug 6 to 9 (8pm)
KLPac
Sentul Park, Jalan Strachan
off Jalan Ipoh, KL
Entrance by minimum donation of RM10
(03) 4047 9000
KLPac’s Theatre for Young People presents a play set in the surreal world of 13 Bells, which is ruled by the Masked People. The young and naïve Elle has her mask taken away from her and is stripped of her station due to an act of insubordination. She has to learn to live in the underworld of her society without her mask. In the process, she discovers the true meaning of freedom and how precious it is. Short + Sweet Malaysia 
Aug 5 to 16 (8.30pm)
KLPac, Sentul Park
Jalan Strachan, off Jalan Ipoh, KL
RM30 or RM15 for students, senior citizens and the disabled
(03) 4047 9000
Twenty plays, all under 10 minutes, will be performed at the Short + Sweet festival. The plays are presented by new and established theatre practitioners. Log on to www.klpac.org for more information. Music
Atilia @ Alexis
Aug 7 & 8 (10.30pm)
Alexis Ampang Bistro and Bar
10, Ground Floor, Great Eastern Mall, 303 Jalan Ampang, KL
RM25 (includes one drink)
(03) 4260 2288
One of the rising stars to watch on the local jazz music scene is Atilia, who has gone from doing voiceovers, jingles and musicals to being a performer with a successful debut album. She wowed audiences with her performance at the recent Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta and the Sunburst Festival in KL. Dance
Butoh Jam
Aug 8 (8.30pm)
The Annexe Gallery
Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi, KL
RM20
(03) 2070 1137
Butoh Jam, presented as part of the Nyoba Kan Butoh Festival 2009, is a collaborative multidisciplinary improvisatory performance. Artist Yap Sau Bin has created a special installation for the performance, which will be presented by Caecar Chong, with music from sound artist Goh Lee Kwang and lighting by Tan Eng Heng. Film
La Vie De Jésus
Aug 3 (8pm)
The Annexe Gallery
Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi, KL
Free admission
(03) 2070 1137
Life’s brutality and exhilaration is played out in a tiny Flemish country town in the 1997 multi-award-winning French movie, La Vie De Jésus. Freddy and Marie are two listless teenagers with uncertain futures who idle their time away in a town where news of the world disappears just as quickly as it drifts in. But one thing that is inescapable and permanent is death. The film ultimately looks at how the life of Christ has figured in the story of these two young people. Visual Arts
Kuala Lumpur Triennial Six: Artifice090603009794
Aug 6 to 9
The Annexe Gallery
Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi, KL
11am to 8pm (Sun to Thurs); 11am to 9.30pm (Fri and Sat)
Free admission
(03) 2070 1137
KLT6 is a virtual art experience constructed entirely in the virtual world Second Life by a group of artists, programmers and publishers from Finland, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. It is a metaphor, a construct and a riddle, and it illustrates the inner workings of an illusion. In an elaborate performance of deception and artifice, the visitor is invited to seek his or her role within this. Paintings for All Ages/Paintings with Extended Space
Until Aug 8
RogueArt
19 Jalan Berangan, off Jalan Nagasari, KL
11am to 4.30pm (Mon to Sat)
Free admission
(03) 2284 2348
Liew Kwai Fei presents seven works of acrylic on paper in this solo exhibition. Liew’s new concept revisits basic visual language of space, form, colours and shapes. He explores inventive ways to escape the common two-dimensional format using painting as a medium. From Yunnan to Malaysia
Until Sept 30
Art House Gallery Museum of Ethnic Arts
2nd floor, Central Market Annexe, Jalan Hang Kasturi, KL
10.30am to 8pm (daily)
Free admission
Chinese artist Qin Wei, who hails from China’s Yunnan province, presents a series of works on the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. Qin Wei visited Orang Asli villages in Peninsular Malaysia and those of the Dayaks in East Malaysia, and he has beautifully captured the people and their lifestyle and culture on rice paper, with Chinese ink or brush and colour. Panorama
Until Aug 27
Wei-Ling Gallery
8 Jalan Scott, Brickfields, KL
Noon to 7pm (Mon to Fri); 10am to 5pm (Sat)
Free admission
(03) 2260 1106/7
