{{Short description|Singaporean writer, poet and artist}} {{Malay name|Abdul Ghani|Abdul Hamid| note = on (optional)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Abdul Ghani Hamid | image = File:Abdul Ghani Hamid Portrait BW.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = 13 April 1933 | birth_place = Singapore | death_date = 13 April 2014 (aged 81) | death_place = Singapore | field = Abstract painting, poetry, writing | training = Telok Kurau English School;<br>Raffles Institution | movement = Modern art | awards = }} '''Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid''' (13 April 1933–13 April 2014), commonly known as '''Abdul Ghani Hamid''' or '''A. Ghani Hamid'''; also known by his pen name '''Lazuardi''', was a Singaporean writer, poet, and artist.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|date=14 April 2014|title=Goodbye to Malay writer, poet and artist Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid|work=The Straits Times|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/more-lifestyle-stories/story/goodbye-malay-writer-poet-and-artist-abdul-ghani-abdul-hamid-|access-date=23 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=A journey with no end|publisher=Perkumpulan Seni|year=1988|isbn=9810402929|location=Singapore}}</ref> Writing primarily in Malay, Abdul Ghani produced a large body of poems, plays, short stories, and newspaper articles, further participating in more than 60 art exhibitions since 1950 with his abstract paintings.<ref name=":3"/> He received the ''Anugerah Tun Seri Lanang'' in 1997,<ref name="nlb">{{cite web|url=http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/literarypioneers/writers/malay/abdulghanihamid/index.php |title=Singapore Literary Pioneers: Abdul Ghani Hamid |publisher=National Library Board |access-date=October 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211211210/http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/literarypioneers/writers/malay/abdulghanihamid/index.php |archive-date=February 11, 2011 }}</ref> the Cultural Medallion for literature in 1999, and the Southeast Asia Write Award in 1998.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sunawan|first=Riz|date=December 5, 2011|title=Works of Cultural Medallion winner displayed at National Library|newspaper=Channel News Asia|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1169564/1/.html|access-date=October 22, 2012|archive-date=December 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207234543/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1169564/1/.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Sapawi|first=Tuminah|date=September 25, 1999|title=Writer, artist given Cultural Medallion|newspaper=The Straits Times|url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19990925.2.5.1.aspx|access-date=October 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Oon|first=C.|date=September 25, 1999|title=I take a bus to think and write|newspaper=The Straits Times|url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19990925.2.113.3.1.aspx|access-date=October 22, 2012}}</ref>
== Education and personal life == Abdul Ghani was born on 13 April 1933, in Kampung Siglap (now Kampung Bahru), East Coast Road, Singapore.<ref name=":3"/> Abdul Ghani was educated in both English and Malay, first at Telok Kurau English School, and later completing his secondary education at Raffles Institution.<ref name=":3"/><ref name="nlb" /> While studying at Raffles Institution, he sent poems and articles he had written to local Malay newspapers and magazines and held his inaugural art exhibition during a Youth Festival.<ref name=":3"/>
== Career == After his studies, Abdul Ghani worked as an apprentice at the Electrical Department of Keppel Harbour, after which, he found a job as a clerk at the Public Utilities Board, then known as the Singapore Municipality. He would only leave the job in 1988.<ref name="nlb" /> Though he had full-time work and was a father of four, he made time to write and paint.<ref name=":0"/> Beyond painting and writing, Abdul Ghani also pursued photography.<ref name=":0"/>
Abdul Ghani's writings have been published in Malaysian literary journals, ''Dewan Sastera'' and ''Dewan Bahasa.''<ref name=":0"/> He further wrote for an arts column in the Singapore Malay language Sunday newspaper ''Berita Minggu'' in the ’70s, contributing comic strips such as ''Mat Dalang'' to the newspaper and other Malay magazines under the pen name Lazuardi.<ref name="nlb" /><ref name=":0"/> In 1956, the ''Angkatan Pelukis Muda'' (Young Artists' Movement) was founded and headed by Abdul Ghani, though it would be quickly dissolved after it was unable to gather enough support.<ref name=":1"/> In 1960, Abdul Ghani published ''Sekilas Pandang Senilukis Dan Perkembangannya'' (A Glimpse of the Arts and its Development), which has come to be seen as a significant guide for the history of Singapore Malay arts.<ref name=":0"/>
In 1962, he co-founded the ''Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya'' (APAD, Artists of Various Resources) alongside Muhammad Ali Sabran, S. Mohdir, Ahmin Haji Noh, Hamidah M. F. Suhaimi and Mustafa Yassin.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":1"/> The association organises solo and group exhibitions, taking part in collaborations with other cultural groups, art societies, and institutions, both locally and regionally.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Ramli|first=Nadia|date=2019|title=Creative Collectives: Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid and His Contemporaries|url=https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-14/issue-4/jan-mar-2019/creative-collectives/|journal=BiblioAsia|volume=14|issue=4|pages=56–59}}</ref> APAD continues to exhibit works by Malay artists today.<ref name=":1"/>
In 1990, he wrote the publication ''Seni Indah Masjid Di Singapura'' (Art of Mosques in Singapore).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=12 October 2016|title=Abdul Ghani Hamid|url=https://www.esplanade.com/offstage/arts/abdul-gani-hamid|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116163908/https://www.esplanade.com/offstage/arts/abdul-gani-hamid|archive-date=16 January 2022|access-date=17 January 2022|website=Esplanade}}</ref> He was awarded the ''Anugerah Tun Sri Lanang'' by the ''Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura'' (Singapore Malay Language Council) in 1998, also receiving the S.E.A. Write Award the same year.<ref name=":0"/> For his contributions to literature in Singapore, Abdul Ghani was honoured with the Cultural Medallion for literature in 1999.<ref name=":0"/>
Abdul Ghani suffered from a stroke in 2008, with his health declining after.<ref name=":0"/> He died from pneumonia on his 81st birthday on 13 April 2014.<ref name=":0"/>
== Works == [[File:Abdul Ghani Hamid, The Face In Meditation, 1975, Oil on canvas, 61 x 86 cm, Collection of National Gallery Singapore.jpeg|thumb|267x267px|Abdul Ghani Hamid, ''The Face in Meditation'', 1975, Oil on canvas, 61 x 86 cm, Collection of National Gallery Singapore.]]
