Part 2- Beginning of Penang Art Society

Based on recent records of Malaysian history, arts andliterature was comparatively more active and advancein 3 places – Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore,where Penang was most influenced by Western Realism.By 1920, Walker formed Penang Impressionist Group.This was an art group limited only to expatriates, whichportrayed an image of over-empowering superiority inPart Two – The Beginning of Penang Art Societycolonialist spirit, until Malay artist Abdul Ariff and Chinesepainter Tay Hooi Keat were employed as tutors in 1930s.The group actively organized art exhibitions every yearsince its establishment, even to its last one in 1937 wherethey invited members from Yin Yin Art Circle to be apart of the event, marking a very meaningful episode incultural-exchange.

One – How Penang Art Society Started

In 1936, a group of artists from diverse backgrounds, suchas poetry, calligraphy, painting and photography, cametogether to put up an exhibition. A poet, named GuanZhen Min, named this exhibition ‘Yin-Yin Art Circle’ – whichmeant ‘like a newborn’ – with a good cause to promote acollective set of creativities to attract public attention. LeeCheng Yong and Yong Mun Sen were the president andvice president while Kuo Ju Ping served as the secretary.On March 7, Yong Mun Sen announced the number ofparticipating exhibitors and the progress of preparationon a press release.

On April 2 1936, the 1st Yin Yin Art Circle took place. It wasofficiated by Chinese Ambassador Mr. and Mrs. HuangYan Kai and lasted for four consecutive days at the formerLi Tek Primary School on Leith Street. Among the attendeesof the exhibition were Lee Cheng Yong, Yong Mun Sen,Li Lou Zhai, Kuo Ju Ping, Wu Zhong He, Cheng Pui Yan,Lin Zhen Khai, Guan Zhen Min, and also visitors from bothlocal and other places such as art lovers, press reporters,officers from the Ministry of Education, headmasters ofboth Chinese and English schools, President of PenangImpressionist Group, etc. All those who came supportedand credited the event for being successful.

The 1st Yin Yin Art Circle exhibited over 200 pieces ofworks including oil paintings, calligraphies, carvings,photographs, stamps and Chinese paintings. Those whoseartworks were exhibited included (from Penang) LeeCheng Yong, Yong Mun Sen, Kuo Ju Ping, Wu Zhong He,Cheng Pui Yan, Li Lou Zhai, Wang Qi Yu, Mao Ze Shan, ChenBo Rang, Qiu Shang, Wang You Cai, Sher Tian Han, Li ShuoQing, Lin Zhen Khai, Zhou Chen Lin, Quah Kuan Sim, LiangHuan Fei, Tan Seng Aun, Liang Da Cai, Huang Hua, GuanRong De, Pan Ya Shan, Tay Hooi Keat, Tan Gek Khean, andChen Xi Fu; (from Ipoh) Zhang Xiao Ping; (from Singapore)Zhuang You Zhao, Dai Yin Lang, Lai Wen Ji, Chen ChongSwee, Zhang Ru Qi, Gao Zhen Sheng, Lu Heng, Li Kui Shi,and Lin Dao An; (from Japan) Chen Cheng Bo; (fromTaiwan) Ji You Quan and Bai Kai Zhou; (from China) WuMai, Wu You Ren and Chen Shu Ren.

During this exhibition, Chinese Ambassador Huang Yan Kaiwas very kind to share his personal collections of calligraphywith the rest of the artists. This exhibition was known as onethat was very different from other exhibitions held in thepast because it marked two ‘firsts’ – the exhibition of artcarving, and also the exhibition of stamps, and receivedKwong Wah Yit Poh’s big coverage which labelled theevent as a ‘a colourful exhibition done well’.

The same exhibition got a restaging at the Leith StreetBuilding from September 15 to 17 1939. However, theresponse was not comparable to the first time even thoughit received support from Yong Mun Sen, Lee Cheng Yong,Qiu Shang, Guan Zhen Min, Tan Seng Aun, Tay Hooi Keat,Quah Kuan Sim, Kuo Ju Ping, Zhang Ru Qi, Zhuang YouZhao, Lu Heng, Xu Jun Lian and Dai Yin Lang.

Before World War II, Penang and Singapore shared anoverwhelming response in arts, and artists from those twoplaces were very close. For instance, Singapore Societyof Chinese Artists was formed in 1936 and many exhibitorsof Yin Yin Art Circle were from there. This was proof of therelationship between Singapore artists and Penang artistsand how they supported each other in arts. Unfortunately,the connection only lasted until 1941 when the era of artsand literature plunged into darkness during the Japaneseinvasion of Malaya.

