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JUST showing your artwork to another person is already considered an act of politicking.’

Art critic and writer Hasmi Hashim said people in the arts had direct involvement in politics as there was no artist who did not have his or her own political views.

“They must have that driving spirit because without it, no artist can deliver.

“The same goes for the politician,” he said during his lecture entitled ‘Politics in Art’ at the Tuanku Fauziah Museum and Gallery in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang recently.

Speaking to USM art students, Hasmi used the Oscar-winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ as an example to show how a film could send a strong political message.

“The political reality of this film, which tells of the harsh life of India’s squatter community, is clear.

“The film has got all the newspapers writing about it and people around the world commenting about it,” he said.

Hasmi said political artworks were becoming increasingly popular today unlike previously when artists were afraid to make political statements through their works.

“We all exist in some context of power, which either liberates us or shackles us.

“In our local context, most artworks follow the direction of those in power.

“It is very rare to find a critical piece of work in Malaysia,” he said.

Hasmi argued that both freedom and direction were important in art creation.

When asked by students how much freedom should be given to artists without causing potential anarchy, he said freedom must be given based on laws that allowed creativity.

“Yes, Malaysia is a freer country if compared to others, but it does not mean artists are free to create and make public anything they want.

“There are policies that discourage artists from expressing freely on certain issues through their works.

“There must be a certain degree of freedom but I am not saying our artists should all be free to draw nude pictures,” he said.

Hasmi also encouraged students to think and look into possibilities for reviewing the National Culture Policy in order to give more freedom to artists and diversify Malaysian artwork.

There was also an amusing discussion on the possibility of the menacing Mat Rempit becoming part of Malaysian culture itself, just like graffiti has become an accepted form of art in today’s society with artists commissioned to draw and display their creativity in the public domain.

Concerning graffiti, Hasmi addressed the issue of differentiating art from van- dalism.

“Artists must know the difference between public space and private property.

“If you draw your graffiti on private pro- perty, that is vandalism.

“If you draw graffiti on public property, make sure your art is nice and presentable,” he said.

Hasmi said graffiti was not part of Malaysian culture but its popularity among some youngsters today could be due to all kinds of reasons.

“The graffiti we see may be a reflection of social and economic issues affecting its artists who see the art form as a way of expression,” he added.

The lecture was presented by the Central Pillar (Sri Tiang) series. - The Star