O H A I Z I

Fivust’s artwork

World Class Shopping Destination strategically located in the Senayan area, one of Senayan City strengths are a balanced tenancy mix and fitted with world class tenants such as GUCCI, Salvatore Ferragamo, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent Paris, TODS Furla, etc. Facilities that Senayan City offered are shuttle bus, bicycle parking, ladies parking, valet parking, kids bathroom, baby stroller, deposit room, wheel chair, disabled restroom, executive musholla, nursery room, drivers room, first aid clinic, customer relations service, customer care hotline, doorman, free wi-fi and many more. There is an event held in the Senayan city from the Street Dealin festival that is on 14 december 2019. The Graffiti Party is involved and participates from various other countries such as Anacathie (Singapura), Cracko (Myanmar), Semor (Jerman) and a lot more. The volunteers from Indonesia itself are Aisix, Beat, and Crack. The festival is not only exhibits for graffiti but also the event include Street Beat, Nazar and other interesting events. A mixed-use development located in Senayan area, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. During the Street Dealin' Festival, on day 4, whereas the most peak of the event is Big Bang Street Dealin' 12 located at The Space, Senayan City. The event is packed with many people from various communities, not only just the graffiti communities in general. The Big Bang Street Dealin' 12 exhibits all sorts of exhibitions such as ‘Canstop’ art exhibition that showcase the invited participant works, having a community bazaar selling merchandise of their artwork, trending foods and drinks, Graffiti Party and showcase.

The Canstop art exhibition

Can’s gallery is a place that held a group art exhibitions by emerging & established Indonesian artists located at Jakarta, Indonesia. The exhibition is called, ‘All Small Things Exhibition.’ The exhibition was arranged on the first floor of the building. Where the gallery exhibits an art work from dynamic compilation of artists from fine art to graffiti artists. The gallery showcases artist artwork from their perspective on daily issues and I was undoubtedly inspired by looking at how dedicated they are on their art work and how they can interpret daily issues into their art work.

According to my way of thinking, interpretation of art refers to the assigning of significance to a piece. The issue to which people sometimes disagree is whether the intention of the artist is important to the understanding of the piece. I came to the event during the night time with my group of graffiti friends as we want to witness the exhibition at Can’s gallery. At the time of exhibition, the building is fully packed with the Indonesian locals and also international that came just for the successful exhibition. Not only the inside of the building is packed with people from art communities, art lovers and from different communities as well but I've seen that outside the building also packed with local people hangout and having a fun time. There is no fee for the entrance of the building, but there is a limit for people to come in at the same time. A considerable number of approximately 80 people can enter the building after approximately 80 people leave the building with a distance of less than a meter apart from each other.

At the exhibition, there are few paintings that inspired me personally. One of the paintings is from Fivust, a local Indonesian artist. Fivust art that exhibit in the Can’s gallery shown is a mixed medium and media on wood. The artwork is using wood and many vibrant colours such as red, black, white and purple with a message written ‘it's not about winning the game.’ Personally, I agree with the message. Doing art is not about winning the game but for me art is the process itself. How we interpret the art into appreciating our love for arts or massage for other people to see.

My artwork with team mate

At the near end of 2019, In Indonesia, host an event namely,‘Street Dealin 12 Festival’ where the event is hosted by Gardu House and lasts for 5 days, from 11-15 December 2019. The event is situated in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta.A number of invited artists more than 40 artists have participated in the event ranging from inside Indonesia and other countries such as from Malaysia and Singapore. For instance, Semor (Germany), NILone (China), Waris MSV (Thailand), Anacathie (Singapura), Daos501 (Vietnam), Nick (Indonesia), F21st (Indonesia), Dashes (Indonesia) and many more.On day 1, the artists are given a brief talk for all the line up, colleagues and the media. After that they are shown around the city and the artists can meet up with other artists from another country to exchange thoughts and to have fun collaborating arts. By the end of the day, those artists are presented a street show to entertain the peoples.On the 2nd and 3rd day, filled with ‘By your run camp project’. The artists are invited to make a mural on the wall of the dense villages in Kebayoran Lama. The people in the villages are welcoming the artists with some delicious fried food. The wall is occupied with pleasant colour and nice massage. This could make the negative image of graffiti to disappear and tighten the relationship with local communities. One of the presenter artist stated that by having the project, they can communicate with the public or in this case, the locals in the village as they were curious, especially little children looking at the murals that might inspire them to be a painter one day. The artist thought that this a fun project and they are happy to be invited to do the project and on the other hand, the benefits of the project is to spread awareness for the village. And on day 4, whereas the peak of the event is Big Bang Street Dealin 12 located at The Space, Senayan City. The event is packed with many people from various communities, not only just the graffiti communities in general. The Big Bang Street Dealin 12 exhibits all sorts of exhibitions such as ‘Canstop’ art exhibition , having a community bazaar, Graffiti Party and showcase.By attending this Street Dealin festival is proof that the Graffiti Community is stronger when together with the military valued spirit, Creative and fraternal values. After the event, all the story, laugh and memories will forever engrave in people’s minds. The festival will make the artist want to participate in the next event. This group gathering graffiti community has started since 2011.

