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Pangrok Sulap / Est. 2010, Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia / Sabah tanah air-ku 2017 / Woodcut, offset ink on block-out blind, ed. 5/10 /Diptych: 414.5 x 300cm; 411 x 298.3cm / Purchased 2017 with funds from Ashby Utting through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists
Pangrok SulapSabah tanah air-ku 2017
Not Currently on Display
The title of Pangrok Sulap’s large-scale diptych in APT9 translates as ‘Sabah, my homeland’. The work details the realities and aspirations of a region frequently marginalised within Malaysia and whose natural resources are regularly exploited.
The two panels present contrasting visions of Sabah. The first is the dream of an autonomous state: bright and open, with figures appearing in a landscape featuring Mount Kinabalu (Malaysia’s highest mountain and a World Heritage Site), together with the state anthem’s final line, ‘Sabah Negeri Merdeka’ (‘Sabah independent state’). The second panel is thematically darker — it addresses the disappointment regarding the treatment of the region’s land and people, as well as concerns over corruption, illegal logging, persistent flooding and migration issues.
A collective based in Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, Pangrok Sulap consists of artists, musicians and social activists dedicated to empowering rural communities through art. ‘Pangrok’ means ‘punk rock’, while ‘sulap’ is a hut used as a resting place by farmers, and their slogan is ‘Jangan Beli, Bikin Sendiri’ (‘Don’t buy, do it yourself’). The group began woodcut printing in 2012, making banners and posters to raise awareness about social and environmental issues in Borneo’s regional communities. Today, they address issues of importance to the people of Sabah — from illegal logging to official corruption.