AS Malaysia gears up to celebrate its forthcoming Independence Day and Malaysia Day, an artistic ode to national pride “Negaraku” takes centre stage.
Curated by Ivan Gabriel of Hin Bus Depot from the RuMa Collection by Bingley Sim and his wife Ima Norbinsha, this exhibition displays a rich collection of 26 meticulously chosen artworks from their 20-year aggregation of the RuMa collection.
Sim, a banker by profession, and Ima are esteemed budayawan in the Malaysian art scene.
Stories of nationhood
“At one point, when we had decided on the pieces for the exhibition and were thinking about the title for the show, we considered several ideas but none stood out. Just then, my daughter Iza joined the conversation and casually suggested, ‘Why not Negaraku?’
“Negaraku represents the country’s trials and tribulations, nation-building and hopes for a brighter future.
“We are passionate about the collection being exhibited and the power it conveys, the feelings of negaraku, the connection to the country and the artworks to each other,” he said.
Sim, a Teochew originally from Penang, explained RuMa is coined from Ruang Ima.
“Ruang is the Malay word for space and Ima is the name of my wife. Together, rumah also means house in Malay. That is why I named our collection Ruma Collection.”
He said RuMa also referred to his former 2.5-storey terrace home of more than a decade until 2010 when it was turned into an art space.
“I started buying art in 2004. After meeting Pakhruddin Sulaiman in December 2007, my interest in buying art began to become more serious. It was only after I came across Bayu Utomo Radjikin’s artwork that I became an art collector.”
The masterpiece was an 8ft black-coloured painting. Sim said: “I remember, it was right after the general election in 2008. I saw it, thought about it for a while and then, decided to buy it.”
It was a painting of a mask, a fighter pilot and a cross depicting the election, commemorating the 2008 change of government in a few states including Penang, Selangor and Kedah. Bayu Utomo wanted to convey the feelings of division drawn in the aftermath of the election and titled it Kau Sekutu atau Seteru, meaning “Either you are with me or against me”.
