The Blue Lotus magazine Issue No. 60

Lotus The Blue

Xandria Noir Vasiliki Kolipetsa Emy Thiran Mohammad Ferdous Khan Shawon Adeste Deguilmo Pilar Viviente

Issue no. 60 Winter 2023

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Lotus The Blue

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Image © by Martin Bradley

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contents p6

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A quick word

Editor’s comments.

Xandria Noir

Lacrimosa, Pakistan/UK

Chinatown

Downtown (Bangkok, Thailand)

Vasiliki Kolipetsa Printmaking, Greece

Chinatown

Right up the alleys (Bangkok, Thailand)

Emy Thiran

Abstracts, Malaysia

Harmony Unbounded

Exhibition, Faculty of Fine Art’s Zainul Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Chinatown

History (Bangkok,Thailand)

Adeste Deguilmo

Realist distortions, Cebu, Philippines

Cover art: Xandria Noir

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Chinatown

Hidden (Bangkok, Thailand

Of Fishing, Nets and Arts

Exhibition, Muar, Malaysia

Pilar Viviente

Portals, Spain

Dreams of Humanity

Exhibition, Alliance Française, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Chinatown

Cuisine (Bangkok, Thailand)

https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/malim_nawar_morning ISSN 2754-9151 • NO. 60 • WINTER ISSUE • 2023 • THE BLUE LOTUS Published quarterly by The Blue Lotus Publishing (M.A.Bradley), Colchester, Essex, England, UK. © 2023 M.A.Bradley. All rights reserved.

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Lotus The Blue

A quick word Winter Another issue and another place. This issue largely comes from Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand, with contributions from Bangladesh, Greece, Malaysia, Pakistan and The Philippines.

Being one of the oldest Chinatown’s outside of China itself, Bangkok’s Chinatown was inevitably chock full of Asian goodness and diversity.

Thank you, as always, for being here and reading this magazine. Do come back to future issues or take a look at past ones on ISSUU. Submissions are encouraged to be sent to martinabradley@gmail.com for consideration Take care and stay safe for Covid 19 and its variants are, sadly, still with us.

Martin

(Martin A Bradley, Founding Editor)

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lacrimosa xandria noir

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A linear narrative of unprecedented transitions xandrianoir.com

The ride through my life has remained one of the major forces in my artistic evolution.

It reflects in my work with a bit of distinction between my own styles almost every few years.

From my teen years till now, my work has gone through frequently questioned transitions from representational abstract, experimental impressionism, bold abstract expressionism, subtle minimalism and deep textures. Most of my work represents a strong vocabulary of lines as a baseline communication between experiences, environments and myself.

I was born in 1972 and raised in Karachi, a coastal city of Pakistan that experienced transitional phases from baseline tranquil expansion, to urban hip and now as apotheosis of chaotic human and cemented congestion, and eternally incessant background noise. This along with typical religious conditioning by my traditional family and a brain that unfortunately questioned everything resulted in placing me in a violent whirlpool of confusion, rebellion, anxiety and misophonia.

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Ultimately, it forced me into seclusion many times for a long periods of time but I appreciate how they simultaneously made me experience emotions at much deeper levels, taught me empathy, helped me recondition myself, connected me with my soul, shaped me into a minimalist and a self taught person, helped me seek inspirations, guided me into observations, gave me the language of art and made me who I am today - a strong, fierce, fearless, individualistic, independent, bold, resilient and, most importantly, a spiritually evolved human. Had it not been for my life trapped in a religiously and ethically suffocated society, I may not have obtained the survival skills that I possess today.

I left Karachi in early 2020 and relocated to a much smaller and quieter city, Islamabad, in search of intrinsic solitude and to be able to escape in nature to disconnect from the pointless rat race of toxic urban development and focus on quintessential stationary motion while chasing my inspirations. And then the wave of pandemic engulfed everything and every opportunity that landed on my hands in the Green City. While I struggled between relocating studio and the unavailability of art materials, I aimed to use this time walking freely for hours in the woods

and on the hills. I used it to drive around and meet liberated altitudes of the mountains. It was all about the exploration of varying landscapes of the northern mountains of Pakistan and experiencing its rural lifestyles. It was all about getting inspired and seeking silence for peace.

It reflected in my work without any delay - the calm, the serenity, the absolute perfection for once in my life. But all this was just an interval,

a respite, a brief two-year transit before the beginning of my next chapter of life.

Right after I finally adapted to the Green City’s slow paced life, I unexpectedly moved to the UK and without any thought, chose Suffolk for my abode. The landscape, greener than the Green City, inspired me instantly. I drove through the country roads for hours every day, had my

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morning runs on the winding footpaths in the fields, discovered historical elements and memorised the rapidly changing shades of sky and the trees, chased the peekaboo of light, and watched the flights of birds from my window. However, despite being an incredibly beautiful and inspiring county in East Anglia, it also immediately brought me to face intense challenges for my career and my physical and mental health. While I felt

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grateful to live in the forever expanding beautiful countryside, I also experienced penetrating loneliness, lack of tactility, affection and warmth in the society known to keep a stiff upper lip. The society that regards anyone as insane who reacts to neglect and apathy. The society that proudly adheres to the rusted outdated traditions, false pretences, obsession with property prices and ear-piercing overpoliteness.

I must admit. I had the freedom of movement but no emotional freedom. This combined with personal life challenges, made me feel more suffocated, suppressed and caged here than in Pakistan where as a highly modern and outspoken woman, lack of physical freedom was nonnegotiable but emotional freedom was validated. I was split in two. The monstrous contrast symbolism that has followed me throughout my life, mocked me once again.

In the land of the English, I continually feel a big chunk of my soul has gone void in the absence of genuine expression and speech.

And then it reflected in my art with intense

depths visibly hidden under the thick translucent layers of texture-forming wild strokes.

Deep down I know, I am in yet another transit and will soon experience my next destination, my next abode. It’s like a ride on a roller coaster where excitement and apprehension come together, a perfect contrast symbolism. Thus my incessant search for peace. Being a person who has long suffered from anxiety, my art seems more vocal when produced in an ambience of calm environment and natural beauty. My current work documents the exploration 15

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of my daily developing artistic response to a unique, historically rich and artistically nourishing backdrop along with the unappreciated reaction to the emotionally malnourished human behaviour.

It demonstrates my intimacy with the immediate environment and develops it in evolutionary terms on a canvas. I express this response/reaction on uniformly sized canvas-segments of minimalist but dense art, be it via linear or other forms.

And then I leave it to viewers’ discretion. After-all, art is subjective.

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Downtown

CHINATOWN I’d not been to Bangkok, Thailand, for over 20 years, and had never been to it’s Chinatown.

Chinatown was why I had initially decided to stay there in the first place. To embed, and to enjoy the sense of the place.

The practically ‘toy’ Airasia airplane bounced through a tropical storm from Malaysia’s KLIA An aside T2 and landed at Don Mueang International Airport, more or less on time.

While I was intent on getting a local SIM card, grabbing a taxi and finding my way to my booked The trip was supposed to be about Modern accommodation (which appeared to be buried in the and Contemporary art in Bangkok. Ultimately, back streets of Bangkok), some hours before a youth though, it wasn't. I had embedding myself in had taken lives in Bangkok’s Siam Paragon shopping Bangkok's Chinatown. That changed everything. mall. Two people were shot, dead, and another three I came to the realisation that my brief should injured in that seemingly senseless tragedy. have been to look, and I mean, really look at that Chinatown, which is one of the world's oldest Whatever minor difficulties I might have been and biggest in the entire world, and hopefully facing paled into insignificance on the hearing learn something about it. of this news from Facebook. Life, my friends, we must remember, is fragile, ephemeral. Everything Supposedly Bangkok’s Chinatown is within can be gone in the fraction of a second. Change is the Samphanthawong district, including many the only constant. roads like Yaowarat Road, Charoen Krung Road, Mangkon Road, Song Wat Road, Song Despite the tragedy, I had still been hungry Sawat Road, and Chakkrawat Road too. But it when I finally arrived at the security door of my wasn't the newer, but the older places, that drew temporary lodging. I had pressed the keys to me. Ethnically the whole Chinatown area in open the electronically locked door, then did the Bangkok is a total fusion of cultures, Thai and same, inside, with my room door.

