The Bakat Muda Sezaman (Young Contemporaries Award) exhibition runs till September 30, 2019, in Kuala Lumpur's National Art Gallery.
Unfortunately, not all has been smooth-sailing.
On August 23, one Malaysian citizen by the name of Yiwen Bettyleong wrote a lengthy post about the behaviour of certain gallery visitors.
Installations shouldn't be touched
In order to take photos with the installations, some Instagrammers touched, and even sat on the art works.
This visitor removed an artwork from the wall in order to pose with it:
Another visitor who sat on the artwork received an explanation that the work was not meant to be interactive.
According to the commenter, other visitors who later sat on it eventually broke it, causing the exhibition to be removed early.
In response, the Instagrammer replied that she had "no idea", and thought that the exhibition was made for photo-taking.
The commenter then gently told her that interactive art pieces will be clearly stated as such.
Photos of the destroyed exhibition also surfaced on Twitter:
This artwork at Balai Seni's Bakat Muda Sezaman made me excited and anxious when I first saw it a few weeks ago. Wanted to go again tomorrow to see it and get the feel of it again. But my friend sent me this photo that the mirror broke. We really don't deserve nice things kan pic.twitter.com/uUDIspRHmU
— shufitri (@shufitri) August 15, 2019
In case you can't see:
Dos and don'ts
Besides sharing the screenshots, Leong also provided some dos and don'ts when one visits a gallery.
Artworks are not supposed to be touched, as many of them are fragile.
For example, Leong wrote, some materials might get attached to the skin, thus affecting the painting/artwork.
For art that can be touched, a clear indication would be provided by the artist, along with a descriptive note on how visitors should interact with the art.
Leong also advised against letting people roam free in the gallery, and suggested visitors stay silent while enjoying the art.
Original post here:
Top image via Yiwen Bettyleong/Facebook and @shufitri on TwitterIf you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.