Two – The Birth & Growing Up of Penang Arts Society (1953 – 1966)

1941 to 1945 marked the darkest age for arts in Malaya.Xu Beihong came to Penang on a fundraising invitationfor a charitable event held at Hui Aun Association. Theevent was organised by a group of Chinese in Penangto collect donations in aid of the war against Japaneseinvasion. Xu stayed after the exhibition when he foundhimself falling for the beauty of Penang. This decisionallowed him to interact and enjoy the sharing of opinionwith local artists; and he became good friends with theowner of the hotel in which he stayed. He realised therewas so much potential in this unexploited, wonderfulenvironment that can be a good place to producegreat artists. So he went on to gathering his fellowartists and encouraged them to form organisations asa mean to bring all artists together and to promote artseducation. However he did not stay long enough for thepursuit of fostering local arts because he left Penangand returned to China before Malaya lost its defenceand fell into the hands of Japan.

Art activities continued to prosper after Japanese’sretreat from Malaya. For instance, Penang PhotographyAssociation held the first 30-photographers exhibitionafter World War II in 1949 and received very strongsupport from Loh Cheng Chuan. Xu Beihong, whoremained in China, wrote a letter to Loh Cheng Chuanin 1952 urging him to an establish art society. With therealisation that Penang needed an organisation to actas the common ground to unite all available artists, LohCheng Chuan contacted Yong Mun Sen (President ofPenang Photography Association), Lee Cheng Yong,Kuo Ju Ping, Khaw Sia, Wu Zhong He, Zhang Lu Ping,Li Dian Mo, Wu Bing Cheng, Tan Seng Aun, Luo Fa Ao,Zheng Jin Cun, Huang Qing Siang, Koh Wee Khian, andSu Jie Ming to form Penang Art Society. Submission ofapplication to the Registry of Societies was done andPenang Art Society was officially formed on April 281953, with Loh Cheng Chuan as the president.

In expressing the joy of knowing such good news, XuBeihong had personally calligraphed the title of PenangArt Society and gave it to Loh Cheng Chuan’s son – LohTok, as he returned home.

Loh Cheng Chuan dedicated March 25 as ‘Art Day’during his presidency (1953 – 1966) at Penang Art Societyand celebrated it annually to promote members’ work.In fact, Penang Art Society had not only conductedexhibitions, talks, and competitions as its annual activities,but also encouraged and sponsored its members to gooverseas to expand their visions as well as to promoteexchange of views on international level. Besides this,it also assisted foreign artists to conduct exhibitions solocal young talents get to learn from them. As a result,Penang Art Society gained a wide recognition in theeffort of promoting arts, and received a great number ofnew members such as Zhou Man Sha, Kong Xiang Thye,Chen Yu Zhi, Cui Da Di, Luo Ming, Cheah Thean Theng,Tan Choon Ghee, Lim Soo Mun, Hu Cheng Siang, HoKhay Beng, Siao Siang, Cao Chuan, Lee Hai Ping, ChenShi Chang, Zhang Shao Khuan, Tan Chiang Kiong, TayMo Leong, Yeo Eng Siang, Khor Ean Ghee and Chia YuChian.

The President of Penang Art Society, Loh Cheng Chuanwas, in fact, a helpful and kind Chinese bone physicianand a keen art collector who would always be presentat all exhibitions with his workers to help with the setupwork. He and Huang Mun Se were known as ‘SouthHuang North Loh’. During his 13 years of service asthe President of Penang Art Society, there were manyexhibitions - including Wan Wing Sum CalligraphyExhibition, Zhao Shao Ang Calligraphy Exhibition, TheEight Calligraphy Masters’ Exhibition (Rong Shu Shi, HuJian An, Zhang Shao Shi, Liang Bo Yu, Feng Kang Hou,Wan Wing Sum, Ye Shao Bing, and Zhao Shao Ang),the 1st – 8th Arts Exhibitions (the 2nd exhibition was afundraiser for Nanyang University), Chinese ModernPainters’ Exhibition (including works from 50 over artists’from LingNan, Li Feng Gong, Xu Bei Hong, Qi Bai Shi,Zhang Da Qian, Huang Jun Bi, Zhang Xiang Ning, LiangJian Neng, Fang Zhao Lin, Luo Ming, Xiao Jing Hua, ZengHou Xi, Lin Qian Shi, Yang Shan Sen, Yi Jun Zuo, Huang DuFeng, Tao Shou Bo and Gao Zi Ji), Hong Kong’s renownedphotographer Francis Wu Photography Exhibition, HuangLao Fen Carving Pieces Exhibition, Hong Kong ChinesePainters South East Asia Tour Exhibition, Xiao Shao Wu ArtsExhibition, Six Young Artists’ Exhibition (Yang Ying Xiang,Zeng Wen Huang, Lin Zhan Hong, Cui Yao Cheng, Qiu JiDa and Lin Ying Hui), Zhang Da Qian Art Exhibition andmany more which were either held at the Penang HunAun Association or Li Tek School (Branch).