Thai Chinese. My personal predilections led me to the more Chinese influenced things, and the I had thrown my small black OEX rucksack into older places. That curiosity about Bangkok’s the proffered room and headed back out for food.

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Wat Samphanthawongsaram Worawiharn

The Bangkok drizzle had prevented too much adventuring, as did the late hour. So, I opted for cheap and local and became seated at the curb-side on Yaowarat Road (one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Bangkok and, incidentally, also called Dragon Street by some). I had been marginally out of the rain, on a blue plastic stall, eating the intrigue which is Fish Maw (Kapropla) Soup.

this time.

Before finding breakfast, I had discovered at least one aspect of the maze which are the small lanes inhabiting the older part of Bangkok’s (Yaowarat) Chinatown area.

Wikipedia suggests that…

“Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. It was founded in 1782 The ordered soup (small), was all I might have when the city was established as the capital of the hoped it to be. So much so that I should have Rattanakosin Kingdom, and served as the home of the ordered the medium. As a takeaway, I took mainly Teochew immigrant Chinese population...” away a small bag of coconut milk ‘Kanom Thai Mae Duen’ dessert. These were tiny gelatinous Wandering around Chinatown, I chanced by goodies, made from Thai rice and coconut milk, several of those small alleyways. Mooching steamed in little porcelain (Chinese tea) cups. I along one lane I had discovered the Luang had been intrigued watching the elderly Thai Kocha Itsahak Mosque, (constructed around woman scoop out those sweet balls from the 1895). I had gone around the rear, looking at the cups while I was devouring the Fish Maw soup. romantically decaying buildings overlooking Hence buying some to eat back at my curious that frangipani littered Muslim graveyard. The temporary dwelling. Then, partially satiated, I Luang Kocha Itsahak Mosque… had slept. “…..was commissioned by Luang Kocha Itsahak (Kerd Bin Abdullah), the son of a Sai Buri merchant who had risen to become a mid-level official in the Another kettle of, fish Krom Tha Khwa (the government department which Breakfast in Bangkok’s old Chinatown was supervised commerce with foreign countries). A another kettle of, er, fish. Fish Curry to be precise Malay speaker, his everyday duties included acting as (with rice). Excellent. The laxative curry took a an interpreter for foreign ambassadors who visited the predicted 30 mins or so to take effect. Obviously royal court.” Or so says The Bangkok Post.

I was back in my room by then, so no problem, 21

Shoes. Streets and streets of elder shops selling shoes. For a moment I thought that I was in one of those dreams where, like the film Ground hog Day, life kept repeating and repeating. I had never seen so many stores selling shoes and, pardon my ignorance, the shoes seemed identical in each of the shops. I later learned that those alleyways had areas….shoe areas, gold areas, gem areas etc. etc. etc..

kaffe boran (ancient coffee).

The tucked away eatery Ek Teng Phou Ki, was the closest that I could get to a kopitiam (Malaysian Chinese coffee shop). The enticingly tiny shop had been disguised as a Thai bakery/coffee shop. But the telling signs had been there….kaya (coconut egg custard) on thick toasted bread, soft-boiled eggs and coffee so thick (with condensed milk) that a teaspoon could stand upright, (made from local coffee beans roasted in-house). I ordered all the above. Like kopitiams in Malaysia, Ek Teng More food.

Phou Ki began as a meeting place for immigrant I tried very hard not to look at that English (but Hainanese and Teochew Chinese workers, way Thai) bulldog’s tailless backside. There it stood, back in 1919. It has adapted over the years and its back to me, staring up at its owner who was even moved once, but continues to serve nosey, chopping stewed pork for a customer’s meal. hungry, tourists like me. It became my go-to The problem was, my table was facing front, place for breakfast most days. and so was the animal with its rectum pointing After that initial breakfast I had walked on, to directly at me, with no tail to hide it. the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Centre, not I too had been waiting for my dinner (of stewed knowing that it was in the same pagoda as pork, a smattering of green vegetables and a Bangkok’s ‘Sukhothai’ ‘Golden Buddha’ (at Wat portion of rice). Tourists had come and went Traimit Wittayaram). To see both it was necessary on the nightly market. Many were scantily clad to buy two tickets, at 100 baht each. I was very and mostly be- tattooed, and had seemed more impressed with the exhibition of the history fascinated by the stalls of grilled insects, or those of Chinese immigration to Bangkok, which displaying the king of fruits - durian, than the distinctly reminded me on a similar, but larger, one more sober, but ultimately more satisfying, ones. in Malaysia called ‘Huazong Malaysian Chinese Museum). I had been less impressed with a 700 Okay, truth be told, I had walked out on that year old, solid gold, Buddha measuring 12 feet 5 rainy morning, intent on 1) having ‘kopitiam’ or inches at the approximate value of 28.5 million something like it for breakfast, and 2) to visit the pounds. I idly wondered just how ethical it was, Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Centre, which is when people are still poor and some sleeping on the history of Chinatown in Bangkok. Notice my the streets. priorities and just how Malaysian I have become.

I am proud to say, mission was accomplished.

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way….

Despite the day’s attempt at drowning everything in Bangkok, me included, for a while it was Perhaps it was a judgment from above (after possible to walk out without getting drenched. negative thoughts about the Thai Buddha) but I had left ‘Wat Traimit Wittayaram’ through a In my search or should I say, to quell my desire different exit from the one I came in. Normally for the comforts of home (Malaysia), I deeply my sense of direction would have sorted things desired the basic Malaysian Kopitiam fare of out within a minute or two. Ah. It seems that as soft-boiled eggs, kaya toast and that dense I have aged, one of the vital faculties that seems bitter Malaysian coffee called ‘kopi’ which is an to has left me is my innate sense of direction. It instant wake up call, and in Thailand is called had served me for decades, but not on that day.

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Breakfast at Ek Teng Phou Ki

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Kidnapped by tuk tuk

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I got lost.

It was as if all that was familiar just disappeared.

The further I walked the more tired I became. I was therefore delighted to see a row of tuk tuks (local Thai transport, somewhat like trishaws). I told a driver where I needed to go, and off we went with the driver enveloped in my trust.

Twice the tuk tuk driver stopped to ask directions.

Hmmm, my confidence in him had been rapidly diminishing until, finally, he had just stopped and suggested that the destination was so far that he needed me to agree to a quite vast sum to get there. I said no. Passed him some baht notes and walked away.

had stopped and pointed to the entrance of one of the grandest hotels I have ever seen.

I had mixed emotions.

I was flattered that my companion thought that I belonged in such a place, while also being much annoyed that he had totally disregarded both my guidance and my wishes. I calmly mentioned, three times, with each utterance gaining in emphasis “Chinatown, CHINATOWN, CHINA TOWN” like a typical Englishman abroad. I accompanied this by a WTF two arm gesture, palms to the heavens, and an over-emphasised facial expression. “Ah! Chinatown” he said, and had giggled. Turning his vehicle around, back the way we came, we had raced off again.

