Transcript 101012 UMAC

After the Separation : UM in KL
Nor Edzan Che Nasir
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur
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The University of Malaya Art Museum (UMAM) was
established in 1955 in Singapore. With Michael Sullivan,
the lecturer in Art History as the curator, the role of UMAM
then was that of a teaching museum to support the History
of Art course. Throughout the years, the collection
developed significantly. In 1959, the University of Malaya
in Kuala Lumpur was established and there was a growing
demand for two separate autonomous universities. Thus,
in 1961, the campus in Kuala Lumpur became the
University of Malaya and the one in Singapore became the
University of Singapore. When the Bukit Timah campus
ceased its operations in 1962, UMAM’s collection was
divided equally between the two universities. This paper
looks at the establishment of the Museum of Asian Art and
the University of Malaya Art Gallery – home to the “other
half” of the UMAM collection.
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1955 - University of Malaya Art Museum (UMAM)
was established in University of Malaya, Singapore.
Michael Sullivan - a lecturer in Art History became
the first curator.
Role of UMAM then - a teaching museum to
support the History of Art course.
1959 - University of Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur
(KL) was established.
Growing demand for two separate autonomous
universities.
1961 – the campus in KL became the University of
Malaya and the campus in Singapore became the
University of Singapore.
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1962 - the Bukit Timah campus ceased its
operation and UMAM’s collection was
divided
equally
between
the
two
universities.
Collection was divided based on the
principle of representativeness.
Willetts (curator) represented US and Ungku
Aziz (economics lecturer) represented UM.
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Conflicting account of when KL’s half of the
UMAM collection came to UM – 1965 or 1966
Year of Acquisition
No. of Artefacts/Paintings
1954
37
1955
138
1956
26
1957
21
1958
15
1959
47
1964
12
Total
296
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Collection was housed in the UM Library.
Ungku Aziz became the Vice Chancellor of
UM
◦ expanded the collection and hand-picked artefacts
for the collection.
◦ propagated the importance of the visual arts on
campus.
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1972-73 Annual Report – proposal to build
Phase 4 of the Library building which includes
the Art Museum was appoved
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1973 – Willetts became the curator of the
Museum of Asian Art and he inventorised the
seed collection from Singapore.
1975-1976 Annual Report – reported the
ongoing construction of the Museum.
1980 – Museum of Asian Art (MSA) moved to
its new premises and was officially opened.
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Conserves and preserves Asian art
Educates the community via exhibitions
Supports teaching, learning and research
associated with its collection
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Malaysiana - basketry, textile, brass, silver, wood
carving
India – stone carvings, temple sculptures, bronze
images, miniature paintings, wood carvings
Persia and West Asia – ceramics, Islamic bronzes,
miniature paintings, tombstones, precious stones
South-East Asia – ceramics, pottery, daggers,
sculpture, textile, jewellery, terracotta works,
puppetry, sacred masks
China – ceramics, porcelain
Japan – ceramics
Malay manuscripts
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Willetts vision - “If the Muzium Seni Asia is to
attain to any degree of international status, it
must concentrate on art-forms in which the
decorative, abstract and symbolic element is
intrinsic and uppermost – on textiles,
metalwork, wood-carving, ceramics,
calligraphy – all forms in which the genius of
Asian art has traditionally found its
expression” – basis of collecting artefacts.
Now collecting – ceramics, ritual masks,
textile
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Exhibitions by local & international artists
Hiroshima & Nagasaki tragedies – Dept of
East Asia Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social
Sciences, UM
Heritage conservation – Dept of Quantity
Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, UM
Public diplomacy programmes – Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Malaysia
Malay manuscripts – Dept of Library &
Information Science, Faculty of Computer
Science & Information Technology
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Mural restoration – National Visual Art Center,
Malaysia and the Dept of Building Surveying,
Faculty of Built Environment, UM
MoU with National Cheng Kung University
Museum, Taiwan
Latest
◦ 2011 – launch of the University of Malaya Art
Gallery (UMAG)
◦ Permanent home for the paintings that were
brought from Singapore which were part of the
Museum of Asian Art collection.
