The Commonwealth Institute: Contexts, Collaborations, Contestations

The inaugural holder of the London, Asia Research Award, Sarena Abdullah, Senior Lecturer at the School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), will present a paper on her project exploring the artistic relationship between Malaysia and Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. She describes her project as questioning the “nationalistic rendition of Malaysian art history which always has Kuala Lumpur as its centre.” As a result, she notes, exchanges between Malaysian artists and centres such as London during the 1950s and 1960s have not been examined in the context of Malaysian history. The impact of the West in particular, especially Britain through organisations such as the Commonwealth Institute, was important in the early formation of modern art institutions in Malaysia.

Ruth Craggs (Kings College London) and Claire Wintle (University of Brighton) will also give short presentations offering contexts for the exhibition and institutional histories of the Commonwealth Institute in London and beyond.

Light lunch provided, free but booking essential.

Image credit:

Malaysian Art 1965-1978, catalogue cover, National Art Gallery Malaysia, Cover of the catalogue of the exhibition held at the Commonwealth Institute, by the National Art Gallery, Malaysia