The criss-cross motif of the Foster-designed Ilham Tower, Malaysia’s seventh tallest building, is a distinctive part of the KL skyline. It’s one of the more architecturally interesting skyscrapers here, containing offices, serviced apartments, a hotel, a bar, and a small free gallery.
That gallery is spread over two floors, and has two spaces for exhibitions which change every four months or so. When we went, sadly one was closed for renewal, but the other was open.
That was Fuad’s Skola Gambar Enrique de Malacca. Ahmad Fuad Osman is one of the driving forces behind Malaysian contemporary art, and here he is highlighting the life of Magellan’s slave translator Henrique, taken from Malacca aged 14.
Henrique accompanied Magellan on his journeys, and has a reasonable claim to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe, but no evidence exists that he managed to make his way home from Cebu in the Philippines (where he left the expedition upon manumission after Magellan’s death).
The exhibition is separated into 4 sections (or chapters), named Creole, Picture (or Map), High Seas, and Afterlife (which could also be seen as Aftermath). However, they don’t follow a strict chronological retelling of Henrique’s life, rather they show aspects of the experiences he might have had, and the technology available at the time.
The exhibition uses objects, clothing, prints of maps, paintings (many by Fuad himself), and a video (with Fuad playing Henrique) to tell this story. I’m not sure it entirely works as a collection, but there is a lot of interesting stuff here, and it has made me want to find out more about both Henrique and his journey. I found the list of the crew and their fates, and the manifest of lading of the 5 ships to be fascinating, too.
As I return to the gallery, I’ll update this with more pictures of other exhibitions. Ilham tower is only 10 minutes’ walk (or one LRT stop) away from KLCC, so it’s well worth popping in to see what they have on display. The gift shop also has a load of nice locally-made souvenirs, so worth a visit for that. Note it’s closed on Mondays and public holidays.
Address: Levels 3 & 5 Ilham Tower, 8 Jalan Binjai, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Telephone: 0321813003
Website: http://www.ilhamgallery.com
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