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Actively promoting the Museum and the Gallery
through paper and poster presentations
◦ University Museum Conference 2011, National Cheng
Kung University, 11-12 Nov 2011
 N.N. Edzan. From Exhibiting to Researching : the Changing
Role of University Museums in South-East Asia
◦ APRU Research Symposium on University Museums
2012, Kyoto University, 11-14 Sept 2012
 Amelia Ilyas and Zuraini Md. Ali. Restoring a Lost Mural :
Working with the Museum of Asian Art, University of
Malaya.
 N.N. Edzan and Abdul Aziz Rashid. The Museum of Asian
Art, University of Malaya : An Invitation to Explore.
◦ UMAC 2012, NUS Museum, 10-12 Oct 2012
 N.N. Edzan. After the Separation : UM in KL
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Maintain dual role
◦ research & teaching
◦ public display
Increase in museum research i.e. research on the
collection held within the museum
Attract academics and research students to
conduct museum research
Partner with faculties in research
Research publications which acknowledge use of
museum collection
Promote museum collections to the public
Collaborate with corporate agencies, individuals,
foreign embassies - exhibitions
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Malaysia's oldest university.
Situated on a 750 acre (309 hectare) campus in the southwest
of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.
Has its roots in Singapore and was established in 1962.
22 academies/institutes/faculties/centres.
112 undergraduate programmes and 132 postgraduate
programmes.
15,202 undergraduates and 10,762 postgraduate = 25,964.
2,716 academic staff, 562 professional/managerial and 3,092
non-academic staff = 5,830.
Research university.
6 museums – Medical, Geology, Zoology, Herbarium, Malay
Ethnography, Asian Art.
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The Museum of Asian Art which came to life
in 1955 in Singapore has developed
favourably as a university museum. However,
with the University of Malaya’s increasing
focus on research, the Museum has to move
in tandem and accordingly. There is therefore
a need for the Museum to maintain a balance
between being a center of excellence for
research and an institution showcasing the
best of its collection.
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Abu Bakar Abd Hamid and K.T. Joseph. 2010. Ungku A. Aziz – A man for all
seasons. In: Royal Professor Ungku A. Aziz : The Renaissance man. Editors,
Hashim Yaacob, Abu Bakar Abd Hamid, K.T. Joseph, Azizah Hamzah. Kuala
Lumpur : University of Malaya Press.
Chai, Wai Hon. Whither the Arts. Singapore Towards the Year 2000. Edited by
Saw-Swee Hock and R.S. Bathal. Singapore: Singapore Association for the
Advancement of Science, 1981.
Guidebook: University of Malaya Art Museum. Singapore : Hian Seng Press, 1959.
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NUS Museum. 2002. Past, Present, Beyond: Re-nascence of an Art Collection.
Singapore: NUS Museum, 2002.
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NUS Museum. 2011. Camping and Tramping Through the Colonial Archive: The
Museum in Malaya. Singapore: NUS Museum.
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Sullivan, Michael. Modern Chinese Art: The Khoan and Michael Sullivan Collection.
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2001.
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Tan, Li-Jen. A Preliminary Survey of University Art Museums in Southeast Asia.
University Museums and Collections as Recorders of Cultural and National
Communities Worldwide : Proceedings of the 10th Conference of the International
Commiitee of ICOM for University Museum and Collections (UMAC), Shanghai,
China, 7th-12th November 2010. pp. 13-18. Available at: http://edoc.huberlin.de/umacj/2011/li-jen-13/XML/TanLi_xdiml.xml
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Universiti Malaya. Laporan Tahunan Ke 24: 1972/73, Ke 27: 1975/76, Ke 38:
1986/87, Ke 39: 1987/88. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya.
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University of Malaya. Annual Report of the University of Malaya : 1954-55, 195859. Singapore: University of Malaya.
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University of Malaya. Annual Report of the University of Malaya (established by the
University of Malaya Ordinance 1949): 1960-61. Kuala Lumpur: University of
Malaya, 1962.
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University of Malaya Art Gallery. 2011. Catalogue. Kuala Lumpur : UMAG.
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Willetts, William. The Muzium Seni Asia : the Spirit of Man, The Genius of Art. The
New Straits Times Annual 1981. Kuala Lumpur: NSTP, 1981.
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