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Arts and sciences. These two worlds are usually like water and oil, never able to fully combine or to work together. But NYAWA ’19 has proven everyone wrong. This year I was given the honour of being one of the esteemed Jury for NYAWA ’19, and with food as the theme of the exhibition, I knew this would be a very interesting subject that would appeal to all of us.
As an artist, I approach and scrutinise each art work, or ‘artefact’ from the artistic point of view, and wonder about how the general public would accept it. It gives me great pleasure to see that art can be an effective tool to educate people on subjects that are usually regarded as intimidating or are perceived as only for the learned. I am so in awe of this initiative and its purpose. Scientists, researchers and lecturers from various faculties in UPM have come up with a way to share their vast knowledge about nature from their laborious research, into meaningful and beautiful art pieces, proving once and for all, that art is not limited only to artists in the fine arts world. Art is for everyone and anyone who wants to learn and embrace it. It is a great method to encourage creative and lateral thinking and is applicable in many various fields.
The artefacts presented are unique, provocative and informative. Even though there were a few artefacts that needed touching up and editing, it was still a great effort considering that their creators did not have experience in the arts. I also observed how exciting this was for the faculty as well. How they got to tap into their creative side and were able to express themselves in a different form, totally out of their comfort zone and yet still had fun. Passion, love and hard work truly reflected in their artefacts. I think this method of expression should be implemented at schools and universities. It is a good way to stimulate and encourage students to think out of the box. And there should be more initiatives like this to arouse interest among the people and also to encourage our nation’s art world to be more open and inclusive towards different people from different backgrounds to do art and be recognised as artists. I am looking forward to next year’s theme and exhibition. I am positive that this would be a continuous event that would excite everyone and make great waves in our art world.
Updated:: 19/11/2021 [mariatulqabtiah]
