It is interesting to note that art and history of Malaysia have been greatly influenced by the external influences of the Hindu kingdoms, the advent of Islam in the 10th century, Japanese occupation during the Second World War, interference of European colonial power and the establishment of the multiracial Federation of Malaya in 1957. Thus, it is quite evident from this brief information about the sources of influences that art and history of Malaysia is definitely an interesting discussion because of its numerous foreign extrusions.
Malaysian art cannot be actually separated from Malaysian history. The development of the transition periods of Malaysian art can be best understood from the various historical phases. It is said that National Museum is the best place from where you can get a fair idea about the history of Malaysia. You can check out some of the rare artifacts saved from the shipwrecks of the 14th century in the Malaysian Maritime Archeology Exhibition of this museum. The history of Malaysia can be considered to be a derivative of the history of Malay- Indonesian world. It is actually very difficult to distinguish the cultures, art sense and languages of the different territories which have been clubbed up to make Malaysia. Presently, the Malay world is divided into six states, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia and Singapore and this division has been done on the basis of outer influences. Whenever we are analyzing art and history of Malaysia, we have to keep in mind the geographical position of the nation. It is the prominent position which has made Malaysia the center of great civilizations. Malaysia is a natural meeting place of different cultures and trade routes and this is why it became difficult for the Malay people to come out of the foreign influences. And so, it is equally difficult to trace one particular origin of Malaysian art.
The history of Malaysia can be discussed under four major phases. The first phase witnessed the domination of the Hindu and Buddhist culture and this domination continued from 7th to 14th century. The second phase saw the arrival of Islam in the 10th century and the breaking up of the Srivijayan empire into small sultanates. The third phase is definitely the intrusion of the European colonial powers like Portuguese, Dutch and finally British. 1824 is a major landmark in Malaysian history as the Anglo- Dutch treaty was signed in that particular year and it is considered to be a major event in Malay history. The fourth phase is all about the mass immigration of Chinese and Indian workers in Malaysia to meet out the ever increasing needs of the British colonial economy. And, unfortunately, in the process the Malay community turned out to be a minority group in their own country.
Thus, it would be quite obvious that Malaysia would be having a wide variety of art forms which are the derivatives of Hindu art, Chinese art, British art and to some extent they are highly influenced by the Buddhist and Islam cultures. The fusion is incredible and it makes the art and history of Malaysia highly dynamic.
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