When the National Art Gallery offered visuals of artwork that were being exhibited as backdrop for Bernama TV bulletins, I thought it was a brilliant idea.
Not only was it good for inter-agency cooperation but helps promote arts to a wider audience.
“You can show the different paintings every day,” said its director-general Dr Mohamed Najib Ahmad Dawa, himself a famed batik artist.
He was referring to the ‘Mosaics of Malaysia’ exhibition that showcases the wide-ranging work of China’s renowed artist Zhang Zhou.
The exhibition to commemorate 35 years of friendly relations between Malaysia and China opened on June 13 and will run until Aug 31. Commissioned by a Malaysian collector, the artist took six years to produce the 100 paintings on display.
Although the visuals could not be projected as the bulletin backdrop because of technicalities, they were prominently displayed during credit line at the end of the bulletins of all four languages – Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil.
More than being agencies under the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry, the National Art Gallery and Bernama are “neighbours” along Jalan Tun Razak -- the road becoming even more prominent as it is named after the second prime minister and father of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
Another ‘family’ agency in the neighbourhood is Istana Budaya which organizes the 'Laman Santai' programme on Saturday nights like this.
I discovered tonight that the programme, based on the concept of relaxing while being entertained, is quite a happening.
Family and friends gathered in a picnic-like atmosphere with a familiar face on Bernama TV commercials Ezlyn among the entertainers for this week.
A favourite conversation topic for the night was no doubt the slim 3-2 win of visiting Manchester United over Malaysia a few hours earlier.
Footnote: After cancelling their trip to Jakarta, Manchester United will play another match against the Malaysian selection on Monday