I was still lost. I had no idea where that character Eventually, we had gotten back to Chinatown, having seen all manner places in between. I had had dropped me. Nothing seemed familiar. even began to recognise shops. He stopped.

In a mild panic, I hastened through market-laden “Chinatown “. “yes”, said I. “Chinatown”. I paid streets until I arrived at a main thoroughfare. I the agreed price, which was exorbitant, but took approach a younger tuk tuk driver, showed him the whole experience as a rapidly-paced tour of on a map where I needed to go. He agreed. Off Bangkok city. I was back in familiar surroundings.

I was glad to be alive and relatively unscathed. we went.

I had known my way back to my comfort zone Before long, recognising nothing, I spoke to the from there. I still had to walk but, after the tuk driver, who insisted that he knew where I wanted tuk shake up, that seemed like a very good idea. to go. It was quite obvious that we were not only out of Chinatown, but way, way beyond. The journey, which should have taken the driver To be quite honest ‘I’m Chinatown’ is most mere minutes (after all I had walked it in under definitely not. It’s not representative of 20 minutes) was taking far too long, and he was Chinatown’s amazing diversity. It’s not that appealing and as far as mall’s go, it’s not that big. racing along at a rate of knots.

I know that size isn’t everything, but this mall’s Being bounced around at the back of a tuk tuk, sheer existence mocks the world outside of it. at speed, was bad enough, but having no idea I’m not sure why it was created, but perhaps that where we were, and quite obviously going in piece of land might have some better use. A food the wrong direction was really quite concerning. court perhaps, a safer street food venue out of the Bangkok rain and/or heat.

Then the monsoonal rain began.

In Malaysia, when the heavy rains begin, such a rider would have pulled over and sheltered under a bridge. Not in Bangkok. He had kept going. Big, posh, hotels had loomed up all around us. Then bigger, posher, hotels. Eventually, with a big smile on his face, the tuk tuk commander

That day, I clipped my metaphorical wings slightly. There was no haring around, just purposefully walking, taking note of the roads, watching Google Maps, just in case. The misnomer that is ‘I’m Chinatown’ was not far.

Just two streets over, so it was relatively easy to 25

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Night food market

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the bus had to turn around. This it did right in front of where I was sitting. Obviously I was The Yaowarat area, as they say, was crammed bored as hell, for I found the bus making a threefull of (Chinese) goodness. Especially food, point-turn, quite fascinating at the time. whether it was restaurant or street food, Chinese, or pastry shops. Night (food) markets abounded Little things, little minds. with oodles of noodles, white rice, salted fish grilling, lobsters @ 1,700 baht per kilo, deep Lunch, should you be interested, was vegetarian. fried practically anything, common and not so Why vegetarian, because I’d been eating a lot common fare for locals and tourists together. of meat, specifically pork, on that trip, and a Restaurants proffered the famous ‘Oysters very small amount of veggies. In my Malaysian Omelette’ with much, much, more oysters than apartment in the clouds, I generally have fruit in actual omelette, the streets were, quite literally, the evenings, to balance the meat during the day. lit up with vendors and customers of all ilks Here, there are all sorts of problems with fruit. plying trade and sampling bites of heaven.

Me not having a knife being one of them. keep track of my, er, tracks.

At night, down Thanon Phat Sai, one shiny new metallic blue tuk tuk rested for the night. Others wandered up and down tropical streets and lanes between Yaowarat and Song Wat Roads.

I had chosen a restaurant named Chijuya, along Song Wat Road, near the wall art tumbling elephants, near the river, not as though you can see the river from Chijuya, you can’t.

Nevertheless, I’d ordered a Bento Box of food which had the semblance of fishy things but were, in fact, made from plant based thingies. I A River ran through it. admit to being quite surprised by the seeming The Chao Phraya River runs through Bangkok. authenticity of taste.

That morning it had taken me only five minutes to walk from my ‘interesting’ lodgings (in It was good, but not terribly filling, but then I Bangkok’s Chinatown), along one section of generally find that about Bento boxes. For those myriad lanes and along to the ferry. I didn’t who have no idea what I am talking about - A Japanese bento box is a single-portion boxed cross. meal consisting of several different food types, One look at that far from attractive river made and often comes with a small bowl of soup too. me turn, instead, to Ratchawong Road’s Café Mine did. Was the pseudo salmon in fact soya Amazon for a chocolate drink and a minuscule protein, with alga oils and omega-3 fatty acids? somesortofberry cheesecake which passed as I have no idea. that day’s breakfast.

There’s a time, when travelling alone, that I’d first encountered that chain of Amazon cafes boredom sets in. For me that was Saturday. in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where there are two Only five nights in, out of seven. I had watched such. Originally I thought them to be Cambodian the hours pass from breakfast, to lunch and but apparently they are Thai, and make a change then dinner. I’d switched between writing and from the overpriced Starbucks. There, at the reading. Television had, and has, no interest tropical but certainly not Amazonian, cafe, I for me. Then, suddenly, there was a Facebook had practiced my art of people watching. Well, message from a teacher friend, living in Bangkok. orange bus watching, to be accurate. The bus She invited me out that evening, to a North had come along, stopped, and disgorged its Indian restaurant (Mama’s, along the beautiful passengers. Then, as Ratchawong Road was a canal Khlong Ong Ang) in Phahurat. Well, I had dead end, leading only to the pier and the ferry, to go, didn’t I. 28

Chijuya, along Song Wat Road

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Canal Khlong Ong Ang

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was some minor confusion over my order, which I had taken a tuk tuk, and purposely arrived had taken the shine off of what was normally a early. I’d mooched around the brightly and pleasant breakfast experience there. Oh well, colourfully lit canal, noticing the sign requesting change is everything or so says the I-Ching. those eager enough to do so, to pay 20 baht to buy a bag of something to feed aquatic denizens I had counted the hours until lunch and had of the canal. I refrained. But, instead, wandered wanted to return to Nai Ek Roll Noodle. around, just being nosey, until meeting up with However, most days that food emporium filled my Facebook friend and her dinner partner. The up so quickly that there was a queue waiting for two ladies (one Canadian and one British) who a seat. I’d had to find somewhere else. I finally chose dim sum, at The Bangkok Heritage. The were to be my company for the evening. food was simply amazing. The most unusual After I’d had Indian lassi, momos (last eaten (and my favourite of the meal) was a sweet dim in Dhaka, Bangladesh) pani puri and some sum banana deep fried in a crispy, yet soft, batter delightful company, it was time to leg-it to my coating, much like a Malaysian pisang goring domicile. With a dearth of tuk tuks or taxis, I but with a much thicker batter. had tentatively ventured back. Luckily it was a straight road, with scant traffic, until I reached Dinner had me returning to Tang Jai Yoo (for the old familiar tourist packed area around a delicious rice noodle, green veg and seafood dish). That was where I had previously Yaowarat Road. engorged on ‘oysters omelette’. Three trips to that incredible Teochew restaurant and I wasn’t disappointed. The third trip included a stir-fry Suddenly it was Sunday morning. rice with crab meat, and downstairs too, in the I was still struggling to fill the time. I’d been ‘posh’ part, the one with Chinese antiques. more than a little surprised that Sunday is a non-working day around the Chinatown area. My final day (in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok’s Apparently, traditionally, it’s the Goldsmiths Chinatown), was spent investigating some of the day off, and many small businesses now seem small places that I hadn’t managed, previously, to follow suit. Luckily, the two most important to venture to. Or had overlooked. There’s so venues (the coffee shop Ek Teng Phou Ki and the much visually and gastronomically in that one section of Bangkok, that it was a sheer delight antique bakery Tae Loa Chin Seng) were open. to have been there for a few days. I’d had my Over 100 years old, Tae Loa Chin Seng, on eyes opened trying to gain a greater insight into Charon Krung Road, is one of the last of the that area’s history. Certainly from a gastronomic Teochew bakeries in Bangkok. During my stay point of view. The seven night trip to Bangkok’s it had been supplying me with traditional sweet Chinatown (especially for the Teochew cuisine) meat delicacies, like winter melon in flaky pastry, was a great success. For this short piece of writing and the ‘nuts and seeds’ Moon Cakes I prefer I am grateful for my research and learned a great over those with an egg inside, for my afternoon deal about the origins of Bangkok’s Chinatown, ’Tea’’. I shall miss the help (and the courtesy) of and its people the sister-owner who served me during each of Ed.. my visits.

