KUCHING: Award‐winning sape songstress, Alena Murang is putting the finishing touches on her first art show, entitled, ‘Colours of the Highlands’ at Hoan Gallery, La Promenade Mall, here.
At a press conference here yesterday, Alena described the exhibition which would open this Saturday (Mac 18) as a joyous reclamation of Kelabit heritage through memory.
More than 50 pieces will be on display including figure studies from the early 2010s, large portrait canvases completed in 2018 and pieces featuring traditional Kelabit swirls called ‘arit’.
Alena weaves what she calls contemporary Kelabit stories onto her canvases and the results are beautiful, faithful renditions of Sarawakian culture.
Her “Colours of the Highlands” exhibition will feature more than 50 never-seen-before artworks which contain watercolour, acrylic paint, gold leaf, chalk and even ashes from burnt down longhouses. Her art pieces range from banknote size to three metres wide.
“This is my first art exhibition and I will feature pieces that I have been working on for over a decade,” Alena told reporters.
All works. ranging from RM3,000 to more than RM25,000, are for sale. Alena, working with Hoan, has created a catalogue.
For the Kelabit musician, her talent for painting was encouraged by her mother who saw her prowess for the arts as a child.
After leaving her corporate job in 2013, Alena pursued a Visual Arts Certificate at the LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore before going on to participate in group exhibitions in Taiwan, Kuala Lumpur and Kuching.
In between music and other ventures, Alena has also been quietly taking private commissions.
Similarly, Hoan said it was the Gallery’s dream to see Sarawakian artists flourish on the national and international scene.
”I think Alena’s show will prove to be one of the most impressive openers of any Malaysian artist for some time to come. Certainly, it’ll be remembered as one of the best art shows in Sarawak of recent memory,” Hoan added.
Several large works were previewed to the media. A seven‐foot piece called “The Storyteller” was an immediate attention grabber.
