MATAHATI is a loose collective of five leading Malaysian contemporary artists: Ahmad Fuad Osman, Ahmad Shukri Mohamed, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Hamir Soib @ Mohamed and Masnoor Ramli Mahmud. Formed in 1989 while the five were studying together at UiTM, Matahati has grown into the most important and influential artists’ group in the history of Malaysian art. Matahati is not founded on formal or stylistic principle, and is not fashioned as a distinctive aesthetic movement. Rather, what binds the members together is a unity of purpose, originating in their student days and maintained in the fluid structure and spirit of mutual respect and camaraderie. They share an interest in current social, political, and aesthetic issues, but – except for their overarching dedication to the visual refinement of complex concepts and their employment of virtuosic technique – the members of Matahati work and evolve separately. Even so, this “team of individuals” has retained its cohesion for almost two decades, mounting on the average an exhibition a year and rapidly gaining international attention.