ARTIST GALLERY

Today, on a sunny Sunday morning, I went to the Artist Gallery in Malacca. Last couple of weeks, Dr Edwin mentioned about the artist, Mr Tham Siew Inn, whose works have been known locally and globally. At first, the plan was to organize a class trip there, but after too much hassle and bureaucracy, the plan was cancelled.

But this does not stop Lukman and I, Bahira to find out for ourselves about the artist and his gallery. I asked Dr Edwin for the artist address and during the last class, Dr Edwin gave us the address and showed us some postcards of the artist’s paintings. So, deciding that the trip to Malacca will be an educational and fulfilling one, we both agreed to rent a car and went there on our own today (1st March).

In a red Viva, I drove from UPM to Malacca, while Lukman took over when we arrived to the city of Malacca. It took us quite some time, Lukman navigating the car, while I was the dedicated sign board reader. We were going round and round in the city of Malacca, looking for Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, where the gallery is situated. After many turns, u-turns, and confusing sign boards, we finally spotted the gallery at the area of Jonker Street.

It was a very humble house shop, yet the owner, Mr Tham is much humbler. Clad in a simple white shirt and trousers, we were amazed at the hospitality shown by him towards us. We were treated like a special guest. He patiently answered all of our questions as we were very curious about the intriguing paintings. He uses water colour as his medium on paper, and not canvas like other artists normally do. He explained that the paper will absorb the water colour better than canvas. When asked about how long he takes to finish a painting, he said that it depended on his mood (guess we have some resemblance there…hehehe).

After viewing his painting, we took the opportunity to take a tour of other parts of the shop house. We went to the backyard, where I got to meet Yumi, Mr Tham’s cat (a chubby and cuddly cat indeed). Other than that, we found out that Mr Tham is not only talented in painting, but creating seal engraving and opal jewellery as well. His son, Mr Tham Ze King, follows his footstep as he is talented in portrait painting.

After almost 2 hours at the Artist Gallery, we decided to make a move. Nonetheless, going to the gallery was a sweet and educational experience, only made richer and memorable by the kind and warm welcome of Mr Tham Siew Inn. Thank you Mr Tham for the generous hospitality and thank you Dr Edwin for opening up another branch of art and literature for us to explore and appreciate…

P/S: Hope you like the gift that we bought you :)