Graff Jam 2020, is a 2 days event that is hosted by Guerrilla Artchitects on 26 and 27 september 2020. The event is open to the public to see talented local artists doing some live painting. A official selection of local artists from a distinct variety of background fields, ranging from fine artists to graffiti artist painting one large-scale mural wall. The Graff jam is strategically located at Unit 39, Ground Floor, Block B, Melabau Complex, Simpang 49, Jalan Serusop, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, BE 2313. I was one of the lines up for the organized event. Graff Jam 2020 was being sponsored with a few spray cans from Diton king. Which is perfect for painting on wall. Brunei is blessed to have so many talented and flexible graffiti artists in their art. Some of these artists are in the force, graphic designers, fashion designers, chef, corporate, teaching but today we celebrate their art in Mural or Wall Painting. On the first day, I’ve arrived a bit early then rest, meanwhile waiting for all the invited artists to come there I do some sketching on my sketch book where we called ‘Black Book’ in art communities and it is part of our art culture to exchange our book for them to sketch.

We were told to come early by 2 pm and after everyone arrived. We were given a short brief about the event by Muhammad 'Ariff bin Haji Suhaimi , the owner of Guerrilla Artchitects. The event was open to the public at 3 pm and there was many food provided by Guerrilla Artchitects. We were asked to eat the food provided before starting to paint on a few objects such as movable, on metal panels and an old not-used bus. Not only the place is filled with amazing food, but the event is also filled with lively music so that people will enjoy the atmosphere. At the event, we can eat the food again and again as there are frequently. Each of the artists that paint during the event has a distinctive kind of style and different perception. I saw there are some photographers that took pictures of our works and some media also came to the event. Some of the artists and the people who came at the event took a day off from their jobs just for the event. On second day, some of the artists made an effort to come early in the morning with spirit and enthusiasm to finish off their master piece that they left yesterday. Some of the art works took the artist until night to finish the art work. On the night of the event the last day, we celebrated it by eating all kinds of delicious food such as pizza, sushi, sandwiches and drinks. Overall, the event brings back great memories to be kept.

Art plays a vital role in defining a county's identity, but visits to galleries often help soothing your mind. You can take a few snaps to Instagram or exploring a gallery if you have ideal time. However, with the rise of art tours, art lovers are becoming more commonplace.

World map painting by Moi Hassan (My teammate)

THIS IS MY TOP THREE PLACES TO VISIT IN THE FUTURE

1. THE VATICAN MUSEUMS

 The Vatican Museums are the Vatican City Museums of Public Art and Sculpture. The established museums have nearly 70,000 works, 20,000 of which are on display and currently employ 640 excellent staff in 40 various divisions.

2. POST-BERLIN WALL

The area is an unquestionable venue for the arts in Europe, hundreds of galleries and several street art exhibition. In fact, they even has its own art and antiquities district called Museum Island, which houses five different museums.

3. MEETING OF STYLE

Sherlock Holmes painting.

Sherlock Holmes is one of an interesting person from an author that derived from Britain in fictional story telling. He is admired for his excellent skills at discovering and solving crimes and investigation. He often refers to himself as a detective of consult. He’s known for his proficiency for deduction, observation, logical reasoning and forensic science. Whenever he is being employed for varieties of clients which includes Scotland Yard. This adaptation of an image I found online of the movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Sherlock Holmes so he can be better portrayed by him where he solves crimes and mystery.

