Just when the public had finally gotten over with the Hari Raya gambling ads controversy, another issue has arisen. This time, netizens are shifting their attention to the viral case involving an obscene mural painting of three naked women on the wall of the Kuala Selangor Art Gallery.
The mural has elicited a massive amount of criticisms among the locals. In response to that, the mural artist, known as Lyana Leong, came up with a lengthy statement on her Facebook page to clear the air on the misunderstanding.
“The reason I painted the women without clothing is based on my experience in painting murals, I need to paint the first layer (the body) before painting the clothing,” Lyana explained. “While we were in the process of painting the mural, we used a black cloth so the public won’t be able to see the women’s ‘aurat’.”
She further revealed, “But since me and my friend (Sliz) wanted to see the mural from afar to check whether there were defects, we removed the cloth, inspected the mural, then covered it back. Unfortunately, while we removed the cloth in that 30 minutes, the residents expressed their dissatisfaction, to the point of making this ‘case’ go viral on social media.”
Lyana then admitted that it was indeed their mistake. At the same time, she stressed that the nude mural painting was not the intended finished image. “I would like to advise everyone to not bring up racial issues because this mural has nothing to do with any races,” she concluded her post.
Following Lyana’s clarification on social media, another mural artist named Noor Ismail took to his Facebook page to share his two cents on the heated controversy. According to Ismail, who has 15 years of experience in wall painting, “Not many people know the technique of mural painting but of course, the murals need to be roughly sketched on the surface to be painted (the wall), prior to colouring it.”
Ismail then added, “Her excuse of having to paint the naked bodies first before painting the clothing is unacceptable. If it’s true that the sketch for the picture shows the women fully dressed, surely some of the parts, including their chests, wouldn’t be so detailed. They should’ve prepared sketches for the folds or lines of the shape of the garment.”
“Stop looking for cheap publicity, fooling others and toying with racial sentiments. And another thing, there’s no such thing as black cloth! That’s a sunshade net and it’s actually made of plastic, and not fabric. So you want to lie about that as well?” the experienced artist questioned the female mural painter.
It’s been reported that the police have opened an investigation paper on the case. The investigation is conducted in accordance with Section 427 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
