작품 상세

In lesser economically sustaining rural areas and in the earlier years, rumbia (sago) was a cheaper substitute to rice, what more to think of superfood like quinoa. Sago extracted from tropical palms like Metroxylon sagu is rich in carbs and less nutritious, but it keeps the hunger pangs away especially for the farmers and fishermen though in recent years, sago is marketed as sago pearls in the trending bubble tea, while it is still popular in making all sorts of pudding desserts. The better varieties of rice are reserved for sale for better income, while sago is sometimes used as a staple daily diet. The painting shows the lesser hierarchy of sago in the food chain, although it is possibly the main food staple on the table for the family in East Malaysia where Awang Damit Ahmad originated. Thus, it was an anatomy of hardship in Awang Damit's growing-up years in the poverty-stricken village of Kuala Penyu in Sabah, although perversely it was something the farmers and fishermen were grateful to, for providing nourishment substitute. Whatever the risks and toil taken on the fields and in harvesting marine life from the sea, it is the middle-man who reaps the real profits. It took a long time before collectors caught on to Awang Damit Ahmad's highly symbolic autobiographical works starting with his Essence Of Culture series (E.O.C. or Intipati Budaya, 1985-1995), on the interdependence and conflicts between Man and Nature. The key message from the E.O.C. series is to overcome challenges, work hard and make an honest living. How he transitioned from farmer / fisherman and a Telekom technician, to take up art at a relatively late age of 27, and then became an artist and art academician. His tutelage at the Mara Institute of Technology, where he topped his class, and his Masters at the Catholic University in Washington, and retiring as Associate Professor at ITM in May 2011. His accolades: the prestigious Major Award in Salon Malaysia III, the Minor Award in the Bakat Muda Sezaman (1984) and 2nd Prize in the Malaysian Bank Association art competition (1988), and the Gold Award in the Ecorea Jeonbuk Biennale and the Olympic Fine Art in London, both in 2012. He was in the elite Malaysian delegation in the Contemporary Paintings of Malaysia exhibition at the Asia-Pacific Museum in Pasadena in 1988. Today, Awang Damit is among the top 3 living artists in Malaysia.