The choice of why this character is being used is that he has a certain facial structure that shows he is an excellent movie actor, remembered for how he acts as the character in order to have an impact for good story telling. Its really interesting that I found this picture of British actor Benedict Cumberbatch because it’s a qualitative image that it is a close up picture of him as Mr.Sherlock Holmes the character. More reasons why I understand that I wanted to use this story character is because he is already a good source of identity because he is widely known for being in good movies and made very interesting news in the media for spreading his talent shown in many cinemas.

The movie actor caught my attention that I wanted to explore more of why he’s such a good actor as he demonstrates very movie accurate scenes that people look to watch in other movies in cinema. The performance of his movie is very nice and narrative like a real detective it does not allow people to leave the cinema because he really does capture the attention of the audiences.

Finished painting.

A group photo of us with the owner of the shop.

While studying at UBD me and my friend Aziwan took part time job cause we were shortage of money as we both have to pay a lot for our art costs. We did mural painting under Larvsh Concept during our semester break. This mural project was handle and design by Moi Hassan of Larvsh Concept for Fanatic Kids Playcafe in Kg Pandan 5, Kuala Belait. The first play cafe to be opened in Kuala Belait and we were glad to be part of the project as a painter. There were 5 painters who involves in this mural project and it took us 3 days to complete it. Going back and forth from Bandar to Kuala Belait is tiring as we be doing painting from morning until night. Me and Aziwan decided to stay in Kuala Belait, luckily Aziwan’s uncle live in Belait and he let us stay at his place. Thanks to Aziwan’s uncle for the hospitality throughout our stays for the mural project under Larvsh Concept.

Work in progress photo.

We painted to big walls for Fanatic Kids Playcafe. The measurement of the first wall which is the animal area was 292.7sq ft. The second wall measurement area for the waterfall was 27.2sq ft. The big wall took us 3 days to completely finish it. While the other wall took us a day to finish it up. It was fun and we gain a lot of experience from Larvsh. We both learn how to mix colors using three primary colors to make multiple pastel colors, labeling and coding the color paints and interacting with other artists as well Iman and Aklil.

The Budiman exhibition held by Guerilla Artchitects at Melabau Complex is an art exhibition reminiscing the mascot of Brunei during the Sea Games in 1999. Awang Budiman was Brunei famous icon up until now. 'The Budiman' art exhibition aim to unleash the artist's creativity and perspective on the Budiman's icon with fresh looks and in individual style. The artwork ranging from works of art in painting medium, miniature sculpture and merchandise from various artists and students who have participated in the exhibition.

A student interviewed by RTB.

A group photo of participants.

I was one of the artist involve in preparing of this exhibition and also exhibit my work there. It took us 3 days to prepare the exhibition and hang up the artworks. I was part of Guerilla Artchitects member and it is a must for us to showcase our talents related to the theme. It took me few weeks to complete my design before the showcase. My artwork titled ''The Oddverse" is a combination of Mickey Mouse and Awang Budiman together which portrayed my childhood and adolescence and heavily influenced by the New York-based artist, Brian Donelly who is also known as Kaws. The first thing that ceme into my mind on Awang Budiman is about how patriotism the iconic is. Awang Budiman  represents the national philosophy of Brunei Melayu Islam Beraja which most of us are aware of. During the entire exhibiton, visitors would remember the Awang Budiman as the mascot during the historic moment of Brunei SEA Games in 1999. This is to celebrate that Awang Budiman as part of Bruneien hearts that we would not want to forget.

Here is my artwork for the Budiman Exhibition.

The Billionth Barrel landmark turned into a hotspot in Kuala Belait. I just had outstanding amongst other end of the week in Brunei! Had the superb occasion to be a piece of the Billionth Barrel Landmark Live Art Event on 11th until 13th October 2019 close by 30 different artists as a component of BSP's 90th Commemoration as the artist worked day and night, on its windbreakers, transforming the landmark into an outside art exhibition. The specialists, the two veterans and youth were welcomed by BSP with the help from the branch of Culture and Expressions under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. The artists formally revealed their manifestations to the Visitor of Honor, Yang Berhormat Significant General (R) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan receptacle Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Every one of us got a reference photograph from BSP's over a wide span of time and we had two days to decipher them onto the wall. Individuals from the general population, including individual, families and BSP staffs watched the event beginning to end.