Penang Art Society started off without a permanentpremise and their meetings were usually held at Loh’sclinic on Kimberly Street or Tong Shan Chinese School.As the president of the society, Loh’s biggest dream forPenang Art Society was to have a place of its own so itcan be the venue to put up members’ artworks as well asto host exhibitions regularly.

Three – The Expanding of Penang Arts Society (1966 – 1983)

With Loh Cheng Chuan’s demise in 1966, his position inPenang Art Society was replaced by Dato’ Koh PengTeng. Since the society’s office was relocated to RubberTrade Association with Dato’ Koh, things became moreinteresting than ever. There was a move into greaterdiverse of categories, right from painting, calligraphy,poetry, literature, drama, photography, natural stonesand bonsai and stone carving to dance. This had notonly been effective in widening the prospect of growthin arts but also, at the same time, encouraging familiarityin poetry and literature as well as youth arts among thepublic. Between 1973 until 1979, Penang Art Society hadcontinuously organised art competitions for young talents,ranging from primary school to high school. Without adoubt, the responses were well beyond expectationsand it had successfully contributed to the exploration ofchildren’s arts and inspired them to be creative.

In 1973, Dato’ Koh organised a working committee torealise the former president’s dream and his action swiftlyreceived support from almost everywhere – the familyof Late Kuo Ju Ping donated 158 artworks to the charityexhibition and it collected more than fifty thousand ringgitin donations. More than 160 national and internationalartists contributed their works in the number of over 380art pieces to another charity exhibition held at PenangChinese Town Hall and it collected another 50 thousandringgit of donations in 1976; and not to mention thecontributions collected from the public amounted over70 thousand ringgit. With all and all, Penang Art Societyhad finally received more than 180 thousand ringgitfrom all well-wishers. This marked the end of the society’sprevious heavy burden - a rented place numbered Room307 on the 3rd Floor of Penang Chinese Town Hall as theirtemporary clubhouse where the rental was too much forthem to bear.

Finally, after 30 years, with all the hard work that Dato’ Kohand other committee members poured in together with theassistance they received from the community, Penang ArtSociety finally moved into its own place on 26 September1983. This not only marked a new milestone for PenangArt Society but it also brought meant that a dream of thelate Loh Cheng Chuan had finally came true. The societycelebrated its 30th Anniversary that year with plenty ofactivities such as gala night, books and art exhibition,photography exhibition, bonsai exhibition and so on whilethe music division of the society also collaborated withPenang Chinese Town Hall (PCTH). They co-organised the‘Malaysia & Singapore Singing Competition’ to celebratePCTH’s 100th Anniversary and the completion of newbuilding, as well as the charity fundraising for HospitalLam Wah Ee. The anniversary celebration that year wasundeniably the biggest event in history and indisputablythe force Penang could use in order to push arts towardsa whole new level.

Four – Penang Art Society Steadily Moves into its Stable Period (1983 – 1994)

After 30 years of highs and lows, Penang Art Society finallymarched into steady development in 1983. The size of itscommittee had grown from 10 persons to 21 and the totalnumber of members reached almost 200 heads. With suchscale of size in the number of members from almost everycorner of the country, Penang Art Society is definitely abig social society. Its coverage of arts has expanded too– from painting, visual arts, poetry and literature in its earlydays to music, history study, dance and drama. Besidesthis, Penang Art Society’s poetry study group (in every statein Malaysia) and Malaysia Chinese Poetry Associationactively organised classes to nurture new poets as an actof promoting Chinese traditions.

Chinese calligraphy and traditional Chinese paintingare some of the most valuable assets China has. That iswhy Penang Art Society keenly took up the initiative inpromoting it by opening traditional Chinese paintingclasses in 1985. It was well accepted by the public andachieved great results in setting as a foundation and alsoin training new talents.

Children arts education bloomed in the 80s due to thehard work for the past decade. By 1986 – 1990, PenangArt Society was already having thousands of participantsin Penang Drawing Competition, an event collectivelyorganised by Penang Art Society and Kwong Wah Yit Poh.

