5 Archives for a  Deep Dive into the Fascinating Past and Present of Malaysian Arts and Culture

5 Archives for a Deep Dive into the Fascinating Past and Present of Malaysian Arts and Culture

Reviewing each archival material is an encounter with a witness of the past. Here are five independent archives that gather and share rich collections of artefacts from Malaysia’s arts and culture scene.

By Lee Kwai Han

An archive keeps primary materials from the past, which can be re-visited and re-interpreted by different people from different perspectives. The recent ILHAM exhibition “Bayangnya itu Timbul Tenggelam: Photographic Cultures in Malaysia” neatly demonstrated a critical investigation and interpretation of photographic artefacts from the 1900s to 1980s, shining light on the cultural and social atmosphere back then.

The five arts and culture archives below present hidden treasure chests for artists, researchers, scholars, and the curious ones to discover, investigate, and draw inspiration from.

1. Penang House of Music

“For example, many people do not know P. Ramlee is from Penang. We are losing the facts,” Paul Augustin shares his worry and urgency to share Penang’s rich musical history with the public. While the Gallery is closed to the public, PHoM shares their digitised materials in the Resource Centre, such as vinyl recordings, lyrics and postcards via their #FromTheVault series and publishes mini documentaries.

Photo courtesy of Penang House of Music

Paul Augustin, the founder of Penang House of Music (PHoM), speaks of Penang’s music heritage with great passion. The establishment of PHoM in 2016 was seeded by Penang Musical Heritage Project (PMHP), a project documenting the local community’s cultural and musical traditions in 2007. PHoM houses a gallery, black box, and resource centre, with a vision to be the focal point for research and learning about Penang’s musical history.

The Resource Centre, PHoM’s vault, safekeeps precious collections of recordings, such as early Radio Malaya/RTM recordings, and printed materials, such as old cinema flyers. It has been actively receiving researchers, academicians, and students from Malaysia and overseas alike to research and study their collections. 

PHoM welcomes donations of vinyls, magazines, song books, photographs, and other paraphernalia by contacting them via email or phone call.

Access: Penang House of Music is closed to the public until further notice due to Covid-19 safety concerns. Access to the Resource Centre is available by appointment.

2. MY Art Memory Project (MAMP)

MAMP records art and culture censorship incidents/events in Malaysia in its MY Art Memory Project Censorship Chronology. In addition to this record, Five Arts Centre and ArtsEquator are collaborating on further research and documentation of arts and culture censorship in six selected countries in Southeast Asia.

MY Art Memory Project (MAMP) is a performing arts archive project by Five Arts Centre, led by Kathy Rowland. Rowland, the Lead Researcher, started her collection of Malaysian theatre archival materials as part of her Master degree studies on arts policy. 

MAMP archives printed documents and ephemera of theatre and dance productions in Malaysia as well as related articles. MAMP aims to share its resources on Malaysia’s performing arts history where artists, programmers, producers, and researchers can connect with Malaysia’s rich performing arts production experience. It recently started a new feature, a blog which provides guidance to navigate one’s research through MAMP and shares writings drawn from MAMP.

MAMP welcomes information submissions about past and recent performances to continuously build the archive of Malaysia’s performing arts scene.

Access: Digitised materials are available on the MAMP website.

3. Arts Education Archive Malaysia (AEAM)

Tunas teater: Ruginya kalau ia dibiarkan mati begitu sahaja” published in Berita Harian on June 14, 1980, in conjunction with the staging of Sri Ayu, reports on Janet Pillai’s long-time advocacy for theatre for young people. Sri Ayu is a modern children’s musical under the Teater Kanak-kanak, Komplex Budaya Negara Programme (TKK-KBN Programme). 

Photo courtesy of Arts-ED

Arts Education Archive Malaysia (AEAM) aims to keep detailed documentation and interpretation of selected non-formal art education programs and projects for young people in Malaysia. 

Its FAC-Arts-ED Collection holds records of the work of art practitioner Janet Pillai, Five Arts Centre, and Arts-ED from 1978 to 2013. 8 programmes and 16 projects were selected from the Collection for archival interpretation, revealing the development of a non-formal art education approach that covers a range of visual, performing, and literary arts education transcending formal disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Janet’s wish is for the FAC-Arts-Ed Collection to stimulate re-interpretations of the archival collection by different groups, such as past participants, artists, researchers, and academicians, which would in turn bring a fresh connection to such approaches. 

Moving forward, Janet envisions for the archive to expand beyond the FAC-Arts-ED Collection to include non-formal art education efforts by other groups and organisations in Malaysia.

Access: Digitised materials are available on the website. Access to the archival materials in the AEAM Archival Repository is available by appointment only by contacting Arts-ED Penang.

4. Malaysia Design Archive

Participants during the “Play Session: Reimagining Archives” event at MDA’s space at Kg. Attap in February 2020.

Photo courtesy of Malaysia Design Archive

Malaysia Design Archive (MDA) documents Malaysia’s visual history by collecting a rich database of visual materials produced and used by Malaysians. It includes graphic design spanning from the colonial period to independence. MDA sees studying visual history as a way of understanding our cultural history.

MDA’s team has been active in studying and interpreting their archives and organising related talks, reading groups, and workshops. In 2019, MDA co-organised a Penang art history symposium, “Great New World: From Free Port to Heritage Site”,  together with Penang Art District and Ruang Kongsi

In addition to preserving Malaysia’s visual history, MDA started the Year 2020 collection, which is currently crowd-sourcing visual artefacts from ordinary Malaysians’ experience of the turbulent years 2020 and 2021.

Access: Digitised materials are available on the MDA website. The MDA Centre in the Zhongshan Building, Kuala Lumpur is currently open on weekdays for fully-vaccinated visitors with appointments. Appointments can be made by writing to archivist@malaysiadesignarchive.org.

5. Malaysian Art Archive & Research Support (MARS)

Transit A0, the first TRANSIT fund-raising showcase to support MARS’ operations, featured 19 invited artists, as documented in the MARS website. The showcase ran from 9 to 23 November 2013 in HOM Art Trans, an independent artist-run space in Ampang, Selangor.

Launched in 2012, Malaysian Art Archive & Research Support (MARS) is dedicated to support visual arts development in Malaysia. Up until 2018, MARS’ collection holds 515 audio and video documentations of art-related events and 3,232 printed materials, donated by individuals and institutions.

The archive website also hosts a Malaysian visual artists’ database, arranged by their birth years, and write-ups for activities initiated by MARS, such as the TRANSIT fund-raising showcase, exhibitions, forum, and art talk series.

MARS is conceptualised and developed by Shahnim Safian, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, and Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin and managed by HOM Art Trans

Access: Please contact HOM Art Trans to access MARS’ collection of printed and audio-visual materials.

Archives as Space for Re-examination and Reconnection

Arts and culture archives serve as repositories of materials that enable us to re-examine our understanding of the changes in our society. Nadia Nasaruddin, who joined MDA as an archivist in 2018, shared that gaining a new insight about the multiperspectivity of history from her work has urged her to re-visit her own understanding of culture and ideologies. 

While holding vital records of Malaysia’s arts and culture history, these archives, initiated by the arts and culture practitioners community, are facing funding and human resources constraints to further expand their research and archives. The importance of archives needs public attention to ensure funds are channelled towards arts and culture archiving work before the yet-to-be-archived treasures disappear with time.

Cover image shows part of the process of digitising old newspaper collections in Malaysia Design Archive Centre.

Cover Image courtesy of Malaysia Design Archive.

Lee Kwai Han manages arts and environmental education projects in Penang. Despite her training in engineering, she believes arts is the software solution our society needs.