I was given a task by BSP to draw a digital drawing of Rasau onshore field, with this reference from Shell BSP. Historically, Rasau was one of the first stops at Kuala Belait River upstream toward the former administrative capital of Kuala Balai. It's further established inland from the mouth of the Belait River and the Kuala Belait for pirate protection. The first discovery of commercial hydrocarbons in Rasau in 1979 and production started in 1983.

Here’s my initial digital illustrator of Rasau Onshore Field. However, this digital drawing got rejected because the authorities did not satisfy with my initial ideas and another reason is because the choice of colour is too dark.

Here’s my accepted drawing of Rasam Onshore Field on the wall, which took me two days to finished it using aerosol.

I got the occasion to work close by brilliant and extraordinarily capable individuals, made incredible companions and associates with them. A tremendous ardent and true congrats to all the artists who buckled down and with genuine enthusiasm and devotion and to the coordinators and allies of this enormous event. I'd never thought I'd get the opportunity to accomplish something so stunning and even be a part of historic moment. I'm always inconceivably thankful for this experience, something I will always remember. A few of us even got met by our local news. The whole art installation is long lasting and is available to the public to see, both local and international. On the off chance that you actually want to look at some slick work while having a decent walk, this is the spot to go, recommended list of things to visit!.

We will paint you an image if you've missed the 'Write This' Graffiti Competition. Everything you might smell was a wonderful air paint. The atmosphere was incredible, creative and awesome. The end result is really something special that you can't see every day – pure great works of art. Write this 2016, the competition for graffiti arts, organized by STAIN, a company that has been set up the platform for those with interest in graffiti and street art, has been held in the Skatedium Skate Park (Taman Budiman), at Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium. On a sunny day, The Deputy Minister of Development Dato Paduka Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar was among those present at the event. However, more than twenty local artists along with Budi01, Drips, Duke, Dust2, Hazim, Jest2, Mags, Nerdink, Nycer, P-Nuts, Sketch01, Sycktwo, Trank, Twen and Zaku and a bunch of neighboring country participated in the competition including Dean.R, Miyo, Mytho and Twentyfifth which mainly from Malaysia. The contestants were judged by foreign graffiti artists Clog02 (Singapore) and Katun (Malaysia), along with local graffiti artists Tag'One and Tycal. Contestants were judged based on their style, originality, creativity, colour, letter training and spray painting techniques. In addition, to the aspiring talents, international artists from Singapore, the world-renowned Singapore, Clog Two, who has been known for 15 years and Malaysian international artists — Katun recognized in Washington DC, Seoul, Dubai and Indonesia in particular.

One of the artwork by Katun (Malaysian artist).

Artists who involves in the competition were grouped together to compete within each group. There were eight participants advancing to the individual rounds. Those who succeed to the individual rounds have to compete among themselves until only four artsts were left to compete in the semi finals and finals. During the event, they were visited by some local medias and reporter for newspaper and they interviewed some of few local artistes regarding the event. Not only that, there was also Live Paint demo by four judges: Tag'One and Tycal from Brunei, Clog Two from Singapore and Katun from Malaysia. After the demonstration, they announced the winner of the 'Write This' is Mad Nycer from Brunei who took home the trophy for first place along with a smartphone sponsored by Progresif.

To some viewers and society would think urban graffiti artists are rebels but these days they're increasingly being given more credit for being artists of our time. Looking abroad at other country like Malaysia in Gearge Town, Penang it has been a tourist hotspot for their street art. Many artists had a very hard time and lack of space to showcase their talent and creativity. Some street art artist were given spot in George Town, Penang to paint the wall for tourist attraction. It is one of the must-see places in South East Asia for a visit and see the brilliant ideas of street artists, hidden alleyes and vintage buildings are now filled with vibrant and lively murals. 