The authentic(ish) kopitiam Ek Teng Phou Ki was exceedingly busy. Mostly young couples and groups chit chatted over their traditional breakfasts. It had been difficult to get a seat. There 31

Vasiliki Kolipetsa

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Vasiliki Kolipetsa is a Greek artist. She studied Printmaking and Painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts, her works have been presented in many exhibitions in Greece and abroad, and have received multiple awards an art conservator, engraver and painter. She has won significant awards as an engraver, participating in many exhibitions in Greece and abroad. She works as an art conservator in the Ministry of Culture.

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“In my opinion, Language, oral-written speech and Art are the two greatest achievements of human beings, because they both enable them to communicate with the others” Vasiliki Kolipetsa

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“Language with the use of words symbols and art with images - paintings and engravings are expressions of the personal and social conditions in which they are created. They also preserve our past and our history and help us to our journey for knowledge

and truth.”

Vasiliki Kolipetsa

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Right Up

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CHINATOWN Alleys

History tells us that Yaowarat (‘young king’), aka Bangkok, Thailand’s ‘Chinatown’ is one of the oldest Chinese communities in that country.

Bangkok became the capital of the Thai Rattanakosin Kingdom. In 1782, Chinese immigrants, whose ancestors had arrived in Thailand in the 16th century, were moved across the river as the king wanted to establish a new capital in that spot.

That is where the Grand Palace resides today. The Chinese traders moved to the area known as Yaowarat, and established a highly successful business trading centre.

In modernity trading continues amidst the onslaught of tourists. Some say that the easiest way to reach Bangkok’s Chinatown is by boat, along the Chao Phraya River. For it is possible to disembark at Ratchawong Pier and walk up Ratchawong Road to Sampeng Lane or, indeed, Yaowarat Road. The thoughtful traveller could, alternatively, come ashore at the Harbour Department Pier or the Memorial Bridge Pier. Alternatively the more astute traveller might like to stay in ‘Chinatown’ itself. I did.

In Chinatown there’s a maze of streets (‘soi’) and ‘troks’ (or alleys) which attest to the entrepreneurial spirit of the, now, Thai Chinese traders. One such Trok ‘Issaranuphap’ links two of the area’s main streets, i.e. Yaowarat Road and Charoen Krung Road, with Sampeng Lane.

Ed.

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The word alley is derived from the Old French word, alee, which means a corridor or a passageway An alley in Thailand is called a ‘trok’

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Emy Thiran

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Mindfulness

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Walking on water

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Spring

Emy Thiran is an artist and art writer based in Kuala Lumpur.

Our daily lives are filled with busyness, distractions and challenges. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and unfulfilled. We need daily reminders that there is a higher purpose to all this hustle and bustle.

Art is a reminder that the ordinary stuff we do every day is meaningful and beautiful when we do them with gratitude and optimism.

Art can help us slow down, reflect and live in the moment. At the same time, it can uplift our spirits and encourage us to take action, to be creative.

Abstract art, for me, is a way to meditate and appreciate the process of creating without focusing too much on the outcome.

When I paint, I ask myself, ‘how can my own life stories encourage others? How can it also speak for our shared longing for meaning and connection?’

My hope is that my paintings will nurture our collective sense of gratitude, and in the process open our hearts to a renewed passion and joy for living.

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Emy Ong Thiran (b. 1974, Penang) received her BFA from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. She was one of the first graduates completing a Masters in Visual Arts at Universiti Malaya (2007), a programme initiated by the late Redza Piyadasa. Later, she completed a PhD in Art History from Universiti Sains Malaysia (2014) through the UM SLAI Fellowship programme.

She has taught design and visual art studies in numerous art colleges, as well as art history at Universiti Malaya.

She is the author of Living Art: The Inspired Lives of 14 Malaysian Artists & their Art Practice' (2020) published

by Areca Books. You can find her artworks at www.emythiran.com

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Path to perseverance

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Compassion

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Happy embrace

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Our secret place

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Picnic

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Movement of lines, Rozarina Johari., Malaysia

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Harmony Unbounded

A Rendezvous of Three Cultures Faculty of Fine Art Zainul Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

November 2nd to November 5th, 2023.

Mohammad Ferdous Khan Shawon A four-day international art exhibition titled express their traditions and engage in crossHarmony Untitled was held at Faculty of Fine cultural engagement through visual arts. It signifies not just an art exhibition but also Art’s Zainul Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh. the beginning of a harmonious relationship Academics-artists from University of between the people of Bangladesh, Malaysia, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Universiti Teknologi of and Indonesia.”

MARA, Malaysia, and Indonesian Cultural Arts Institute of Bandung took part in this Malaysian artists represented technology, show. The exhibition featured 35 artworks, design elements, comic strips, composition comprising paintings, digital artwork, in their works. Indonesian artists presented sculptures, photographs, prints, crafts, and different mythical characters, tradition, and video created by 24 artists. The participants heritage in their art pieces. Rural life, country were Ashraf Bin Abdul Rahaman, Issarezal boats, riverscapes, abstract composition, and Ismail, Ishak Ramli, Aznan Omar, Mohamad graphical representation were explored by Hafiz Bin Yahya, Mohd Khairulnisam Ramlie, Bangladeshi artists.

Rozarina Johari, Siti Humaini Bt Said Ahmed, Muh Sarip Abd Rahman, Dr Supriatna, Dr Indonesian sculptor Gustiyan explained Gustiyan Rachmadi, Dr Mohammad Zaini about his work, “The work which is created Alif, Md. Maksudur Rahman, Reza Asad Al as a personal work can just flow when I am Huda Anupam, Md. Israfil Pk. Dr. Vadreshu interested in something, for example, but this Rita, Dr. Sima Islam, Md. Harunur Rahid does not apply to works which are planned Tutul, Dr. Farjana Ahmed, Dr. Sidartha Dey, for public spaces.”

Mohammad Ferdous Khan Shawon, Mir Muhammad Abduallah Al Mamun Ali, Md The exhibition attracted a significant number of visitors from November 2nd to November Shafiqul Islam and Md. Nazvi Islam.

5th, 2023.

The show was curated by Md. Harunur Rashid Tutul, who mentioned that, “Harmony Unbounded will create a platform for visual artists from these institutions to 70

Suppressed, Vadreshu Rita, Bangladesh

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Punakawan, Dr Gustiyan Rachmadi, Indonesia, Sculpture

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My Native Village, Md. Shafiqul Islam, Bangladesh

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Life of Motion, Farjana Ahmed, Bangladesh

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Untitled,Supriatna, S.Sn, M.Sn

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Bangkok

CHINATOWN History

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In ancient times, Chinese traders traveling by junk from their homeland came to settle in many parts of the Thai kingdom, such as in Bangkok, or Thonburi, where the Hokkien Chinese had inhabited the west bank of Chao Phraya River since the Ayutthaya Era. Son of a Teochew Chinese father, King Taksin the Great established Thonburi as the new capital. During his reign, a large number of Teachers and formed a new Chinese community of Teochews settled there and formed a new Chinese community, east of the river.

