THE seven artists from Projek Sekitar Seni (PSS), who pulled out of an international arts show yesterday after parts of their artwork were removed by the authorities over communist elements, said they were not allowed to touch the set since Saturday as it was “under investigation”.

The group’s spokesman Aisyah Baharuddin said they were also not allowed to put final touches to the installation prior to the opening of the Kuala Lumpur Biennale 2017 today.

“We felt that they have violated our artwork by removing things that were part of the whole project. We were not allowed to go near it or even touch it. That was why we finally decided to cover it up with the black net as a sign of protest,” she said.

The art collective of five Malaysian artists and two from Indonesia had created an installation titled “Under Construction”, which Aisyah said was meant to depict the human mind, culture and community, which were always changing and developing.

The parts removed by the authorities were the word “Rasuahahahahaha” (corruption) and some books.

Aisyah said the installation had been created from pieces of rubbish and old magazines found in the National Art Gallery where the event is currently being held. PSS received a RM6,000 grant to create the piece, although the total expenditure came up to RM10,000.

“This installation is under one of the segments that touched on love for humanity and community, and was apt with what we are trying to express with our work. I do not understand which part of this relates to communism. 

“All that we have here is meant for education. We created space within a space to allow the public to have a closer look at the art.

“If it’s under investigation, where is the black and white? There is no need to use the police to frighten us. I am not afraid. I am just frustrated. I did no wrong,” she said.

PSS had planned to move their community library to the gallery for the event as part of the exhibition.

“It was meant to be for children. Most of our artwork and our itinerary for the event was to have focused on kids.

“Maybe (the authorities) don’t understand the art. Artists are not criminals,” said Aisyah.

PSS are now waiting for an official reply from the gallery after informing the exhibition that they had pulling out of the event to protest censorship.

The gallery’s director-general Professor Mohamed Najib Ahmad Dawa told the media today after the Biennale 2017 official opening that PSS was trying to gain cheap publicity by pulling out of the show and claiming that their installation had been removed.

The KL Biennale is an international contemporary arts programme at the National Visual Art Gallery in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, featuring 119 artworks from local and international artists.

He denied the removal of the artwork and the presence of the police at the gallery.

Kuala Lumpur police told The Star today that they did not seize any artwork from the exhibition.

“There was no seizure. We merely advised the curator that some of the artworks are not very proper.

“It was the curator who then took down the artwork and gave them back to the artists,” city police chief Mazlan Lazim was quoted as saying.

He added that police were, however, investigating the matter.

The other PSS artists are Ahmad Azrel Kilheeny, Mohamad Idham Ismail, Nurul Adeline Zainuddin and Iltizam Iman Abd Jalil while the two Indonesian artists are Isrol Triono from Yogyakarta and Selo Srie Mulyadi from Jakarta. – November 23, 2017.