Sarah Abu Bakar
(Independent Art Consultant)
Sarah Abu Bakar is a Malaysian art writer, curator and consultant based in Kuala Lumpur. Specialising in Malaysian art with keen interest in Southeast Asian art, her activities encompass cultural strategy in the field of visual arts and collaborations with art professionals and collectors within the region.
Her unique position in the emerging art market began in 2012 when she worked as a specialist in Malaysia’s pioneering art auction house, Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers until 2015.
In 2016, she embarked on a management role at The Edge Galerie and The Edge Auction (a subsidiary of publishing company The Edge Media Group) until the gallery’s permanent closure in May 2019. During her tenure at The Edge Galerie, she was actively involved in exhibition programming and publishing as well as sourcing for artwork consignments for The Edge Auction. She was also a contributing writer for The Edge Malaysia and The Edge Singapore supplement, Options.
She is the co-author of Southeast Asian Art: Auction Benchmarks & Market Insights published by The Edge Galerie and The Edge Media Group in 2018.
Since 2020, she has served the Malaysian visual arts community with Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA), a unit under MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd through cultural advocacy work.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in Fine Art from University of Central England (now Birmingham City University), United Kingdom.=
2022
Curator and writer for Khazanah Virtual Art Gallery titled Time Together: Exploring Art Through Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s Collection
Editor for RRRAWRRR!!! 2022: ARUS Maybank’s Southeast Asian Emerging Women Exhibition catalogue, a virtual exhibition by Balai Seni Maybank, Maybank Foundation
Writer for UR-MU (Urban Museum), a contemporary art museum by a private art collector in Jalan Bedara, Kuala Lumpur
2021
Project managed Sensorium of Inversion/ Immersion (SENSORii) a media art exhibition featuring spectacular assemblages of vibrant light projection artworks by Malaysian multimedia artists curated by Yap Sau Bin with music accompaniment composed by Ahmad Muriz Che Rose on behalf of commissioner Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA) for Art In The City 2021
Moderator for art collectors’ talk Bertemu with Marina, Anum and Lilian in conjunction with The Carrier Bag: Gathering as Collecting exhibition at temuhouse, Petaling Jaya
Writer for Syed Fakaruddin’s installation art exhibition Bru-Kon-01 Nurseri, essay titled The Garden of Perpetual Existence
Writer for Segaris Art Center 10th Anniversary Exhibition (2011-2021) catalogue, essay titled Delineating Progress
Moderator for an art talk Our Forefathers: The Malaysian Economy Through Works of Art in conjunction with Keringat: Riwayat Pendahulu Negara (The Tales of Our Forefathers), a virtual art exhibition by Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery
Writer for Syed Fakaruddin’s solo exhibition Tindih, essay titled Constructed Realities in the Landscape Paintings of Syed Fakaruddin
Writer for Dato’ Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir’s solo exhibition catalogue for G13 Gallery, essay titled Silent Enchantment in the Paintings of Dato’ Sharifah Fatimah
2020
Writer for Fadilah Karim’s solo exhibition A Decade Fadilah Karim 2010 – 2020 catalogue for Segaris Art Center, essay titled Of Painting People and Memories
Guest writer for Pure Painting 2: An Exposition of Non-Figurative Art, a virtual exhibition by Balai Seni Maybank, Maybank Foundation, essay titled Appreciating Abstract Paintings
Writer for Tomi Heri’s solo exhibition SG., essay titled Digitalising woodcarving motifs in the works of Tomi Heri
2019
Co-editor of Hati & Jiwa: The Zain Azahari Collection Vol 3, a publication by prominent art patron Zain Azahari
Writer for Paul Nickson Atia’s solo exhibition Form(s) of Prayer(s) catalogue by Rissim Contemporary, essay titled An Act of Faith
Curator for Soh Boon Kiong’s solo exhibition The Painted Rhapsody of Soh Boon Kiong at PinkGuy Gallery, Kuala Lumpur and writer for exhibition catalogue, essay
titled Symphony of life
2018
Co-author of Southeast Asian Art: Auction Benchmarks & Market Insights, a publication by The Edge Galerie and The Edge Media Group
2017
Latiff Mohidin: Painted Steel Sculptures, DUO Galleria, Singapore by The Edge Galerie
Symbol of Harmony, an article on Latiff Mohidin’s steel sculpture at DUO, Singapore published in The Edge Singapore
Disco Lombok Still Life by Noor Mahnun Mohamed solo exhibition for The Edge Galerie and writer for exhibition catalogue, essay titled Marching to the Beat of Her Own Drum
Made in Malaysia by Ahmad Shukri Mohamed: Works from 2010 to 2017 solo exhibition for The Edge Galerie
2016
Writer for group exhibition Breathe by Umibaizurah Mahir@Ismail, Mohd Al-Khuzairie Ali, Satoko Ootsuki catalogue for Galeri Chandan and Patisatu Studio, essay titled The Clay Chemistry
Siang & Malam: The Landscape in Mind by Jalaini Abu Hassan solo exhibition for The Edge Galerie
Curator for Raduan Man: Ascension to Abstraction solo exhibition at Whitebox, Publika, Kuala Lumpur, essay titled An Act of Freedom
2015
Moderator for Art Appreciation by Art Collectors (Too Hing Yeap, Billy (Lawyer), Dr. Krishna Gopal Rampal (Professor and Dean at the Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine), Chua Tin Chew, Jimmy (Art Advisor and former Singaporean Diplomat) at Curate, Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers at SENI Mont Kiara
2014
Art Talk titled Picturing Nanyang: A Romantic Perspective of the Southern Seas? by Dr. Emelia Ong Ian Li (Art Historian and Educator) and Kelvin Chuah (Artist and Writer) at Curate, Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers at SENI Mont Kiara
Art Talk Popo Iskandar and Modernism in Indonesian Visual Art at Curate, Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers at SENI Mont Kiara
2013
Art Talk Relooking the Malaysian Art Structure of the Past Four Decades: Uncovering an Identity In a Pluralistic Landscape. Has A Common Voice Been Heard? by Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers at Black Box, Publika, Kuala Lumpur
Moderator: Datin Shalini Ganendra (Director, SGFA Gallery)
Speakers: Dr. Sulaiman Esa (Artist and Art Educator)
Zainol Abidin Shariff (Zabas) (Art Historian)
Dr. Lai Chee Kien (Architect and Assistant Professor at National University of Singapore)
Syed Muhammad Hafiz (Curator, National Gallery Singapore, PhD candidate)
