By DANIAL FUAD

Borneo-based collective Pangrok Sulap, characterized by its members who are painters, musicians and social activists has been traveling the world with the mission of empowering rural and marginalized communities through art. Woodcut prints have been presented as their main medium since 2013 when they begin spreading social messages through large-scaled exhibitions. The collective usually spends time in the rural villages of Sabah, learning about the struggles of the people in the effort of spreading their voices and making big changes. Last year’s fruition was when Pangrok Sulap managed to provide mini hydroelectric generators to Kampung Penulangon in Ranau.

Diaspora Tale from Australia

Ever since their inception, this collective has been high-spirited in carrying the people’s voices to the global scale. Pangrok Sulap has exhibited their works in various countries, such as India, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and most recently, Perth, Australia. While the plight of rural folks stands as a recurrent theme in their past works, this time, they have decided to explore visuals inspired by the tales of the Malaysians who have migrated to Western Australia. “Last year, two of our members came here following the invitation of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA) for a research trip, gathering information on what we can create for the 2024 programme,” says Adi Helmi, the unofficial spokesperson for the collective.

The members have discovered that a lot of Malaysians, especially Borneans, migrated to the region looking for greener pastures. “We listened to the experiences of Sabahans who have come here to work, be it in agriculture or other professional fields, as well as Curtin University students on why they moved there, how they survived, and so much more,” Adi tells BASKL. A more detailed discussion between the collective and the co-curators for IOTA 2021 through 2024, Jude Van Der Merwe, plus Carola Akindele-Obe takes place during their site visit last year.

Such developments then inspired the creation of the gigantic five-panel wood print entitled Sharing Roots, Shining Hope. They spent two weeks working tirelessly in Freemantle earlier this month in the chilling winters, completing it for the triennial. Adi adds, “This time we brought two new female members, Hani, who was previously our intern, and Kris, both of whom are going abroad for the first time.” The collective’s membership has always been fluid; he says that once you are a part of it, you will always be part of it, no matter how long.

Working Process

“We spent our time from 10 in the morning to 10 at night at Artsource Studio. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner there for 10 days straight,” Adi comments. This is also the first time that the collective has done five panels, whereas compared to their previous works, the biggest they have done was up to four panels. He further adds, “The studio is complete with various facilities such as a laundromat so that we can focus on doing our work.”

Having been a collective for nearly 15 years, their experience of working together has built a foundation of efficiency as they meticulously planned on how to execute the monumental task in just 10 days. The work started with a rough sketch of the composition, which was then projected onto the panel to create the outline. Each panel is divided into four equal parts, with one member carving out each part individually to ensure a smooth production flow.

“Discussion between members during the working session is also vital, as that is when the magic happens: deciding what to put in each section as we only put a rough sketch beforehand. We would only decide on the final form during the carving process,” says Adi. Inputs from all eight members are taken and synthesized, then translated into the wood panel, where the visual narrative flows from left to right. The final piece is truly a collaborative effort showcasing the unique perspectives of each team member.

Artwork Narrative

“The artwork starts off depicting the hopes and dreams of people who seek to migrate, and then it moves into how these people acquired the means to do so,” Adi explains. Move your eyes further and you shall see the depiction of the migrants engaging in their new country through work, leisure and more. “Of course, people’s migrations have been motivated by various goals, such as buying land, helping their parents and being financially free,” Adi explains in relation to the third panel. Meanwhile, the fourth panel informs viewers about the struggles and issues these people are facing, this include fearing the enforcement agencies.

The final and fifth panel symbolises the outcomes of the migrants who have returned from their journey. Some got married, while the others have started businesses; Pangrok Sulap portrays a complete story of their journey viewed from the first panel to the last. Each panel takes three days to complete, with two panels’ completions being in tandem in order to meet the 10-day deadline.

“One of the issues was that it was very cold!” Adi said jokingly when he is asked about the problems encountered during their work process. They encountered some difficulty in making sure that the canvas they brought from Sabah is aligned carefully with the woodblock during printing due to it being pre-treated with Velcro for display purposes. “Honestly, I also did not believe we were able to finish this work in only 10 days, as this is the longest print we have ever done,” says Adi. During their overseas trip, a careful selection of Pangrok Sulap team members is done to ensure commitment to the task of carving out an artwork spanning over 10 meters.

Printing Festivity

The last step in the Pangrok Sulap work process is the printing session, which has always been a ‘kenduri’ (celebratory party) of sorts, complete with performances where community participation lies at the heart of their artwork, and this one was no exception. After completing all the panels, the collective invites members of the public to join in the printing session at John Curtin University. Nearly 50 people participated, in addition to the Malaysians invited, becoming part of the artwork.

He further adds, “It was very satisfying hearing the audiences’ awe during the reveal of the print after all of them stepped and danced on top of it, giving pressure to create the prints.” The audience who came during the session were very sporting, friendly, and supportive, as were all the Australians who Adi met during the collective’s two-week stint in Freemantle. “We even got to eat Kangaroo rendang; one of the curators shared with us the meat after we asked them where to get them here.” Adi happily shared that the meat tasted like venison.

In 2023, MyCreative Ventures through CENDANA supported the pre-production costs for four Malaysian artists to conduct research for new artworks to be showcased at IOTA24. This collaboration with the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial Inc. (IOTA) in Perth, Australia was part of the Partnership Initiatives programme.

Sharing Roots, Shining Hope is currently exhibited at the John Curtin Gallery located at the university’s Bentley’s Campus until September 29, 2024 in conjunction with IOTA24, which is going on from August to October 2024. This year’s triennial is themed Codes in Parallel, which investigates the various languages codified in contemporary craft. The Malaysian artists invited to participate in the triennial are Chang Yoong Chia, Yim Yensum, Anne Samat, and Jacky Cheng, exhibiting with other international artists all over Western Australia.

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