There was another achievement during Dato’ Koh PengTeng’s presidency – the re-registration of existing members.Penang Art Society was burdened with problems such asincomplete member information; and it faced difficultiesin collecting membership fee due to the membersbeing scattered everywhere. This caused the society tosuffer shortage of funds when they intended to organiseactivities, forcing them to rely on external monetarysupport. Dato’ Koh realised it was difficult for the societyto grow with such obstacle, thus an amendment to thesociety’s rules and regulations was made on the AnnualGeneral Meeting on 26th April 1987, with the aim to solvesuch problem by re-registering all members and simplifyfund collection instead of going through the process ofcollecting members’ contribution on a monthly basis.

Five – Penang Art Society in Maturity (1994 – 2009)

Dato’ Koh Peng Teng resigned from his presidency dueto health reasons on 3rd April 1994 and the post wastaken over by another Koh - Dato’ Koh Wee Khian, oneof the founders of Penang Art Society, becoming the3rd president and one who has seen and witnessed thejourney the society had gone through.

15 years in the president’s post allowed Dato’ Koh WeeKhian to accomplish new achievements – a special issueof 50th anniversary magazine, 48th Annual Mid-AutumnCelebration, Classical Literature and Poetry ReadingCompetition, Penang High Schools’ Band Performanceand Art Exhibitions.

In 2003, Penang Art Society decided to amend anotherregulation during the Annual General Meeting – tohave 6 different groups of arts and 6 committees asrepresentatives, which included painting, calligraphy,poetry, music, and engraving. This is because Penang ArtSociety needed every division to progress steadily so itcould continue to maintain its committed influences anddedication in promoting arts. Needless to say, Penang ArtSociety has become an undivided part to Penang and its people.

However, Dato’ Koh Wee Khian, at the age of 95, decidedto pass the baton to Ch’ng Huck Theng in 2008. His finalwish was for Penang Art Society to move into a newpremise, one that can serve the initial objective right – aspace to collect and showcase artists’ works, a place for allmembers to share their passion for arts, and a foundation for Penang arts to bloom. He liked pre-war colonial housesbecause of their concrete structure that has lasted forhalf a century and how its crossed-cultural personality aswell as historic value have added up to resemble Penang Art Society’s unique identity. It is not only Dato’ Koh WeeKhian but Penang Art Society’s hope and expectation toosince the day it was established.

That same year, Penang Art Society hosted its 55th Anniversary Gala Evening which brought all artssupporters and artists under one roof to celebratethis very memorable day together for the first timein Penang Art Society’s history. Ch’ng Huck Thenghas made brand new changes to the celebrationwith invitations sent out to not only artists but also artcollectors and directors of museums and art galleries.His idea of making Penang Art Society’s objective asuccess was to gather as many from the related fieldas possible so they can exchange viewpoints andshare connections, which ultimately become theplatform for arts to flourish. There were quite a numberof renowned attendances that day including JasonYap who represented National Gallery of Victoria(Australia), Ong Zhen Min who represented National ArtGallery (Singapore), and Dr. Mohd Najib Ahmad Dawafrom National Art Gallery Malaysia. The celebrationwas also had a big exhibition running simultaneously,which received over 70 artists’ participation and aspecial publication made for celebrating this 55thanniversary which was distributed to all major artinstitutions throughout the world.

Six – Penang Art Society to Soar Higher (2009 - )

Penang Art Society has never changed its aim and goal inuniting artists, whether local or international, and to providethem with the stage to showcase their talents. Penang ArtSociety has also been persistence in the aim of cultivatingpublic’s art awareness. Previous president Dato’ Koh WeeKhian always believed in the changes and inspirations thatyoung generations may provide thus he entrusted Ch’ngHuck Theng with his high hopes of Ch’ng bringing PenangArt Society to the level that it has never achieved.

With confidence and determination, Ch’ng announced,“my aim is to make Penang Art Society important, not onlyin Malaysia but also to shine internationally” in his forewordsfor PenangArt@56 in 2009, the 56th Anniversary Magazine.Today, Penang Art Society has more than 400 members andthe number is still growing. With the steady growth in sizeand also the advantages these younger generations have,Penang Art Society is known as one of the largest and oldestsocieties in Malaysia.

While Malaysia Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib TunRazak announced the concept of 1Malaysia, PenangArt Society was also on the same march in movingtowards a new branding of national art and runningpromotions to shape the artists and art collectors sothey can be in a better position to advance. Ch’ngtook the initiative to compile artworks from themembers into a nicely printed book and launchedit during the promotion of another book titled ‘TheCollectors’ Collection’ in 2010. In 2011, Penang ArtSociety conducted an exhibition showing traditionalChinese ink painting and published ‘The Journeyof Ink’; while a photography exhibition called ‘TheThree Generations of Photography in Malaysia’,which showcased the photographs by differentphotographers of generations, took place in 2012.

What a marvellous journey Penang Art Society hashad since pre-war until a fruitful today!