PETALING JAYA, August 27 — For Malaysian artist Shahar Koyok, Merdeka is a reminder for him to continue advocating Orang Asli issues such as land rights and access to education.
As a local indigeneous artist, his paintings revolve around the ongoing issues faced by the community such as logging and the overdevelopment of native land.
“Many Orang Asli communities have also lost their source of income while children have been having a hard time coping with online lessons amid Covid-19.
“As such, painting was a way for me to express my feelings about the surroundings and to highlight the plight of the community,” he said.
Shahar, fondly known as Shaq, comes from the Temuan indigenous community.
He said that he has produced artworks from a variety of mediums including one on a pandanus mat five years ago.
“I come from a very poor family, and we couldn’t afford to buy mattresses for our bed. So my mother would weave pandanus mats as mattresses for us to sleep on.
“To me, the pandanus weaving has its own unique quality and also represents Orang Asli and Malaysian identity.”
In 2017, he was one of the recipients of the Merdeka Award Grant that enabled him to be the voice of the Orang Asli community by doing more advocating and championing campaigns on indigenous rights through his art.
With the money that he’s received, he has been conducting research and gaining understanding of how other countries can support indigenous art and artists.
Since 2013, he has been organising art workshops for the Orang Asli communities but that was put to a halt due to Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Nightmare of Moyang Bajos’ shows struggle of Orang Asli and their land rights
An artist and activist, Shaq believes that his artworks are an important medium of activism for the Orang Asli community.
A recent painting that he completed this year on an oil painting canvas was on the destruction of the mangrove forest in the Mah Meri community.
The Mah Meri community is one of the 18 indigeneous communities living in Peninsula Malaysia and are known as skilled mask makers.
They are located in Selangor’s Pulau Carey and Sungai Judah.
“The painting ‘Nightmare of Moyang Bajos’ features a Mah Meri person donning a mask amidst a background of a deforested land.
“It reflects the harsh reality of the Mah Meri community as their mangrove trees were chopped down, while some of the trees were unable to survive as the area was polluted due to its proximity to Port Klang.
Shaq claimed that marginalised communities such as the Orang Asli became victims with their land taken away and customary land being deforested in the name of development.
The artwork was inspired after he witnessed the celebration of the Mah Meri’s community celebrating their moyang (protector spirit) called Puja Pantai.
“Puja Pantai is a ritual run by the Mah Meri community at the beach not far from their village.
“In the celebration, the community will march in their traditional attire and be led by masked dancers and shamans.
“The community will also bring food to offer to the protector spirits.”
Experimenting with natural colours from tropical fruits and posting them online
Shaq said that as an artist, one should never be afraid to experiment with various mediums such as acrylic, charcoal, ink, or even digital painting.
With exhibitions cancelled due to the pandemic, Shaq has been using his time to learn the ropes of posting online videos on his paintings to keep in touch with his fans and gain a wider audience worldwide.
This fruit season, he has found a creative way to use the skin of tropical fruits as his ‘watercolour’ and also used natural colours from squashing fruits such as rambutan and mangosteen to get their colours.
“I would usually head home and my family would gather at my late grandmother’s orchard where we would eat tropical fruits such as durian, rambutan and mangosteen.
“But I’m stuck in Kuala Lumpur and I miss my family so I thought of experimenting with the colours of our natural fruits.
“These tropical fruits also remind me of how much this country means to me and the rich biodiversity we have around us.”
Shaq added that while tropical fruits paint happy memories of his family, most of his community are unable to sell their fruits and vegetables due to the roadblocks placed outside their village.
He said that while many have their own farms and orchards, getting an income is tough especially to travel to places and sell their fresh produce.
But he is hopeful that the Covid-19 situation will get better and that the community will be up on their feet soon.
“I also hope for a more inclusive society that will incorporate Orang Asli’s indigeneous and contemporary art as a part of our national narrative in our history books.
“Representation matters for us and I hope that more will continue to stand with us and fight for our rights,” he said.
