Lunch Stop at Ilham

It was not really a stop for lunch, but a stop during lunch. And a quick one at that. I had some free time at the end of my morning and decided to join Anita for lunch. She was at Intermark that morning, and I had a pleasant drive across time to get there, and reached early. I had 45 minutes to burn and decided to take the overbridge passing by the old Ampang Park to Ilham tower to have a look at the gallery.

I have not been to the gallery for some time, the last real visit being the one to visit the great Chia Yu Chian exhibit in May. I was curious to see what was going on at the moment.

They had two concurrent shows going one, on separate floors. On the third floor, a smaller set called “Domestic Bliss”, featuring a local and a Vietnamese artist. It was more of a process piece rather than a featured work as such.

The main piece i=of the exhibit. But did not really got me interested …

I then took the lift to the main hall on the fifth floor, where “The Body Politic and The Body” exhibit was being displayed. This was more diverse and thought-provoking. The main one which caught my eyes was the piece by the late Redza Piyadasa featuring a standing coffin with the Malaysian flag wrapped around it. Titled May 13, 1969, it was about that bloody event in our history. This piece was from the Singapore Art Museum and accompanying it was a poem written by Usman Awang called Kambing Hitam. It really hit home for me.

Alas, I could not stay for too long as lunch was beckoning. With the beautiful clear blue sky, it was a joy to take a stroll on an otherwise busy day. Helped you relax and see things in a different light. I might as well enjoy my quiet periods before it gets busy again. I would definitely be returning to the gallery, and this time will take time to enjoy a cup of coffee at the gallery cafe at the end to unwind.

These were actually a collection of thumbprints

Close-up

Ilham Gallery is located at Ilham Tower, Jalan Binjai. The best way to get there would be by using the LRT, getting off at the Ampang Park LRT Station, one-stop up from KLCC. More on the website and the gallery is open daily except on Public Holidays and Mondays., from 11am to 7pm.

All the photos for this entry was taken using the Apple iPhone 11 Pro