To unite Malaysian artists in pursuit of gender equality and justice in Malaysia, SISArt, for their third year in a row presents Awan & Tanah.

With 30 artists showcasing their most thought-provoking artworks yet, Awan & Tanah will be launched at CULT Gallery in Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 3 August at 7.00pm.

Last year’s show, Halal/Haram raised over RM115,000 for Sisters in Islam (SIS).

This year’s Awan & Tanah theme, discusses the relationship between the divine and the ordinary, between God and humans as well as inequality between men and women in the face of God.

Photo: SIS

Presenting a unique mix of well-established and emerging Malaysian artists, it will feature those in the local and international art world.

Artists including Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Ilse Noor, Jalaini Abu Hassan, Datuk Sharifah Fatimah Zubir, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Chong Siew Ying, Kow Leong Kiang, Noor Mahnun, and Sharmiza Abu Hassan will be part of the established names.

Up and coming artists featuring Nia Khalisa, Nadia Nizamudin, Sanan Anuar, Aiman Asimuddin, and Hana Zamri are exploring this year’s theme.

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Photo: SIS

Sheena Baharuddin, spoken word artist, poet and author will be perfoming at the opening of the Awan & Tanah show.

Mediums such as oil, print, threadwork, wood, textile and more would be used by the artists for their interpretation of Awan & Tanah.

Dato Sharifah Fatimah Zubir remains one of the most prominent abstract artists in Malaysia with over twenty solo exhibitions and more than a hundred group exhibitions to her name.

She graduated from MARA Institute of Technology (UiTM) and continued on to the University of Reading to complete a fine arts degree with first-class honours.

This was followed by obtaining her postgraduate qualifications from Pratt Institute in New York.

Dato Sharifah just passed the 50thanniversary of her career and shows no signs of stopping soon.

Anniketyni Madian from Sarawak is an emerging artist known for drawing inspiration from Pua Kumbu, a textile native to Sarawakian culture and channelling it into intricate and dynamic wood carvings.

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Her sculptures defy the expectations of those who equate women artists with daintiness and she is one of the only women in a mainly male dominated area of creating large art sculptures made of wood.

Anniketyni’s craft depicts strikingly the beauty of her Sarawakian tradition and heritage.

Nadia Nizamudin mixes and mashes mediums such as embroidery, painting, printmaking and collage techniques.

She uses embroidery beyond its common misconception as a lowly genre of art by incorporating used and recycled images to amplify the story she wants to tell.

Driven by concepts such as heartbreak and grief, her artworks are vibrantly coloured despite the theme.

“In my collage work, I love to use the subjects as exploration of these themes,” says Nadia, “to convey the message that in our everyday world pain and sadness are almost inaudible and silent, except if you look closely enough, or if you bother to look at all.”

Sabri Idrus combines technology with traditional crafting, aiming to liberate the socio-cultural dogma found in the visual language of Malaysian art.

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His works have been shown in London, Seoul and Singapore – expect to see abstract artworks with intellect.

All artists have agreed to donate half of the sales of their artwork to SIS like the past two shows.

All donations to SIS are tax-exempted.

SIS has been at the forefront of the fight for Muslim women’s rights in Malaysia for the last 30 years.

Their legal aid clinic Telenisa has helped over 10,000 women nationwide.

Among issues championed by SIS include reforms to Malaysian Family Laws that are discriminatory towards women, ending child marriage and criminalising marital rape.

SIS has also been instrumental in giving a voice to Malaysian women who are in need of help.-/TISG