Kuala Lumpur - The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, today paid tribute to Redza Piyadasa, one of Malaysia‘s renowned artists and cultural icons who died on May 7 due to liver complications following a bout of dengue fever. He was 67.
He said Piyadasa was a true national promoter of Malaysian art who had used his position and network to actively promote such art and artists.
"Galleries in Japan, Australia and Singapore procured important contemporary Malaysian works under his advocacy," he said at the launching of ‘The Malaysian Series-Works of the Late Redza Piyadasa‘ at the Petronas Gallery here Thursday.
The exhibition features 40 of Piyadasa‘s artworks and commemorates his achievements and contributions to Malaysian modern art.
Raja Nazrin said Piyadasa played a seminal role in assembling a plethora of local art collections and was among the few who took on the gruelling task of increasing the representation of Malaysian art overseas.
Piyadasa held a Master‘s degree in Fine Arts from Hawaii University and winner of numerous awards including 1998 Prince Claus award for lifetime contribution to the arts.
On the home front, Raja Nazrin said Piyadasa was a "rare bridge for our sad Malay-non-Malay, Muslim-non-Muslim divide".
"He cared deeply for the marginalised. He was not a man for all seasons but a critic for all reasons. He challenged and stimulated one and all. A renaissance man. A polymath. A role model whose death diminishes all of us," he said.
Raja Nazrin said Malaysians should embrace the subject of unity in diversity and strive towards achieving it in a definitive manner.
He noted Piyadasa once said that barriers to unity could only be crossed if people had profound affection for diversity in this country.
"I believe it‘s our responsibility as Malaysians to use our minds and actions to create a reality of openness, and to avoid parochialism at all costs," he said.
On the exhibition, Raja Nazrin said "it is an engagement which is written in the unifying language of art which in its own way could play a role in building a civil society".
"One cannot come away from it without appreciating the rich, varied and precious cultural heritage that underpins our social fabric," he said.
He said as an artist-thinker, Piyadasa had a deep concern for the future of Malaysia as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society, and it was from this concern that The Malaysian Series was born.
Raja Nazrin said Piyadasa‘s intuitive understanding of Malaysia was revealed in his portrayal of images that reflected the social histories of different ethnic groups, and that he had poetically and provocatively confronted the theme of a pluralistic Malaysian identity.
In a career spanning over four decades, Piyadasa not only made his mark as a producer of rich and diverse range of artistic works but also as an educator, historian, curator, writer and critic.
"He was a critic among artists. An artist among critics. An intellectual among Malaysians. A Malaysian among intellectuals who stood for all races and religions," said Raja Nazrin.
Source: www.bernama.com (23 Juli 2007)