=== Art === Abdul Ghani's poetry has been said to be “deeply metaphysical,” and he has further described having “transfer[red] the same feeling from [his] poetry to [his] paintings”, with his art and writing often sharing similar subjects and titles.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Ahmad|first=Nureza|date=2014|title=Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_427__2008-11-18.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121054451/https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_427__2008-11-18.html|archive-date=21 November 2021|access-date=17 January 2022|website=NLB Infopedia}}</ref> Abdul Ghani was one of the early Singapore-based artists to employ abstraction in paintings.<ref name=":4"/> His 1957 painting ''Mata Dan Hati'' attracted criticism, with detractors believing that modernist influences in painting were not beneficial to local art.<ref name=":4"/> Responding to critiques, Abdul Ghani identified abstraction as a technique that was not solely from the West, highlighting the presence of abstraction in the tradition of calligraphy.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Yeow|first=Ju Li|date=2017|title=Malay Artists in Singapore|url=https://www.fom.sg/Upload/ckeditor/46.%20Passage%20May-June%202017%20FINAL.pdf|journal=Passage: Friends of the Museums Singapore|volume=May/June 2017|pages=18–19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715023103/https://www.fom.sg/Upload/ckeditor/46.%20Passage%20May-June%202017%20FINAL.pdf|archive-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> Abdul Ghani continued to explore abstractions that made “allusions to the empirical”, for instance, in his 1973 painting ''Billet-Doux (Surat Cinta)''.<ref name=":4"/>
Another example is his 1975 abstract painting, ''The Face in Meditation'', which depicts a face that appears to be masked, with contorted limbs stretching across the canvas, visually reminiscent of ''batik'' with its strong outlines and bold colours.<ref name=":1"/> Within the context of modern art in Singapore, his work has been discussed in relation to the rise of Abstraction from the 50s and 60s onwards, with Singaporean artists engaging with Internationalism, that is, the proliferation of international artistic movements such as Abstract expressionism, which advanced ideas of universal aesthetics.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last1=Seng|first1=Yu Jin|title=Siapa Nama Kamu?|last2=Cai|first2=Heng|publisher=National Gallery Singapore|year=2015|isbn=9789811405570|location=Singapore|pages=54–67|chapter=The Real Against the New: Social Realism and Abstraction}}</ref>
His works are in the collections of the National Gallery Singapore and the Galeri Shah Alam in Selangor, Malaysia.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":14" />
=== Books === Below is a select list of books by Abdul Ghani.<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":0"/>
* A. Ghani Hamid (1960). ''Sekilas Pandang Senilukis Dan Perkembangannya (A Glimpse of the Arts and its Development)''. * {{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=Mengenang Pak Zubir (Remembering Zubir Said)|last2=Sulaiman Jeem|publisher=Pustaka Melayu Publisher|year=1988|isbn=9810006365|location=Singapore}} *{{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=Seni indah masjid di Singapura (Art of Mosques in Singapore)|publisher=Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya|year=1990|isbn=|location=Singapore}} * {{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=An Artist's Note|publisher=Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya|year=1991|isbn=9810031823|location=Singapore}} A book tracing the development of the visual arts after the Second World War, the formation of the APAD in 1962 till the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=An Artist's Note|url=https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/search/library/an-artists-note/search/actors-id:13104/page/1|url-status=live|access-date=17 January 2022|website=Asia Art Archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117033005/https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/search/library/an-artists-note/search/actors-id:13104/page/1 |archive-date=2022-01-17 }}</ref> *{{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=Delima Merah (Red Pomegranate)|publisher=Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya|year=2001|isbn=9810436661|location=Singapore}} A novellette in Malay.
=== Plays === Below is a select list of plays and dramatic works written by Abdul Ghani.<ref name=":3"/>
* ''Pengembara'' (1971), a dance drama based on poem of the same title. * ''Wak Cantuk'' (1973), Perkumpulan Seni, Singapore. * ''Cincin Bukan Ikatan'' (1978), a pantomime based on poem of the same title. * ''Desa Ini Hatiku'' (1980), Drama Festival, Singapore. * ''Berburu di Padang Datar'' (1982), Drama Festival, Singapore. * ''Wak Cantuk'' (1988), 32nd Anniversary of Perkumpulan Seni, Singapore. * ''Sejambak Ragam Hayat'' (1992), 25-part radio drama, Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. * ''Enrique Anak Melayu'' (1994), Perkumpulan Seni, Singapore.
=== Poetry anthologies === Below is a select list of poetry anthologies by Abdul Ghani.<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":0"/>
* {{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=Jalinan Rasa (Weave of Feelings)|publisher=Pustaka Melayu|year=1964|isbn=|location=Singapore}} * {{cite book|author=A. Ghani Hamid|title=A Journey with No End|publisher=Perkumpulan Seni|year=1988|isbn=9810402929|location=Singapore}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* http://biotechnics.org/2abdulghanihamid.html {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid}} Category:1933 births Category:2014 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century Singaporean painters Category:Raffles Institution alumni Category:Singaporean poets Category:Singaporean writers