On 19 August 2017, The Culture Story hosted an exclusive session with leading Malaysian artist-scholar Dr Jolly Koh, considered by many to be an original thinker and a seminal figure of modern Malaysian art. Koh is renowned to possess a sharp intellect, outspoken and a fiery commentator on artistic debate and the role of the artist in modern society.
In the 1959, he pursued a National Diploma in Design at the Hornsey College of Art and the Art Teacher’s Certificate in London. In 1975, Koh achieved a Doctorate in Philosophy of Education from the Indiana University on a Fulbright-Scholarship.
Koh was included in the historical group exhibition in 1967 called GRUP, in the company of Syed Ahmad Jamal, Latiff Mohidin, Ibrahim Hussein, Anthony Lau, Cheong Laitong and Yeoh Jin Leng, sometimes referred to as the magnificent seven.
Over the last 50 years, Koh spent time in Malaysia, London and Adelaide, working as an artist and a passionate administrator in the field of art education. Koh’s works are widely collected by prestigious private collections and institutions in Asia, including the National Visual Arts Gallery Malaysia and the National Gallery Singapore.