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Bangkok

CHINATOWN History

In 1782, King Buddha Yodfa Chulalok the Great, or Rama I, relocated the capital city to the east bank and founded Rattanakosin. As a result, he had the local Chinese residents relocated to another area on the river bank south of the city, and allotted them land to settle between Wat Sam Pluem and Wat Sampheng canals. The area, known later as Sampheng, became the biggest trading centre of the capital. The first three reigns of the Raftanakosin Period saw quite a rapid growth of Sampheng Chinese Community which reflects growth in Thai-Chinese trade where immigration of a Chinese labour force was encouraged for various types of employment. The majority of the newly arrived sought to settle down in Sampheng before moving to other places where better prospects could be located One of the 18 new roads in the project to promote the trading business centring in Sampheng District which was submitted for approval from King Rama V by the Ministry of Public Works, Yaowarat Road was first constructed in 1892 in the area originally densely populated by the Chinese. The community had been in poor surroundings amidst numerous badly littered, dirty and untidy-looking alley-ways situated between Charoen Krung (New Road) and Sampheng Roads. The construction of Yaowarat Road, 1,532 meters long and merely 20 meters wide, took altogether eight years. To comply with the king's policy, the road followed a meandering course so as to avoid the existing cluster of houses. It was also following his initiation that rows of modern shop-houses were built along the road for rent to traders, thereby opening up an opportunity for a great number of Chinese to start their own businesses. The new business area that developed from that point onward helped bring about the boom of Sampheng, the district where the country's record revenue through business tax has been registered.

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Adeste Deguilmo

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Floriana et Fidem(flowers & faith)

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Adeste Deguilmo was born in Isabela, Basilan, in the Philippines, and is currently based in Cebu.

Deguilmo’s preference is for a figurative ‘Realist’ painting, which at times he ‘distorts’ for sensual effect. Deguilmo was one of the student in the University of the Philippines – Cebu, under the revered Martino Abellana (known as "Noy Tinong", a renowned Cebuano painter from Carcar, referred to as "The Dean of Cebuano Painters”). Drawing was the foundation of Deguilmo’s artistic development, which is evident in the illustrative quality of his works. In university, he first experimented with Realism, rendering everyday objects and portraits, then developed a fondness for Impressionism and various art experimentations.

After obtaining his diploma in 1986, Deguilmo became an advertising visualiser. In 1993, he helped organise the art group Cebu Artists Inc and became president of that group for a year. Deguilmo gained two important awards in 1997. He won the grand prize of the Letras y Figuras, a national competition organized by Instituto de Cervantes in Manila. Also, in the same year, he achieved the grand prize in the ‘Land Bank of the Philippines Centennial Mural Painting Contest’.

The artist began teaching in 1999 and was a member of the Fine Art Faculty of the University of San Carlos until 2006.

In April/May 2010, Deguilmo won the 3rd prize in International Artist Magazine's challenge no. 56 "Flowers and Gardens." In 2012, he was the Grand Prize Winner in Figurative Abstraction which was sponsored by ‘Kaalyado ng Sining’, a National Painting Competition. While in March 2017, at the Art Central Hong Kong, Adeste Deguilmo's show was presented by Qube Gallery Cebu.

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Floriana et Fidem(Flowers and Faith)2

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Floriana et Fidem(Flowers and Faith)1

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The four stages of woman 1,2&3"- all together

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Madonna on the run

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The builders' hands

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Bangkok

CHINATOWN

Hidden

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Hidden Yaowarat: Exploring Yaowarat-Sampeng Alley (aka Soi Wanit 1) Photo Exhibition

By Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design Undergraduate Program, Srinakharinwirot University This photo exhibition is inspired by Chinatown's background including its cultures, local beliefs, people and historical sites located around the Yaowarat area. The selected works represent these valuable assets and will be displayed in the alley with solar-powered LED lights (Supported by Klong Thom Center) to enhance the safety of those who pass through these alleys.

BANGKOK TROOPER Bangkok Design Week is the largest design festival in Southeast Asia. It presents more than 400 design and creativity programs from more than 2,000 participants with over 400,000 Thai and international visitors each year, and promotes Bangkok's designation as a UNESCO Creative City Network Bangkok City of Design.

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Of Fishing, Net 116

The Malaysian Creative Oil Painting Asso at Chung Hwa High School, Muar, Johor,

ts and Arts

ociation exhibition Malaysia

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Of Fishing, Nets and Arts The Malaysian Creative Oil Painting Association exhibition at Chung Hwa High School, Muar, Johor, Malaysia As I begin writing, I’ve just finished assisting with curating an exhibition. It was of Chinese Malaysian artworks, in the gallery (the Shan Xin Tang Exhibition Hall) of the private Chinese Chung Hwa High School, in the town of Muar (aka Bandar Maharani), in Johor state, Malaysia.

I’d been asked by ‘The Malaysian Creative Oil Painting Association’ to lend a hand with the curation of this extensive exhibition.

Over a couple of very tiring weeks there were numerous two hour (plus) trips from Selangor, where I current reside, down to Muar. That royal Malaysian town (so named by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, November 2012) is renown for the Chinese artist Chan Ren Hao who, incidentally, also became a Principle at Chung Hwa Secondary school, and for the Chinese artist Liu Kang who was trained in the arts in China and France and had resided (on and off) in Muar.

Muar’s river begins from “Jambu Lapan” in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia) and flows to the Malacca straits at Kuala Muar, Johor. Muar has become famous for its fresh river prawns, its oysters and fresh fish. One morning, heading for breakfast, outside the Maharani Hawker Centre, near to the Muar River, I was hungry and could actually smell the distinct freshness of locally caught fish for sale, outside. I was in no position to buy and cook those wonderful fish, but I have remembered where that stall is. A street or two over from that food court, floated fishing vessels on the ancient Muar River, in readiness for the next bout of fish, crab and prawn catches, and the ensuing meals.

For one hundred and sixty five years Muar has been known for its ‘true’ oysters (Crassostrea spp), as mentioned in ‘The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern’, in 1858,

by Captain R. Macpherson, the then Resident Councillor at Malacca. While, in 1908, it was mentioned (by R.Hanitsch) that Muar was the main supply of oysters to the Singapore market.

One surprise is that, in the Muar River, a new oyster species was discovered, later ratified and called Crassotrea (Magallana) saidii, after their discovery by Md Saidi Bin Mohamed, and mentioned in a 2021 paper by Julia D. Sigwart, Nur Leena W. S. Wong, and Yuzine Esa. On a previous visit to Muar, I had noticed oyster eateries, down by the river, selling oyster omelettes. Other places in Muar sell raw oysters topped with spices or baked oyster with cheese topping etc.

The urgency of getting the exhibition ready for the launch, hanging paintings and the constructing of ‘installations’ associated with art, nets and fishing in general, meant that sightseeing was kept to a bear minimum on that last trip. There was time enough only for meals, and rests between bouts of constructing one of the largest exhibitions I have had the privilege to work on, so far.

Leading lights of The Malaysian Creative Oil Painting Association, Tan Puay Tee, Yeo Eng Hin and Chay Hwa Chua lent their works, as did other enthusiastic members of the association.

The brief was to depict connections between the still vibrant fishing industry in Malaysia, 119

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its material discards (nets) and alternative craft uses for them in an ecological way. Many of the pictures, in various mediums, were hung from grey coloured walls and represented fish and fishing’s closeness to the Malaysian heart. Both fishing, and piscine cuisines (like Otak Otak, Ikan Bakar and Penang Laksa) have emerged from this well-blessed country. Those recipes are notably established in the hearts and stomachs of Malaysians, especially as Malaysia is blessed by having large rivers and an ocean which is never far.

