MORE than 50 prominent art collectors have warned the National Art Gallery that they will no longer loan their works unless it resolves the controversy over artist Ahmad Fuad Osman’s exhibition.

In a report on The Arts Equater website, the 55 collectors have told the national gallery to reinstate four pieces that had been pulled from Fuad’s latest exhibition or they will no longer lend their works for display.

The gallery is currently in a feud with Fuad and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry over its decision to pull four pieces from the artist’s exhibition – At the End of the Day Art is Not important (1990-2019).

The exhibition has been on display since October 2019 but the gallery on February 10 decided to pull four pieces from it for allegedly being political and obscene.

The report today said the 55 collectors have made known their intentions to the gallery via an online petition and letter.

They said the exhibition has been vetted by the gallery before it was put up and the removal of the four pieces without proper reasons is unacceptable.

“As a result, we hereby state that we will not be lending works from our collection to the gallery in the future if artworks are subjected to such censorship by its board and management,” the collectors’ petition said.

“We also hereby request the gallery to reinstate all four artworks by Ahmad Fuad Osman without any delay.”

The report argued that the gallery risks losing an important source of artwork to supplement its own collection if private collectors boycott it.

“Due to limited resources and the lack of a farsighted collection policy, many significant Malaysian artworks are held by private collectors or by institutions outside the country.

“The gallery has had a generally positive relationship with collectors who often lend important works for national gallery’s exhibitions.

“With the threat of losing this access to an invaluable body of works held by these collectors, the gallery’s ability to present major exhibitions in the future may be negatively impacted.”

Zain Azahari Zainal Abidin, Pakhruddin Sulaiman and Bingley Sim are among some of Malaysia’s leading collectors who have signed the petition, according to the report.

The three, who had loaned pieces for Fuad’s exhibition, have asked the gallery to return these works.

Other collectors who have signed the petition include Yee Tak Hong, Nariza Hashim, Anwar Jumabhoy, Lim Edin Nom, Rosaline Ganendra, Azizan Paiman,  Long Thien Shih, Shalini Ganendra, Joshua Lim and Ng Sek San.

Other noteworthy signatories are human rights activist Marina Mahathir, writer Karim Raslan, and directors Bronte Parlare and Jo Kukathas. – February 16, 2020.