Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (third right) officially launching Galleria Artisan at PPNS building.
KOTA KINABALU: The second Galleri Artisan, which serves as a one-stop centre for local entrepreneurs’ collection and trade in quality handicrafts, batiks and paintings in Sabah, was officially opened at the Sabah State Administrative Centre (PPNS) building here yesterday.
The gallery, launched by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, covers an area of 704.2m2 and featured premium collection of arts and crafts produced by some of the finest local artisans and painters as well as providing the stage for aspiring artists to exhibit their paintings before being appointed as resident artists at the gallery for two months.
The Yayasan Sabah Group’s wholly owned gallery, opened to the public Monday through Friday, from 8am to 5pm, is located at the Ground Floor, Block A PPNS.
The RM2 million refurbishment was fully funded by the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju).
The outlet is divided into three main sections, namely handicrafts (210m2) categorised into various types of crafts according to the types of materials used, including rattan, bamboo, kelarai, serdang, pandan, bark, beads, pearls and others.
The second section is the batik area with an area of 292.2m2 displaying both men’s and women’s batik collection. The last section is the 185m2 fine art painting’s corner that houses a 16m2 resident artist area that allows them to demonstrate paintings and crafts.
Pusat Kraftangan Sabah (PKS) in Keningau is a landmark for the development of Sabah’s handicraft industry, an ongoing commitment of the Yayasan Sabah Group in developing rural communities in generating self-income and subsequently reducing poverty.
The main function of PKS is to develop Sabah’s ethnic handicraft heritage as well as a centre of handicraft collection, training, marketing as well as research and development.
PKS also acts as an active entity in the development and promotion of handicrafts, both domestically and abroad while supporting the government’s initiative in realising the concept of One District One Industry.
Since the establishment of PKS in 2012, two marketing outlets have been established to market Sabah’s artisan arts and crafts, namely Gambus Retail Shop at PKS, Keningau and Galleria Artisan at Menara Tun Mustapha here.
These outlets are managed by Kristal Handal Sdn Bhd (KHSB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Yayasan Sabah Group.