Publication: The Evolution Of Modern Ink Painting In Malaysia And Singapore (1950s–2020): Tradition, Diaspora, And Identity
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Date
2025-09
Authors
Cui, Yi
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Abstract
This dissertation examines the evolution of modern ink painting in Malaysia and Singapore from the 1950s to 2020, focusing on how Chinese diaspora artists and local Chinese artists reinterpreted traditional ink practices in response to Southeast Asian cultural contexts and under the influence of Western modernist aesthetics. It addresses the marginalisation of this regional artistic development in art historical dis-course and positions modern ink painting in Malaysia and Singapore as a significant form of artistic practice. The research follows a chronological structure across three key phases marked by stylistic and socio-political change. The first phase (1950s–1965) explores how Nanyang pioneer artists integrated Chinese brushwork with trop-ical subject matter and compositional strategies drawn from European modernism. The second phase (1965–2000) investigates how both Nanyang pioneers and second-gen-eration artists engaged with abstraction, symbolism, and personal experimentation in response to post-independence nation-building and evolving regional modernist ideo-logies. The third phase (2000–2020) examines the transition toward globalised and transnational ink art approaches.
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Keywords
Evolution Of Modern Ink Painting , Malaysia And Singapore (1950s–2020) , Tradition , Diaspora , And Identity