The artists, Yeo Eng Hin and Chay Hwa Chua, (a Malaysian Chinese husband and wife team who both studied at Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Art and the Parisian Ecole National Superieure Des Beaux Arts), had worked hard. They had sought abandoned fishing nets and net buoys from local fishermen, as well as contacting The Malaysian Creative Oil Painting Association’s fellow artists and coaxing paintings from them. The couple had also liaised with the prestigious Chung Hwa High School (a not-for-profit community high school providing holistic education, founded in Muar, in 1912) and generally pulled the exhibition together. I assisted.

Unlike galleries in the West, the notion of using ‘mirror plates’ (for adhering paintings to the walls) is, quite literally, a foreign concept. Instead, the walls and partitions of the Chung Hwa High School gallery/hall have a form of grey, metallic, 122

‘pegboard’, using detachable hooks for hanging pictures and objects. Ultimately we became custodians of pictures with little uniformity on the rear of the picture frame, and from a variety of sources. Some picture backs had wire attached, for hanging, many didn’t. While it was entirely apt to use fishing-line to dangle the pictures from the hooks mentioned (considering the nature of the exhibition), that form of hanging did cause complications with fishing-line stretching, and therefore presented a distinct difficulty in aligning the pictures. However, we did what we could with the materials available, and the constraints of time.

‘Alls well that ends well’ said the Bard of Avon (Shakespeare), and the finished exhibition was opened by local, and school, dignitaries in front of an audience of artists, art lovers and pupils from the school. Three write-ups, covering the exhibition, appeared in various corners of the Chinese Malaysian press.

Ed.

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PORTALS

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An individual exhibition

by Pilar Viviente

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PORTALS an individual exhibition

By Pilar Viviente

November 25 to December 20, 2023 Galeria Michel Menendez, Pamplona, Spain

​​ From November 25 to December 20, 2023, the Galeria Michel Menendez, based in Pamplona, Spain, hosts the exhibition ‘PORTALS’ by Pilar Viviente (https://about.me/pilarviviente), artist, researcher and professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Altea Campus, Miguel Hernandez University of Elche. The exhibition is organised by the gallery director, Michel Menéndez, and constitutes Pilar Viviente’s first individual exhibition in this gallery after exhibiting with the gallery Michel Menendez (www. galeriamichelmenendez.com) at the Salon international d’art contemporain ART3F (September 22-24, 2023) in Paris and in the Women Artists show (Aug. 18 - Sept. 18, 2023) in Pamplona.

On display are works from the Rodetes series (2021-2022) and the Butterflies series (2023), an expansion of the previous work. Both artistic representations of Pilar Viviente's digital art linked to the RODETE project (2018-2023) are inspired by the form and the symbolism of the particular design of the object from which it takes its name - the characteristic Iberian women’s ornamental headdresses.

includes an electronic projection with music

by Pilar Viviente, and about twenty-five works in square format of different sizes, all unique pieces: Painting and Infographics on Paper (watercolour paper 100% micropearl cotton 280 gr). Digital printing.

As the art critic Francesca Brunello (2022) points out: "Pilar Viviente is a contemporary Spanish artist whose artistic research revolves around the theme of the wheel in all its symbolic meanings.

Her multimedia project "Rodete", in fact, is entirely focused on narrating its role in the historical process, from its invention to the present day, with particular emphasis on the female figure. (...) The entire project consists of digitally realized works, which depict the wheel in different colours and sizes. (…) arranged in colour fields that fade into each other, describing the subject in a language reminiscent of screen printing".(1) The result is an image that comes from an archaeological context but has a deep contemporary aesthetic from a feminist perspective, since “Pilar Viviente's Rodete multimedia project explores the forgotten balance between history and gender,” says Eva Klaehn (2022).(2)

With Pilar Viviente, the reference to cosmic consciousness and archaeological themes, mythical and universal patterns beneath the surface, is accompanied by an artistic research into form, light and colour, which brings liberation The artist’s technique consists of a mixed process: through repetition, be it visual or through sound. digital art originated from a painting on metal The piano is the artist's instrument as a performer (2017) which was later digitized. The exhibition and composer. The work that can be seen in the This project has been publicised in numerous national and international publications (academic magazines, catalogues, specialized art and culture magazines, and different media).

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Pamplona gallery opening of ‘Portals’, (portals of healing), with light and colour, offering positive vibrations, wheels, mandalas, Chinese disks, spirals, butterflies, all traveling around the world, opening ‘cosmic portals’.

Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, magenta, their energetic vibrations merge and interact with visitors in the space they pass through. The exhibition is a chromatic-light experience and a symbol at one and the same time. One of the most widely shared beliefs about the butterfly, across cultures, is that it can carry the soul of a loved one who has left their earthly form behind. Beyond all metaphor, the ‘Portals’ exhibition is a true pleasure for the senses and food for the intellect.

According to the artist, the Rodete project connects contemporary art with archaeology and seeks to draw a line between the past and the present, thereby uniting different cultures across borders, while redefining them in this way. Therefore, it encourages peace dialogues between cultures.

We can see a type of ecological feminism (ecofeminism) promoting interculturalism through multicultural symbols and the spiritual in the arts. To know more about the topic, please consult the broader and more exhaustive essay by the artist.(3) References

1. Brunello, F. VISCERAL. Catalog. Milan: M.A.D.S., 2022.

P. 547.

2. Klaehn, E. HOME[less]. Catalog/Newsletter. GarmischPartenkirchen: New Art Salon Foundation, 2022. P. 3.

3. Viviente, P. “Proyecto Rodete. Una investigación artística multidisciplinar”. The 3rd Global Conference of University

Researchers on Issues of the Hispanic World (GCUR):

Building Bridges among Researchers, Artists, Policymakers

and Scientist on Hispanic Issues, eds. Sarmiento-Archer, Inés Mónica & Leonor Taiano Campoverde. Hofstra

Hispanic Review. Vol. 5, N. 11, New York. 2021. P. 203-213.

https://issuu.com/hofstrahispanicreview/docs/hofstra_ hispanic_review_2021

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The exhibition was attended by over 300 visitors from all walks of life and ages. Celebrities included Malveen Kaur Gill, Miss Face of Humanity, H.E. Ricardo Morote, ambassador of Peru, and Sandra Morote, Yasuhiko Matsuda, World Bank country manager for Malaysia and his wife Jaqueline, as well as Niloy Banerjee, UNDP Resident representative for Malaysia , Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

The curator of the art exhibition was Ms. Lucie Guyard, a well-known French illustrator in China, now residing in Malaysia. She selected and showcased the artists and their pieces in such a way that spanned a range of practices, art techniques, subjects and more. “I am honoured to share these powerful works that demonstrate the creativity and talents of these refugee artists, who all have a personal journey that needs to be heard. This exhibition by refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, Pakistan and Turkey represents the enduring power of dreams.

The artworks speak not only of the individual hopes and dreams of every artist on show, but especially, of the dream of a human condition that transcends war, poverty, and injustice.”

Apart from the art pieces that were for sale, Masuma Tavakoli, one of Greater Action Art Gallery artists, read her poetry about the profound suffering of refugees and the discrimination that they face. All the young artists were painting 142

at the exhibition throughout the day and the visitors had the pleasure to interact with them, encouraging them to pursue their passion. A cocktail served by Gustafood cafe from the Alliance Francaise and a silent live auction were held on both the evenings for 20 masterpieces from all artists. All the profit raised was given to the respective artists.

