Decolonizing Malaysian Art: The Impact of the National Culture Policy and Islamization in the 1980S: (Dekolonisasi Kesenian Malaysia : Impak Dasar Kebudayaan Kebangsaan Dan Dasar Islamisasi Sewaktu Era 1980an)

Asilatul Hanaa Abdullah

doi:10.32890/ahjmm2025.3.14

Authors

Asilatul Hanaa Abdullah College of Creative Arts UiTM Shah Alam, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/ahjmm2025.3.14

Keywords:

National Culture Policy (NCP), Islamization Policies, Art of Malaysia, Decolonization, National Identity

Abstract

This paper presents a critical analysis of Malaysia’s arts and culture under the National Culture Policy (NCP) and the Islamization policies of the 1980s. While these sought to create a unifying national culture on Malay and Islamic values, these have, in return, sparked a big debate on arts freedom, inclusion, and creative freedom. This study, based on a qualitative study, sought to examine in which ways arts practitioners negotiated, resisted, or made accommodations in these regulations. The paper captures, in addition, a struggle between imposed narratives of culture and arts freedom, adding a contribution toward a wider debate on decolonization and postcolonial identity in Malaysia. Comparative studies of Nigeria and South Africa, and debates on globalization and digital arts, place Malaysia on a different trajectory

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