By CHIN JIAN WEI
On July 18, 2024, ArtJamila Gallery & Museum was host to a Journal Jam event organised by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). BASKL has featured ArtJamila twice already. The museum is named after Wan Jamila Wan Shaiful Bahri, known professionally as ArtJamila, a savant artist known for her colourful and striking works. It was the perfect location for the Journal Jam, providing inspiration to the event-goers that day working on their journals.
Dr Mumtaz of UiTM led the event, explaining the hobby of journalling and the different types of journals that people can make, showcasing the sheer freedom and creativity that goes into making a journal that is your very own. Some people make journals that document their travels in a foreign country, some create journals filled with food and recipes, and some just record their feelings and emotions, using the journal as a safe space to reflect and heal.
After her presentation was over, all the participants were led to the tables, on which a large variety of art materials were laid out. Each participant had access to blank journals of varying sizes, and all kinds of pretty stickers, washi tape, and scrapbook paper had been prepared. Most of the materials had a vintage aesthetic to them, pretty much what first springs to mind when people think of journalling and scrapbooking.
Many of the attendees were no strangers to journalling and immediately began rifling through the art supplies to find the ones they wanted to use in their journals. Jamila in particular filled page after page of her journal at a rapid rate. In the beginning, this writer found it difficult to get started. There were so many options; it made it difficult to decide which to use.
After looking through the materials, my eye settled on several paper cutouts that depicted a European town skyline, reminding me of my time spent attending university in England. Suddenly inspired, I decided to use my journal to reflect on the feelings and emotions I felt all those years ago, abroad in a foreign country. The more I worked on the journal, the easier it got, and before I knew it, I was getting inspiration from all the art materials around me. I was able to express the feelings of isolation, wonder, and bittersweet longing I felt all those years ago.
Although I only filled in about 8 pages or so of my little journal, it was a great feeling to be able to express these emotions in a way that was artistically satisfying to me. At the end of the Journal Jam, we each showed our journals to each other in a brief sharing session and I was pleased to see that everyone else had also been able to express themselves wonderfully through the medium of journaling. Each person had taken the opportunity to fill their journal about what mattered to them, whether it be food, global issues, or just experimenting with pretty patterns and images.
After the success of the event, there will be more upcoming Journal events organised by Dr Mumtaz. She has expressed the likelihood of a workshop in early September and an exhibition at the end of October. Follow ArtJamila’s Instagram page for the latest updates!
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