AdminA new exhibition at Sutra Gallery is bringing renewed attention to Sivam Selvaratnam, a significant woman artist associated with Malaysia’s post-Merdeka modern art movement and the influential Wednesday Art Group.
Titled Sivam Selvaratnam: ART IN LIFE, the exhibition presents selected works from different periods of her career, offering an opportunity to reconsider an artist whose practice moved across abstraction, figuration, symbolism, nature, textiles and other forms.
Curated by Sivarajah Natarajan, the exhibition places Selvaratnam’s work within a period when artists in Peninsular Malaysia were developing new approaches to modern art and seeking a visual language of their own.
For Selvaratnam, experimentation was not limited to a particular style or medium. Works featured in the exhibition span several decades, including Nikah from 1961, Sacred Geometry from 1966, Evolving II from 1967, Metamorphosis from 1969 and Transition IV from 1973.
The selection also includes later works such as Sunset Raga, Ocean Raga, Celestial Journey and Gayatri Mantra I, dated 2011, illustrating the breadth and longevity of her artistic journey.
A woman artist in a changing art scene
Selvaratnam’s career also offers a perspective on the contribution of women to Malaysia’s developing modern art scene, at a time when the art world was largely male-dominated.
Her association with the Wednesday Art Group places her among artists involved in an important chapter of the country’s modern art history. A historical photograph from a 1960 Wednesday Art Group exhibition at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur includes Selvaratnam alongside Peter Harris, Patrick Ng Kah Onn, Liu Siat Moi and Hajeedar Majid.
For curator Natarajan, his interest in Selvaratnam began when he encountered her name while studying Malaysian art history.
“As a young art student, I encountered the name Sivam Ponnambalam in discussions of Malaysian modern art and the Wednesday Art Group,” he said.
He later came to know her work and said her independence and confidence as a woman artist stood out.
Natarajan said Selvaratnam refused to remain within a single visual language, instead moving between different approaches with curiosity and precision.
Revisiting an expansive artistic practice
The exhibition also highlights Selvaratnam’s belief that art should not be separated from everyday life. Rather than viewing artistic achievement primarily through exhibitions, recognition or commercial success, she regarded creativity as something that could be integrated into ordinary experience.
“ART IN LIFE brings together works from different periods, offering a glimpse into the breadth of her ideas and artistic journey,” Natarajan said.
Beyond her association with the Wednesday Art Group, ART IN LIFE traces the development of Selvaratnam’s individual practice and her willingness to explore different artistic forms throughout her career.
The exhibition offers an opportunity to revisit Selvaratnam’s place in Malaysia’s modern art history while considering the contributions of women artists to the country’s evolving visual identity.
Billed as a celebration of Selvaratnam’s life, vision and artistic legacy, the exhibition will officially open on 26 September 2026 at 7.30pm at Sutra Gallery, with Tan Sri Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, former Judge of the Federal Court of Malaysia, as Guest of Honour.
The exhibition will continue until 4 October 2026 and is open Monday to Friday, from 10am to 5pm.
CJMY
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