This is also the start of the Malaysian Photobook Archive, an online record of photobooks across the country. With the aim to promote the love for photobooks, this event is in collaboration with the Photobookclub Kuala Lumpur PBKL , a photobook appreciation group. Zontiga: What was the thought process behind organising and bringing to life the Malaysian Photobook Exhibition? In May , I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Lau Zontiga for the Malaysia Photobook Grant. We immediately discussed an opportunity to collaborate and catalogue some of the existing Malaysian photobooks that are currently in our collection.
In the long run of this project, Zontiga and PBKL will try to gather as much information on Malaysia Photobook as possible so that we can see the whole timeline of when and where it began, hence the Malaysia Photobook Archive was created. On the etnography side of it, we would love to see visually from the beginning of Malaysian photography and how the visual literature evolves from time to time.
Which is your favourite book from the MPE collection and why? To be honest, I would say all of them, as the books in the collections have their own variety of voices and perspectives on how they present the visual.
This photobook is about five performing arts that are dying in Kelantan. The opportunity present here is to be able to witness a passionate photographer documenting passionate artists during their rituals and performance. The series puts you in the front row of the performing arts, and the photographs and write-ups that accompany you through the books are simply melancholy and full of soul.
The other one is Hafiz Hamzah's Jalan Gerimbun, which is a collection of photographs of his subconscious encounters. It took a while to understand those images, but if you spend your time well enough, the feelings of goosebumps will accompany you through the images. The images are something that you can relate to while you are alone walking somewhere, and sometimes the feelings of being watched suddenly appear and you will focus on one particular area.
