The Kedah State Art Gallery ( ms, Balai Seni Negeri Kedah) is an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Jawi: الور ستار, Kedahan: ''Loqstaq'') is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia ...

Kota Setar District The Kota Setar District is a district in Kedah, Malaysia where the state capital Alor Star is situated.http://apps.water.gov.my/jpskomuniti/dokumen/DEEP_KOTA%20SETAR_APRIL2011.pdf Name The name ''Kota Setar'' came from the setar or ‘Stak’ tr ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

History

The construction of the building started on 21 January 1893 and finished in 1912 and was officially opened by Kedah Sultan

Abdul Hamid Halim of Kedah Paduka Sri Sultan Sir Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Mukarram Shah (4 June 1864 – 13 May 1943) was the 26th Sultan of Kedah. He reigned from 1881 to 1943. Foreign relations During his reign, the Sultan had asked ...

as the high court building, the earliest modern government building in Alor Setar. By 1931, the high court had completed their relocation to a new building beside the Federal Building, the original building was repurposed to accommodate the Audit Department, State Treasury and British Advisory Office, and would later be used to house the Public Works Department and Sewerage and Drainage Department. To mark the silver jubilee of Sultan

Abdul Halim ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الحليم) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥalīm'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gives rise ...

in 1983, the building was converted into an art gallery and was officiated and opened to the public by the Sultan on 25 July 1983.

Architecture

Originally design by architect Muhammad bin Lebai Thambi of the Kedahan

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

, the building adopts an eclectic combination of neoclassical and Sino-Portuguese architectures, with strong Palladian motifs and colonnades from the former mixed with Baroque ornamentation and extensive use of arches from the latter; of note is the presence of the Kedahan shield in the ornamentation over every arch of the building. The building is fronted by an open court comprising a public square and park.

Exhibitions

The gallery displays various art works made by Kedah people, such as painting, wood carving and calligraphy.

Transportation

The gallery is accessible within walking distance north west of

Alor Setar railway station The Alor Setar railway station is a Malaysian railway station located at and named after the state capital city of Alor Setar, Kedah. The station is served by the KTM ETS service as well as the KTM Komuter Northern Sector The ''KTM Komuter Nort ...

References

External links

Facebook - Balai Seni Negeri Kedah
{{Malaysian historical architectures and sites 1983 establishments in Malaysia Alor Setar Art museums and galleries in Kedah