A Turun Padang Day. :)

This has been one of the many firsts: Visiting the Central Bank Museum and the Art Gallery. Well, actually, make this a second one. I actually got to explore more of the building during my trip organised by the DSSC. To say that I was excited would be an understatement. You see, I am not an art enthusiast(you don't say!). So, you can only imagine how lost I was looking at the art works. Just like everyone else, I tried my best to dissect the arts exhibited but ended up only admiring the aesthetics of it. Nonetheless, there were many beautiful paintings done by our local artists as well other Asian artists that were exhibited at the gallery. 

Now that was my first time at the art gallery. The second time round, we went with a bigger crowd. The entire class for Malaysian Media and Culture were present, along with Dr Carmen, Miss E, Puan Raja and Kevin. We pretty much had our shifus with us on this trip and I hoped that this trip would help me understand better of the arts. And I think I managed to grasp 65% of it. So, that counts as an improvement right? 

I think it's safe to say that all of us were tailing Dr Carmen, hoping that she would enlighten us about the arts that were displayed around us. We were looking at mostly abstract painting and were thoroughly enjoying interpreting the messages and contexts of the painting. And the thing about abstract art is that, you can never truly know or figure out what the artists is trying to say. And that leaves us with the benefit of doubt, which I think is a bit cruel la. I mean, who likes the feeling of not knowing? It's much worst than the silent treatment if you ask me. 

There were plenty of art works that were aesthetically beautiful. And Dr Carmen was definitely not joking when she said that the paintings are big. I mean, the paintings I saw were BIG! and beautiful of course. ^_^ I guess we spent a good hour looking at the paintings and understanding them before we were off to venture on our own. So of course, we took photos of art pieces to be kept as memories. But just like Khai Lin, my favourite piece would be the Peaceful Terrace and Rainbow Nation.

                                                             Peaceful Terrace

                          Rainbow Nation

                      Rainbow Nation (up close)

Among the other paintings displayed were: 

                                         

This board below are the few Malaysian artists whose works were being exhibited at the art gallery.

Below are some photos I took on the first trip to Bank Negara Malaysia Museum: 
                                         

                      Gold dust and Nugget from the 18th and 19th Century.  

                            Cowrie Shells from the 3rd to the 17th Century.  

                   Animal money that were used during the Malacca Sultanate.  

                                                      A belt made from coins. 

                   The first cheque issued to the Central Bank dated
                        26th January 1959. 
  

                                            Specimens of the first currency. 

                                         A replica of the Central Bank vault. 

                               The Million Ringgit tunnel leading to the
                           Kiddie Museum. 

And not to forget, En Muid Latif who was kind enough to share his art works and vast knowledge about anything everything under the Sun. His extensive knowledge has certainly amazed me. In fact, his desire to keep reinventing himself personally and professionally reminds of something similar to what my Add Maths teacher once told me, 'What we know now is just a drop in the ocean.' 

That is all for my entry this week. Till next time...
Sekian, Thank you. :) 


A/N: 

• The Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery is open 362 days a year, inclusive of weekends. They are only closed for 3 days during Raya for maintenance purposes. 
• Entrance is free of charge. 
• The Ground floor of the building holds the Kiddie Museum, Souvenir shop and cafeteria. The 1st and 2nd floor are the Museums. The 3rd floor is where the art gallery is. 
• NO flash photography in the art gallery people! :)