Sport Series, 1986 Few had anticipated Datuk Ibrahim Hussein's Sports Series suite of eight offset lithograph prints, but were pleasantly surprised. Using his trademark graphic pen skills, with colouration and the spools of rhythmic parallel lines, for ornamentation and symbolic strength, Ib, as the artist is popularly known, orchestrated dramatic moments in eight sports including the lesser-known Lacrosse. The other sports featured were Basketball, Golf, Cycling, Wrestling, High Jump, Hurdles, and Running (Marathon). True to the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius (which is Latin for 'Swifter, Higher and Stronger'), Ib had created a historic tableau of sports competitiveness. Do you know that Ib loved rugby, football, hockey and cycling, before an accident impaired his vision and balance? He lost the sight of his right eye at the age of eight when playing darts in his kampung (Sungai Limau Dalam in Kedah). While aiming at a banana-stump target, he poked his eye with a penknife, which was open-pointed on both sides. Lacrosse is an ancient sport dating back to the 12th century, using a ball and sticks with a net at one end to capture, carry and shoot it, eventually into the opponent's goalmouth. And is this a jump ball / rebound in Basketball, as players from both sides try to gain possession of the ball? A tussle to toss the ball into the 46cm (18 inches) diameter basket is what basketball is about. (One can imagine Michael Jordan, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson and Larry Bird among the superstar players). In Cycling, two competitors are shown from the back trying to out-pedal each other. And there seems to be a pin-drop silence in Golf, with the protagonist, probably a Tiger Wood, making a crucial putt, a birdie (a stroke under par) or even an eagle, perhaps? High jump has the athlete shown (in one-frame sequence to simulate movement) in Fosbury Flop, the backward twisting diving style that is almost de rigueur now. The Hurdling race reveals a neck-and-neck race with the competitors clearing the hurdle at about the same time. In Running (Marathon), it seems still early stage with the rivals bunched but with strategic pacing, and conserving energy against the wind. In Wrestling, the challenger below is immobilised in a single leg takedown. Datuk Ibrahim Hussein has an impeccable international profile with the accolades of the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award (1997), Venezuela's Order of Andres Bello (1993), Chile's Order of Bernardo O. Higgins (1996), the Japan Foundation Cultural Award (1988), and the Monte Carlo Contemporary Art Award (1984). He was the first Malaysian taking part in the Venice Biennale under the Smithsonian Institute Workshop programme in 1970. In 1977, he was chosen to exhibit with Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali in the tripartite masters exhibition in Kuwait. He was accorded a Retrospective by the National Art Gallery Malaysia in 1986. In 2007, he was awarded the Anugerah Tokoh Melayu Terbilang, apart from the Datuk titles three times. His art tutelage was at the Byam Shaw School (1959-1963) and the Royal Academy in London (1963-1966). He was also remembered for setting up the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation (Langkawi), now defunct, and the first Langkawi International Festival of Arts. Ib was also the prime-mover behind the Club Mediterranee Asian Arts Festival in Cherating (Pahang) and Bali.