Everything all around becomes parched, dessicated, shrivelled while the soil is starved of moisture and nutrients. The dryness can also cause wildfires, dust storms and is a bane to the health of man and animals. This lack of atmospheric circulation is a farmer’s dread, for without the elixir water, all the earlier efforts will come to zilch. There will be no harvest but thorns from this hydrometeorological spell. Such tenuous harmony between Man and Nature lies at the crux of Awang Damit Ahmad’s maiden Essence Of Culture (E.O.C., Intipati Budaya) repertoire, with his own brand of symbolisms related to land and life. But it’s not all dour lament, but stoic struggles to overcome the obstacles from a wellspring of hope. E.O.C. dates between 1985 to 1995. The farmer who became a Telekom technician and an artist and academician and showing his works all over the world. Awang Damit Ahmad reached the pinnacle of Malaysian Art when he won the Major Award in Salon Malaysia III, the nation’s biggest art awards. His other prizes are the Minor Award in the 1984 Bakat Muda Sezaman Malaysia and 2nd Prize in the Malaysian Bank Association art competition in 1988, the Gold Award in the Ecorea Jeonbuk Biennale and the Olympic Fine Art in London, both in 2012, besides Honourable Mentions in the Philip Morris Asean Award Award in 1994 and 1995. He graduated with a Masters at the Catholic University in Washington DC, United States, in 1990. His selections include the Contemporary Paintings of Malaysia in Pasadena, Los Angeles, in 1988. As an academician, he retired at the University ITM as Associate Professor in May 2011. Today, Awang Damit Ahmad is one of the most important artists in Malaysia.