Nirmala Dutt: Statements

Nirmala Dutt (1941–2016) cuts a sharp and unusual figure in Malaysian art history. She was one of very few women artists in her generation to forge and sustain a practice and presence in the local art scene, and gain recognition beyond. While she preferred not to refer explicitly to gender as a framework, her works addressing social injustice and the atrocities of war highlighted most of all the suffering of women, and children. She was a stridently political artist whose work consistently spoke to power, without fear.