Last few Sundays, I voluntarily participated in the City Sketch Walk with Osman Mohammad, organized by Creative Space, at Create the corner, Bandar Seri Begawan. I arrived at Pusat Belia at the early morning and parked my car there. I felt that the night before I arrived at the intended destination I was well prepared. I had been planning to take some photographs and videos with my camera but I forgot to take my memory card. Problem solved, I had to use a mobile phone device to record the event. Thank you, Sony! Luckily, it gave a pleasant quality closer to the DSLR. We were told to gather at The Corner for our meeting point. During the walk, I met few veterans, new artists and my classmates and lecturer too. I was glad I met them during the City Sketch Walk. Before we began, Osman had briefed us about the agenda of the event and which spots are we going to have a live sketch. We walked along the road of Jalan Sultan where the Burger King is located for our first live sketch drawing. For my first sketch I drew a quickie sketch of DeCeria Cafe building which is the opposite of Burger King. Then, after 30 mins, we were instructed to move to another location which is at Jalan Robert for our second live sketch drawing. I was fascinated by the Yayasan building because of the architecture structure are the unique combination of sultanate vibe and nature,therefore, I decided to draw within the time given. Osman Mohammad conducted art critique at the end of the session focused on enhancing our live sketches. Eventually, we got some decent food and lemonade mint water to quench our thirst. I respect and admire how Creative Space are eagerly pushing and doing for willingly giving a exclusive platform and home to the hidden treasures of our beloved country. Many of us are aware art is not always tangible and hard to be valued but one thing for sure, art gives us hope, meaning and identity.

Eco Ponies Garden

Artist Outing with creative young artists from Pusat Tingkatan Enam Meragang and veteran artist Pengiran Ruslan at Eco Ponies Garden, hosted by Siti Kaprawi. Eco Ponies Garden is a homestay village located in Lamunin, Tutong district, about sixty minutes drive from Brunei-Muara district. Eco Ponies Garden is a homestay village. The cottage occupies a 2-storied house, surrounded by trees houses built of recyclable materials, on two acres of community. They also design the pathways using recycle palletes woods for visitors to walk on and a public garden with over twenty different herbs.

When we arrived to the destination, we were guided by our hosted, Siti Kaprawi for sightseeing the place and then we were served with delicious homemade meals cooked by Siti Kaprawi. They served us drink of herbal blue pea flower in combination with honey. As I sipped on one of the best herbal teas, I’ve ever tasted in my life. The aroma of the drink gave me the best therapy of mind. I could see why this small farm house nestled in the jungles of Tutong had become a magnet for international visitors from all over the world.

Observation drawing based on live sketch

We were given our free time to roam around for places to sketch before we gather together in group. While doing the live sketches, we were visited by the RTB, and they interviewed few of our local artists regarding the activities we did in Ecoponies. We took around one hour to finish eight live sketches. I had a really good time having conversations with the young new artists from Pusat Tingkatan Enam Meragang on sharing the experiences I had during my A-levels. 

We ended the trip with a delicious brunch of homemade cooked by our host. I genuinely liked the Chicken Rice with eggplant sambal and can literally still smell the aroma of it. There was blue rice, using ingredients such as the blue pea flower (which normally food colorings are used as substitutes). Apart from that, our host served us Vegetable Spring Roll as part of the dessert. When we were about to leave the place, we were fortunate to witnessed Siti Kaprawi demonstration on cooking her delicacy foods.

PRE-INTRODUCTION

WELCOME TO OHAIZI’S FIRST ART VENTURES STORY.

His actual name is Azim, and he can be addressed as Ohaizi, which derived from the words “Oh, Hai Zim”. The term ‘Hai’ is usually being used by Malays for greeting before starting a conversation, which typically originates from the word 'hello’ in English language.

He has been naturally interested in arts since his childhood. Ever since he became aware of his friend’s activities in the arts’ movement. He started to realise he needs to do something about it. At the start, he learned to dance on his own by watching tutorials, dance films and observing through other people. He followed the steps and practiced by himself. He had been dancing for years and making his own choreography. He started to get recognized by a few dance groups and offered to join in one of the well-known local dance groups for public performance but unfortunately, since his minor injuries happened, he had been thinking of doing something more doable with his current situation. He bought himself a DSLR and started to explore in videography and photography fields. At the same moment, he worked on his art slowly only during his leisure time. 

After an unfortunate thing had happened a few years ago, his house was robbed and they took all his precious items including his camera where he placed it in his room while he was in school. He was distressed by it when he instantly found out his camera was stolen. Ever since that incident, He had been isolated himself in the room. One day, he was sitting on his bedroom floor without knowing what to do next and suddenly he found his unfinished painting in the corner. He started thinking about completing the painting. This is how his journey began. Throughout the years, he has been doing arts as a passion and promptly capturing the extraordinary beauty of his social surroundings for the sake of the learning processes.

These stories are not just about painting an art piece in general. However, arts in his point of view is more than just canvas and brushes. Arts have various types of human activities to convey the individual creative, imaginative thoughts or even technical abilities, aimed primarily at their beauty or emotional energy within themselves.