| Ishan Ibrahim |
THE Spectacle 2018: Eminent Art exhibition was launched yesterday at the Chancellor Hall Art Gallery of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).
The exhibition, officially opened by guest of honour Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Ayub Sadiq @ Lin Naing, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) of UBD, showcases 70 art exhibits of 70 final year Art and Creative Technology (ACT) students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
The artworks are part of the students’ arts and design capstone project, a core module required for their graduation.
The event kicked off with Haji Ahmad Najib bin Haji Ali Hassan, Director of the Spectacle 2018 committee, delivering a welcoming address, followed by a speech from Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Ayub Sadiq.
In his speech, Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Ayub Sadiq lauded the students for their efforts in completing their projects and bringing the exhibition into reality, praising their qualities of leadership, problem-solving and communication skills, entrepreneurial acumen, creativity and innovation.
The event, he said, represents a valuable learning experience for the students and will be an important part of their portfolio when they decide to further their education or in their pursuit of employment in the creative industry in the future.
“The cultural and creative industries are key areas in boosting our tourism sector, as the nation can certainly benefit by having art galleries and staging cultural festivals and other related events,” he added.
Spectacle 2018: Eminent Art is the sixth graduation exhibition organised under the FASS’s ACT programme.
The programme is structured in such a way that students are given the flexibility to focus on almost any type of medium or technology to creatively express their ideas.
A capstone project provides students with the opportunity to do more in-depth, specialised study on a particular medium (for example computer graphics or weaving) so that they can increase their professional skills in their chosen art.
Staged in the university’s most iconic building, the large-scale exhibition offers the Bachelor of Arts students a valuable opportunity to showcase the fruits of their creative talents to the public and industry players.
The themes in the students’ works range from personal struggles and self-improvement to social and cultural issues both in Brunei and abroad, and formal realistic Western and Islamic art genres, all interwoven smoothly with one another to create a stunning visual art experience.
Other themes include nature preservation, animal protection, family values, nostalgia, traditional crafts, abstract expression, cultural diversity, and imaginative animated video.
The concepts are told through well-executed original paintings, murals, sculptures, photographs, photomontages, short films, computer graphics, animated videos, product designs, interactive artworks and mixed-media installations, some of which have been created using furniture and recycled or repurposed discarded materials.
The exhibition will run until May 14, and is open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Thursday and Saturday, and closed on Friday and Sunday. Admission is free.
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