Back in the days before we had the internet, movies, television, wayang kulit was one of many entertainments people looked forward to watching. A combination of shadow and light accompanied by traditional musical instrument left viewers mesmerised in the hour. The plot and storyline is usually about evil versus good. But what’s fascinating about it is that it combines humour, magic and adventure all in one long storyline. Nik Zainal Abidin was one of the first modern artists to highlight the enigmatic quality and tradition of a faded traditional heritage of wayang kulit. Self-taught Nik Zainal Abidin represented Malaysia in the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, in 1970, the same year he was sent on a German cultural tour. He was a member of the Wednesday Art Group. He won 1st Prize in the Merdeka Independence Art in 1967, and had his first two solos at the Samat Art Gallery in 1970 (June) and 1971 (October-November) respectively. He designed the Kunci Ibu Kota, cokmar (royal mace) and the royal throne of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. He worked as a RTM set designer from 1960 to 1987. Wrote Dolores Wharton in Contemporary Artists Of Malaysia: A Biographical Survey: “There are many who tried their hands at painting wayang kulit but none has unlocked the vitality of drama or acquired the skills of painting the figures that Nik Zainal does so effortlessly.”