Image: Propositional Berg by Lena Cobangbang for Rogueish Festive Cards

Very shortly, we will be ushering in a new year. Where did all our time go in 2010?  Between collections consultancy and logistical management work, and our publication and commission projects, it’s been an inspiring year with new challenges and rewards. Here are some of the highlights of our 2010:

Publications

WORKING

Kicking off with the exhibition WORK at 19 Jalan Berangan in January, this artists-initiated project culminated in the launch of our first RogueArt publication in October, in conjunction with the exhibition 10 Malaysian Artists:  Portraits From The Work Project by the book’s lead photographer Tara Sosrowardoyo at Zinc Art Space in KL. WORKING explores studio practice and artistic process through the experiences of Malaysian artists Ahmad Fuad Osman, Ahmad Shukri Mohamed, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Chong Siew Ying, Hamir Soib, Jalaini Abu Hassan, Kow Leong Kiang, Raja Shahriman Raja Aziddin, Ramlan Abdullah and Yee I-Lann.

Yee I-Lann: Boogeyman: Fluid World

In collaboration with Valentine Willie Fine Art, we worked with Yee I-Lann on her landmark exhibition Boogeyman at the Black Box at MAP KL in September and her monograph Fluid World, which was launched at VWFA in November.

2010 also saw the launch of two publications we were involved in as text editors last year – Agus Suwage’s extraordinary monograph Still Crazy After all These Years in Jakarta in May and 30 Art Friends in Singapore in March. We helped the Malaysian Art Friends with an exhibition to coincide with the book’s Kuala Lumpur launch at the National Art Gallery in June.

All the above publications and more books on Southeast Asian art are now available at www.rogueish.asia, and at selected bookshops in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Publications in progress

We are proud to announce that we have raised support for the full budget of RM360,000 for Narratives in Malaysian Art, an ambitious four-volume publication comprising republished texts, commissioned essays, and interviews on the development of visual art in Malaysia to be published by RogueArt through 2011 and 2012. We’d like to thank our sponsors Bangsar Village, Balai Seni Lukis Negara, Kenneth Tan, Gudang Damansara, Rosemary and Steve Wong, Malakoff Corporation Berhad, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Avenue Invest Berhad, Helu-Trans (Singapore) Pte Ltd, and Khazanah Nasional Berhad for their corporate support, and the Krishen Jit-ASTRO Fund for their support, as well as the many Friends and benefactors of the project. The editorial team led by Nur Hanim Khairuddin and Beverly Yong, with Hasnul J Saidon and Eva McGovern are very excited as Volumes I and II begin to shape up. Do visit the NMA website for updates.

RogueArt are also thrilled to be working on an artist’s book for Eko Nugroho, to be published in Indonesia in the second half of 2011. This monograph will a present a number of landmark projects and works produced by this prolific artist over the past decade.

Sime Darby Epic Painting

In 2009, we assisted Sime Darby Berhad in commissioning three artists to work on an epic painting to celebrate its centennial this year. Ahmad Fuad Osman, Anurendra Jegadeva and Chuah Chong Yong are currently completing this 50 ft opus, which offers a dynamic visual interpretation of this company’s history and vision, at Wisma Sime Darby in KL as part of the company’s centennial exhibition.

‘So You Want To Be an Artist’

In June we organized a workshop in collaboration with House of Matahati (HOM) geared towards young artists starting out on a professional career. Artists and industry players offered practical advice and guidance on matters from how to pack an artwork to the ethics of gallery contracts.

Online material

We’ve recently uploaded the notes from Where Art Happens, our 2009 talks series on issues of art infrastructure focusing on the Malaysian scene but also looking to achievements and challenges in the region as a whole, as well as articles we’ve published as RogueArt, for the sadly now defunct Off the Edge magazine (including our “Where Art Happens” map of local art infrastructure), and “Cocktails Will Be Served”, our contribution to IVAA’s publication in progress on the art market boom and bust, Economy Class.

We’d like to wish all our friends and associates a wonderful start to 2011. We hope to see you in the New Year!

Rogue-ish hosted a special weekend presentation by Flowerdrum Bags founder Rina Matsui-Houghton on Dec 11th at No. 19 Jalan Berangan. This exhibition of one-off pieces was inspired by 6-word memoirs of 30-something Malaysian women written by Suhana Dewi Selamat. Rina interpreted the essays in visual and textural form on everyday things that women see and touch, wear and use in the home.

Inspired by the nostalgic whimsy of Rina’s vintage materials and the charming furniture borrowed from our neighbour, The Curiousity Shop, we decided to host a retro afternoon tea party resplendent with cupcakes, shortbread fingers, chiffon cakes, cocktail sausages and pineapples on sticks, iced lemon tea and good ol’ Pimms No. 1. The weekend would not have been complete without a small sale of Flowerdrum Bags with vintage prints and designs that made the ladies go weak.

We were so chuffed with the set up the show that we thought we’d share a few pictures of the afternoon with you. (It’s may not be Betty Drabble’s perfectly put together home but it is good enough for some of us to live the fantasy for a minute or two.)

Check out our Rogue-ish website here for further details about Rina’s one-off pieces.