Arts And Craft Are Food For The Soul Says Tunku Azizah

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In a keynote address at CIMB Artober Art & Soul 2025, the Tengku Ampuan of Pahang called upon the next generation to fall in love with their culture.
The Tengku Ampuan of Pahang visiting some of the artists at the CIMB Artober Art & Soul 2025 at Mitec on Sunday. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)KUALA LUMPUR: Preserving Malaysia’s traditional arts and heritage is vital to ensure their unique beauty endures into the future, the Tengku Ampuan of Pahang Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah said on Sunday
In her keynote address “The Future of Our Heritage” at CIMB Artober Art & Soul 2025, the Tengku Ampuan stressed that it is everyone’s duty to ensure our heritage lives on to the next generation, just as our forebears had done.
She noted how, in the past, traditions such as batik, songket, woodcarving, pottery, embroidery, weaving and other crafts were inherited from generation to generation, “from master to apprentice, from parent to child”.
“This is the fragile beauty of our heritage. It lives in memory, in hands, in practice. That is why it must be saved, recorded and written in detail, so that future generations can learn.
“And when this inherited wisdom is combined with what we can study formally in art schools today, something extraordinary can emerge,” she said.
Tunku Azizah spoke of a time when there were weekly art lessons, drawing sessions, and art examinations in primary and secondary schools.
“It saddens me that art in Malaysia today is no longer taught with the same seriousness as during my school days. Arts and craft are not just skills – they are food for the soul. They are therapeutic, calming and restorative,” she said.
Tunku Azizah delivering her keynote address, ‘The Future of Our Heritage’, at CIMB Artober Art & Soul 2025. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)The Tengku Ampuan also shared on the role of the palace in preserving heritage. On Aug 31, she launched the Tunku Azizah Heritage Foundation, her lifelong dream, aimed at preserving all forms of traditional arts and culture.
In conjunction with the launch, the Pahang Heritage Festival was launched – a week-long event in Pekan attended by over 100,000 visitors.
Tunku Azizah further commended the country’s royal women for their roles in preserving traditional textile craft. These included the Raja Perempuan Taayah of Perak, an expert in tekat; Tengku Ampuan Jemaah of Selangor, who practised telepuk; Tengku Ampuan Besar Meriam of Pahang, who championed the tenun; and the Raja Perempuan Anis of Kelantan.
“Anything handmade, even if expensive, is cherished because it carries the spirit of the maker. The demand is there, but many of these crafts are dying.
“That is why it is our duty to revive them – not only for cultural pride, but also for economic opportunity and sustainability,” Tunku Azizah said.
She invited members of the younger generation to “fall in love” with their own culture. “Create your own style. Be innovative. But never forget your roots. What you create today may one day be the heirlooms of tomorrow.”
Tunku Azizah’s daughter, Princess Jihan Abdullah of Pahang, with some of her textile works at the Pahang Pavilion. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)CIMB Artober Art & Soul 2025, the annual flagship arts event of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, ran from Sept 26-28 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) here.
Showcasing more than 30 galleries and over 100 artists, highlights included the return of the Pahang Pavilion – an initiative by Tunku Azizah herself – which featured Songtik shawls combining tenun and batik traditions, alongside ikat and pua karap Iban textiles from Sarawak.
Also on display were textile artworks by Tunku Azizah’s daughter, Princess Jihan Abdullah of Pahang, who graduated with First Class Honours in Textile Arts from the University for the Creative Arts in Epsom, England.
“She (Jihan) could have chosen many paths, yet she chose art: to study weaving and textiles, which are at the very heart of Malay heritage.
“This is not only my pride as a mother, but also my joy as someone who believes that art and heritage must be lived, practised, and carried forward,” the Tengku Ampuan said.
Tunku Azizah in a lighthearted interaction with 13-year-old neurodivergent artist Zayn Al’Abideen. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)“Every person carries within them an inner artistic nature – a spark of creativity that perhaps even they themselves have not yet discovered. It must be nurtured, it must be encouraged, it must be given space.
“For we never know the hidden talents and skills that lie dormant within us until they are allowed to emerge.”
Tunku Azizah concluded by expressing how she wished to be remembered: as someone who fought for the arts and crafts of this land, who stood shoulder to shoulder with the people, and who inspired the young to carry the flame forward.
“The mission of preserving and celebrating art is not mine alone, nor the palace’s, nor the government’s. It is a mission to be accomplished by all,” she said. - FMT

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