VISUAL SEJARAH DALAM SENI CETAK BERTEMAKAN NEGERI-NEGERI MELAYU 1786-1890 (Visual History in Printmaking under the Theme of Malayan States 1786-1890)

The culture of visually recording historical events has been going on for a very long time, ever since man started knowing ways to create impression on surfaces. This culture continued on across many great civilizations that left visual recordings as proof of their power, influence as well as their daily activities. The main focus of this research is to look at visuals of historical events that were presented in printmaking artwork as a form of formal documentation, especially in Malaya. By appreciating art works through social, political, economic or technical context can allow us to understand not only the art itself, but also its background as well. Since the 15th century Malaya has become one of the favoured themes in the activities of producing a printmaking artworks, furthermore the artworks has also content visually documented history events. This means that Malaya also has a good collection of visuals that dictate historical events that are worthy of being researched. Moreover printmaking artworks is one of many disciplines in mass media that is considered effective and successful in collecting images and information in large volumes. Indirectly, it proves that the development of printmaking artworks in Malaya is concurrent with the documentation of evidences and information that eventually became printed records of the nation's historical events. In the context of this research, the period looked into is during the British occupation of Malaya between 1786-1890.