Jaafar Latiff is a painter acclaimed for his trailblazing approach in invigorating the batik medium. Succeeding an earlier generation of batik artists, he broadened the scope of painting in this medium beyond the pictorial conventions commonplace until the 1970s by integrating conventional techniques of batik painting with his own expressive and abstract style. In the Time of Textile highlights Jaafar's advances in batik through his rigorous experiments between the 1970s and 1990s, with a focus on three of his major painting series: Wandering, Batik 87/88, and Self-Portrait. It also traces his adjacent explorations in other mediums, such as acrylic painting and computer art, revealing his bold embrace of the modernist ethos to be in search of the new. Jaafar Latiff: In the Time of Textile is part of the Something New Must Turn Up series which offers a comparative perspective of how artistic forerunners in post-independence Singapore critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation through ground-breaking explorations of media. Something New Must Turn Up is a series of six catalogues comparing the practices of artistic forerunners in post-independence Singapore. Through their groundbreaking explorations of media, ranging from collage and printmaking to installation and digital art, these six artists actively expanded the boundaries of art. Each standalone catalogue traces the individual journeys that these artists undertook as they strove to be continuously "new." By bringing together essays, interviews, full-coloured plates and archival material, the series offers a comparative perspective of how artists critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation in post-independence Singapore. This series accompanies an exhibition at the National Gallery Singapore.