Ms. Julie Das, the Founder of Greater Action, works closely with the artists to encourage them and their families to view art as therapeutic, a means of self-expression and also a way to earn a living. “In the hands of these young refugees, the humble paint brush becomes a forceful tool to impact the world. Instead of destruction, it creates beauty. In the face of oppression and violence, it opens up a safe space where the imagination can soar. Colourful brush strokes definitely resist the bleakness of countless hardships.

The all too human search for meaning finds poignant expression in the artworks of young people who have lived with stifling fear, prolonged insecurity, and the pain of uprooted families. The image on a canvas can give expression to unsaid words and allow the artist to be seen for who they truly are. “ The event was the launch pad for Greater Action’s latest book release PERCEPTION ‘Inspiring stories of resilience’. “This book shares the struggles, beliefs and hopes of ten

Fatema Hassanzada, Carpets

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Kinza Huma, The Fall

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extraordinary refugee women. Knowing their stories will forever change your perception of The Greater Action Art Gallery raises funds and showcases the skills of talented artists from who refugees are”, added Ms. Julie Das. diverse refugee communities in Kuala Lumpur.

What was also heartening to see was the swarm All exhibitions curated by Greater Action Art of young volunteers who were absorbing the Gallery promote art amongst refugees, allowing art, culture and also helping out with creating these talents to use their artistic skills as a content and connecting the artists with the mode of self-expression through each of their visitors. These students were from Mont Kiara pieces. Young refugee artist empowerment is a International School (MKIS), Deutsche Schule KL theme that Greater Action Art Gallery strongly (DSKL) and St. Joseph’s Institution International encourages and strives to achieve with all its curated exhibitions. school Malaysia (SJIIM).

Ms. Julie Das, an educator by profession, has always believed in getting the youth involved in hands-on humanitarian projects in which they can take responsibilities and understand the reality that marginalised people face. Indeed, compassion, engagement and leadership should be nurtured in all our future generations.

Apart from art, Greater Action’s fair, ethical and social Upcycled Tailoring Project was also showcased. Available to view and buy were their range of bespoke products handcrafted by their team of skilled Afghan refugee women. All the products were made using 100% preloved premium materials, creating unique designs of bags, pouches, travel, sports and office accessories.

Exhibition The Alliance Française 15 Lorong Gurney Off Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra 54100 Kuala Lumpur For more information, contact: Julie Das, Founder & Project Director, Greater Action Telephone: +60 169272705 Email: greateraction@gmail.com Lucie Guyard, Art Curator, Greater Action Email: contact@lucie-guyard.com Shraddha, Marcom, Greater Action Email: shraddhagreateraction@gmail.com

About Greater Action

For more information on Greater Action: Website: Our Greater Action is a dynamic, non-profit social https://www.greateraction.org/home organisation based in Bandar Baru Ampang and e-shop: is 100% volunteer-driven. Its core mission is to help refugees rebuild their lives in Malaysia. https://shop.greateraction.org/ Instagram: @ Greater Action supports 250 marginalised greateraction Facebook: @greateraction refugee families, forced to flee their homeland, by supporting them with quality education, sustainable livelihood opportunities and much needed general and mental health.

Its main focus is empowering Afghan refugee women with vocational skills in baking, cooking, tailoring and teaching in order to learn, to grow, and to become financially independent.

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Karima Khaliqyar, A City full of Colours

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Masuma Tavakoli, Necklace of Human Rights

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ARTISTS

Fatemeh (20) is Afghan by birth, but grew up in Iran. She moved with

her family to Malaysia a year ago. As a child she enjoyed to draw from her imagination - she would close her eyes and begin to draw. Then, opening her eyes, she would find the shape of a bird, or butterfly. She loves vibrant colours that speak of the rich variety of the universe. She chooses subjects like African people in bright garments and vivid butterflies to draw in colour pencils. Her goal is to continue art education to make a career in the creative field. For her personally, the creative process calms the mind, but she believes art can have much larger impact, for imagination has the power to change the world.

Happerex, is a 19 year old Palestinian artist. He came to Malaysia with his

family when he was five years old. Drawing has always been a part of his life. He paints both abstract and figurative pieces. Art allows him to show his artistic inner self and to express his emotions. It also helps him to cope with the things he is going through. He also wants to inspire people with his art and let them think about their own stories.

Karima Khaliqyar is a 23 year old artist from Afghanistan specialized in painting, face painting, and drawing. In Afghanistan, artists, especially women are not considered as important and are not respected. Despite this, she had a strong passion for painting, which led her to pursue it further.

With the guidance of Professor Inayat Khaliqyar, her older brother, she learned painting both in an amateur and academic way. Her artworks and reviews gained attention, and she even participated in domestic exhibitions.

However, the situation for artists, especially for women with anti-Taliban views, became difficult after the fall of the government of the Republic of Afghanistan. This made her feel unsafe in Kabul. As a result, she decided to move to Malaysia with the hope of improving her art further.

Kinza is 20 and comes from Pakistan. She came to Malaysia with her mother

and her siblings when she was 10 years old, fleeing domestic violence. She is currently working full time. Kinza started drawing at the age of seven. Since then she has been experimenting and practising with different techniques and mediums. Drawing makes her the happiest person on the planet. It allows her to forget herself and takes her to a world where only art matters.

Her dream is to open her own art gallery, to travel the world and to teach art to children regardless of their backgrounds. She believes Art has no boundaries.

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Masuma is a 29 year old artist from Afghanistan. She had to leave her

country 10 years ago because of the violence and discrimination she was facing. She started her artistic activities in 2018. In the beginning, her goal was to help herself to create her true self. Because of being a girl, she had been condemned to suppression, silence, and unquestioning obedience for many years. She loves the world of art. Art creates change if it is effective.

She longs for an impact, an impact on herself and the world around her.

Mohammad is a 25 year old digital artist from Afghanistan and has been

living in Malaysia for the last 9 years. His skills in sketching and digital art have led him to develop his abilities in NFT and game designing. He is currently working on several ideas for board and digital games. For Mohammad, art is a means to access a peaceful state of mind when the harshness of reality dawns on him.

Roshna Safi, 17 year old, was born in Afghanistan but relocated to The

United Arab Emirates before coming to Malaysia. Although she always enjoyed drawing at school, she only really started to focus on creating art during Covid, when schools were closed. She uses charcoal, water colour and acrylic paint to express the inner feelings of women dealing with unseen personal struggles and those constraints forced upon them by patriarchal society in Afghanistan. She dreams of becoming a doctor, hoping against hope, to be able one day to return to Afghanistan to provide much needed medical care.

Susan is a 17 year old artist from Afghanistan. Because of the war in

Afghanistan, she moved to Malaysia in the hope of finding more opportunities to achieve her dreams. Since childhood, Susan has had a passion for art as a form of self-expression. There are many things in her head but she does not always know how to say them. So she chooses to express her thoughts through art. Painting gives her a feeling of bravery and strength. Through her artwork she wants to help her family in Malaysia financially. She also wants to be a voice for the girls and women in Afghanistan.

Zahra is 20 year old and comes from Iran. She was not able to study in

Iran due to high expenses. She and her family went through a lot of difficult experiences traveling as refugees and being away from their homeland.

She has been in Malaysia for 9 years. Her art is mostly about anger and depression because of what she experienced in her life. Art became a therapy and helped her to feel better by expressing all her trauma.

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A Proposal

Lotus Blooms

A diverse exhibition of art from Bangladesh (featuring a quartet of Bangladesh women artists and a filmmaker) 156

A Proposal

Lotus Blooms

A diverse exhibition of Modern and Contemporary art from Bangladesh (featuring a quartet of Bangladesh women artists and a filmmaker) PROPOSAL For an exhibition in 2027 Martin A Bradley M.A.

