Art Trio: Curate@Seni

By: Faizal Sidik

Affandi, Portrait Of Tan Sri Kamarul Ariffin, 1971, Oil on canvas, 130cm x 100cm

Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers (HBArt) opened first art space, Curate@SENI . The first show in this space titled ‘Art Trio’ was open on 13 March. Art Trio is a collections work by prominent Malaysian art collector such Azman Hashim, Kamarul Ariffin and Daim Zainuddin. The trio started actively to build up their collection since 1960 s until today.

Azman Hashim, 75 is a CEO of Arab-Malaysia Bank and now AM Bank. As a corporate collector he said  the painting that he bought to represent the corporate images of the bank and at the same time he wants the staff in the office work with a motivation and inspiration environment.

Kamarul Ariffin, 80 renown as a cultural observer which has a closed ties with the Malaysian artists such as Latiff Mohidin, Ibrahim Hussein and Syed Ahmad Jamal. He was a chairman of National Art Gallery’s (NAG) Board of Trustee from 1976-1985, he was also who a chairman of Bank Bumiputra and spearheaded the preservation and promotion of National Language as head of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Daim Zainuddin, 76 trained in law was a  politician, he was became a Minister of Finance from 1984 to 1991. What was interesting of these three collector is they are from finances background in their carrier.

The selected 30 artworks of portrait from the collector in the exhibition is bring us not only Malaysian artists but also from Southeast Asia like Georgette Chen (Singapore), Fernando Cueto Amorsolo, Jose Joya and Onib Olmedo (Philippine) Affandi, Basoeki Abdullah, Hendra Gunawan and Kartika Affandi (Indonesia)

“Art Trio” runs at the Curate@SENI through March 31