Hoan Gallery unveils largest exhibition yet: Over 70 works by six artists celebrate Sarawak’s rich heritage

Hoan (left) setting up the “Fragments: Perceptions of Sarawak” show at Hoan Gallery in La Promenade Mall.

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, March 5: Hoan Gallery at La Promenade Mall will present its largest exhibition to date, “Fragments: Perceptions of Sarawak,” featuring more than 70 works by six artists, when it opens to the public this March 7 at 2.30pm.

The season opener brings together a wide range of artistic expressions spanning painting and object-based pieces. Visitors can expect works in oil, acrylic and watercolour, alongside dioramas, sculptures and installations.

According to a media release today, the exhibition pairs established names with emerging Sarawakian voices. Veteran artist Lee Choon Kooi, from Kedah, is featured alongside young Sarawak talents including Brandon Ritom and M Shazy.

Singapore based Sarawakian artist paints beautiful watercolours and acrylics of cityscapes
and heritage.

Hoan Gallery director Hoan Kee Huang said the gallery is proud to bring together artists of different ages, experiences, races and cultural backgrounds, with one shared theme: Sarawak.

“Hoan Gallery is kicking off 2026 with a bang. For this season opener, we have a mix of paintings, small objects and room-filling installations. It’s an exhibition about six different artists’ attempt to show what Sarawak is,” he said.

Hoan Gallery, which opened in 2022, stages an average of four exhibitions a year.

Brandon will feature his oil paintings of nature and people during the “Fragments: Perceptions of Sarawak” exhibition at Hoan Gallery.

Past highlights include the gallery’s 2025 season opener featuring the life works of Chong Liew Sin, Alena Murang’s first-ever art show in 2023, and a joint exhibition titled “Tiga Generasi”, which showcased a master and his apprentices.

Hoan said joint exhibitions are “incredibly enlightening”, but only when a clear common thread holds the show together.

“Visitors of ‘Fragments’ will see how naturally, culturally and historically rich Sarawak is. They will find paintings of nature, works that capture heritage buildings, installations built from beautiful timber, and intricately assembled dioramas. One of the artists, Lee, has also created a new board game inspired by our heritage food,” he shared.

The participating artists include Brandon Ritom, 36, whose oil paintings explore presence, history and cultural continuity. A Dayak artist who studied Art and Science at Central Saint Martins in London, Ritom is currently working on his largest piece to date, Dayung Borih Gawea Nguguoh, Kupo’ Raso II, continuing his effort to bring visibility to ancestral cultures at risk of being diminished by modernisation.

A former Mr Sarawak, Chee’s dioramas are intricately created scenes of nostalgia.

Also featured is Marvin Chew, 51, a Sarawak-born, Singapore-based artist working in watercolour and acrylic. Driven by nostalgia and an attachment to home, Chew paints Sarawak cityscapes and familiar corners with a restrained, atmospheric sensibility that evokes memory and longing.

Lee Choon Kooi, 76, is a self-taught artist from Kedah known for his command of Chinese ink. Through delicate tonal shifts and flowing lines, Lee’s works offer audiences a different way of experiencing Sarawak’s people and landscapes through a timeless medium.

Nolan Chee, 59, presents dioramas that recreate Kuching through carefully crafted miniature scenes built from cardboard and everyday plastics. Deeply personal in tone, each diorama draws from Chee’s childhood and lived experiences growing up in Kuching.

Chen Li Li (LEE), 40, works across mixed media and installation. Exploring the relationship between people and objects, LEE’s current installation, A Hundred Faces of Life, comprises unedited lines written by different individuals. Through these fragments, private words are transformed into visual form.

Shazy’s room-sized installations made from nature that are highly evocative and magical.

M Shazy, 30, a Bornean artist from Kuching, creates surreal sculptures and objects using organic materials sourced from the jungle. His practice reflects a synergy between material, environment and imagination, with each work shaped by personal narrative and lived encounter.

All six artists will be at the 2.30pm opening ceremony at Hoan Gallery and will offer guided walkthroughs during the event.

Between seasonal exhibitions, Hoan Gallery also presents a permanent exhibition titled “Rebirth”.

All artworks in “Fragments: Perceptions of Sarawak” are available for sale, and entry is free. Hoan Gallery is supported by HSL and is located in the community mall along the Kuching–Samarahan Expressway.

For more information, visit hoangallery.com, lapromenademall.com.my, or follow @HoanArtGallery on social media. — DayakDaily