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Lotus Blooms Paintings & Prints

Farida Zaman, Rokeya Sultana, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Preema Nazia Andaleeb, Shahnewaz Kakoly

In-house films

‘Nodijon’ (River of Colours) by Shahnewaz Kakoly ‘Rickshaw Girl’ by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury

Contemporary Performance Art Preema Nazia Andaleeb (opening)

Wall mounted videos

Farida Zaman, Rokeya Sultana, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Preema Nazia Andaleeb, and Shahnewaz Kakoly

Bespoke Wearable Art Niru

(The lotus (or water lily) is the national flower of Bangladesh. Bangladesh was created in 1971, after independence from Pakistan; post-partition from India and its independence from Colonial Britain).

For some, Bangladesh is remembered only for the 1971 ‘Concerts for Bangladesh’ featuring, among others, Indian Sitar Maestro Ravi Shankar and George Harrison. Other people may recognise the founding of popular British ‘Indian’ restaurants, (in the 1970s) which were, in fact, created by Bangladesh entrepreneurs.

Bangladesh might feature, occasionally, in the news, as a flood-prone place, or a place where indigodyed cotton was exported in British Colonial times. Bangladesh art, but more especially Modern and Contemporary Bangladesh art, which has a dual heritage from Bengali folk art and from Kolkata (Calcutta) India, is seldom mentioned. Those arts were created by women even less so.

The exhibition Lotus Blooms, featuring four prominent female artists from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and one woman filmmaker, intends to rectify this.

In the exhibition paintings, film, video, and craft-made ‘art’ saris from Bangladesh (by notable artists) will tell the modern Bangladesh story. It is the story of a people, long colonised, finally becoming free (1971), a language (Bangla) long suppressed spoken and written freely. The exhibition is a reminder, and a celebration of the human spirit overcoming centuries of oppression, yet retaining its essential character of a multi-religious riverine place where culture is encouraged and thrives.

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Dr. Professor Farida Zaman was born in Chandpur, Bangaldesh, in 1953. She is a renowned artist depicting riverine life of Bangladesh in her works. Her series, Sufia, captures the fascinating expressions of rural women, while her line drawings are inspired by Bangladeshi folk elements. The artist is an honorary professor at the Department of Drawing and Painting, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka.

Dr. Zaman was honoured by the Government of Bangladesh with the Ekushey Padak and the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy also conferred the Sultan Swarna Padak 2020 on her.

Kanak Chanpa Chakma (1963) is a Bangladeshi Chakma artist who has won national and international awards, and is renowned for her paintings depicting the lives of Bangladeshi ethnic minorities, focusing on the lives of women, and their daily lives combining semi realistic and abstract in the same frame. Her paintings have the source of their inspiration forms the daily life of the Chakma (indigenous) people and the natural beauty of her birthplace, Rangamati, and focuses on the representation of ethnic minorities in her work.

Preema Nazia Andaleeb (Born 1974) received her Master’s in ‘Drawing and Painting’ from the University of Dhaka in 2000. She tackles issues of women’s representation in a poetic manner creating metaphorical context on her canvases (Traditional and Digital).Her work has been recognized for its innovative approach, distinct technique and lyrical overtones with unbeatable boldness. She is one of the very few artists in Bangladesh who has incorporated new media (performance, video installation and digital art) in Bangladesh art scene.

Rokeya Sultana (1958), is Professor and Chairman in the Department of Print Making, Facility of Fine Art, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and former Fulbright Scholar. She has a BFA (Printmaking) Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh as well as an MFA (Printmaking) from the Viswa Bharati, Santiniketan, India. Her art practice is largely focused on her internal life and exploration of the feminine, as well as various fluid emotional states and sensual abstract topographies.

Shahnewaz Kakoli (also spelled Shahneoyaj Cacoly) is a Bangladesh film, theatre and telefilm director born in 1992. She made her debut as a director with the film Uttarer Sur (2012), which was screened in different international film festivals, including Goa International Film Festival, Kolkata International Film Festival, and Third Eye Mumbai Film Festival.

The film won 3 Bangladesh National Film Awards. Nodijon, her film which follows the daily lives of the people who live near the Bangladeshi riverside, was screened in 2015.

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‘Nodijon’ (River of Colours) by Shahnewaz Kakoly

‘Rickshaw Girl’ by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury

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Preema Nazia Andaleeb performing at the Brady Arts Centre, London 161

Art by Farida Zaman

Art by Kanak Chanpa Chakma

Art by Preema Nazia Andaleeb

Art by Rokeya Sultana

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Art by Shahnewaz Kakoli

Lotus Blooms

A diverse exhibition of art from Bangladesh (featuring a quartet of Bangladesh women artists and a filmmaker) Martin A Bradley MA studied Graphic Design at Colchester Art School.

He achieved a (Hons) degree in Philosophy from the University of Essex, a Master’s in Art History & Theory and a Master’s in Gallery Studies from the University of Essex.

Martin is an author, art writer, art speaker and qualified curator (see above), with over 30 years’ experience in the Asian art field.

He has curated numerous exhibitions of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art in China, Czech Republic Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, and the UK. Martin has written books and catalogues/essays for many South and Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Artists.

His latest book (‘Commentary by Humanists - Luo Qi’, 2022), was published in Canada, and concerned the Chinese Contemporary artist Luo Qi. Martin is the Founding Editor of the Blue Lotus magazine (registered with the British Library and published in the UK since 2011).

The Blue Lotus (online) magazine continues to promote arts and cultures from Asia, and the Asian diaspora (over 180 pages) every three months. martinabradley@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/bluelotusartsmagazine/

Sponsorship is sought from Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Arts (aka Dhaka Art School) The Bangladesh High Commission (London), The British Council The Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF) and others.

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Bangkok

CHINATOWN

Cuisine

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Fish Maw Soup

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Teochew Breakfast

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Dim Sum

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Roll Noodles Soup 171

Street Bar BQ 172

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Teochew ‘cakes’ 174

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THE BLUE LOTU

https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/love_s_texture

https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/being_here_now_

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https://issuu.com/martinab

https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/malim_nawar_morning

US CHAP BOOKS

bradley/docs/on_the_island

https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/lotus

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https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/remembering_whiteness_booklet

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Martin Bradley Martin Bradley is the author of a collection of poetry Remembering Whiteness and Other Poems (2012, Bougainvillea Press); a charity travelogue - A Story of Colours of Cambodia, which he also designed (2012, EverDay and Educare); a collection of his writings for various magazines called Buffalo and Breadfruit (2012, Monsoon Book)s; an art book for the Philippine artist Toro, called Uniquely Toro (2013), which he also designed, also has written a history of pharmacy for Malaysia, The Journey and Beyond (2014, Caring Pharmacy).

Martin has written two books about Modern Chinese Art with Chinese artist Luo Qi, Luo Qi and Calligraphyism and Commentary by Humanists Canada and China (2017 and 2022), and has had his book about Bangladesh artist Farida Zaman For the Love of Country published in Dhaka in December 2019.

Canada 2022

Singapore 2012

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Malaysia 2012

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Bangladesh 2019

hilippines 2013

China 2017

Malaysia 2014

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THE BLUE LOTU

The Blue Lotus magazine is published by Martin A Bradley (

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US BACK ISSUES

(The Blue Lotus Publishing), in Colchester, England, UK, 2023

...a selection

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Issue no. 60 Winter 2023

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ISSN 2754-9151 • NO. 60 • Winter issue • 2023 • THE BLUE LOTUS is published quarterly by The Blue Lotus Publishing (M. A. Bradley), Colchester, Essex, England, UK. © 2023 M.A.Bradley. All rights reserved.