In Panorama, artist and lecturer Ivan Lam continues from where he left off in his first solo exhibition, Ivan Lam: After all these years. The current collection is a series of highly innovative paintings of selected imagery done in synthetic polymer paint, just like his previous exhibition. But this time around, Lam ventures beyond the confines of experimentation to produce works that reflect his confidence with the medium as well as a sense of maturity. Mosques in Germany
Until Sept 9
Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
Jalan Lembah Perdana, KL
10am to 6pm (daily)
Free admission
(03) 2074 2020
This photography exhibition by award-winning photographer Wilfried Dechau shows how mosques are a part of many German cities, pointing to religious self-assurance and successful integration. To date, there are 206 mosques and about 2,600 prayer rooms for Muslims, with many more planned.  Singapore
$ing Dollar
Until Aug 8 (8pm; additional 3pm show on Sat and Sun)
Esplanade Theatre
1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore
S$38 to S$98
www.sistic.com.sg
A musical comedy that sparkles with wit, big song and dance numbers, and poignant portrayals of love in these hard times is what $ing Dollar is about. Even in the midst of a financial crisis, life goes on in Singapore’s red light district, until a mysterious bag of half a million Singapore dollars appears. Colourful characters — including a gambler, hawker operator, banker, prostitute and maid — are thrown into a hilarious cat-and-mouse game, full of sabotage, surprises and sheer luck.
Several Questions and Q&A
Aug 7 & 8 (8pm)
Esplanade Theatre Studio
1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore
S$28
www.sistic.com.sg
The Jan Eun Jung Dance Company presents works that explores the essence of dance beyond merely forms and techniques. This double-bill performance features Q&A and Several Questions. Q&A is about two persons, stuck somewhere in between resignation and hopelessness, who make a careful attempt to communicate. Several Questions is a sensitive and poignant portrait of people hurt by society and those who fall behind, and their attempt to integrate into the wider society. Bangkok
Brahms and Dvorák
Aug 7 & 8 (7pm; 4pm)
Music Auditorium, Mahidol University
Salaya, 25/25 Phutthamonthon Sai 4, Nakhonpathom, Bangkok
(+66) 02 800 2525 ext 154
Under the baton of conductor Gudni A Emilsson, the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing Dvorák’s Violin Concerto in A minor (Op 53), Brahms’s Variations on a theme of Joseph Haydn (Op 56a) and Wagner’s Overture to Tannhaeuser. The concert features special guest violinist Jana Vonaskova Novakova. Portraits in Exile
Until Aug 20
Ardel Gallery of Modern Art
99/45 Belle Ville, Boromratchonnanee Rd (Km 10.5), Bangkok
10.30am to 7pm (Tue to Sat); 10.30am to 5pm (Sun)
(+66) 02 422 2092
Aussie artist Godwin Bradbeer is recognised in his native country for his award-winning, large-scale drawings. His Bangkok debut sees a series of drawings based on his anonymous visage, Imago. The haunting monochrome drawings are variants of a mainstay composite portrait that dates back 10 years, with Bradbeer continuing to construct and deconstruct his ambiguous subject, blurring archetypal definitions of race, identity, sex and character. Jakarta
In the Name of Pating Tlecek
Until Aug 11
Nadi Gallery
Jl Kembang Indah III blok G3 no 4-5 Puri Indah, Jakarta
(+62) 21 581 8129;
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This solo exhibition is by Eko Nugroho, an up-and-coming artist who works with diverse media — creating paintings, murals and videos. He has also collaborated with local machinists to produce beautiful embroideries. Eko’s grasp of a range of graphic techniques and technologies is impressive and his works are often thought-provoking.
Eddi Prabandono
Until Aug 9
SIGI Arts
Jl Mahakam I No11, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta
(+62) 21 726 0949
This exhibition showcases the latest works by Indonesian conceptual artist Eddi Prabandono, who uses organic materials and found objects to compose his works. Editor’s Pick
The Peranakan Palate — Feasting on Beauty
Until Sept 12
 Badan Warisan Malaysia
2 Jalan Stonor, KL
10am to 5.30pm (Mon to Sat)
Free admission
(03) 2144 9273
Abstract figurative artist Kuen Stephanie presents an exhibition of new works that highlight the intricate and elaborate world of the Peranakans.
This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 766, Aug 3-9, 2009.
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