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This suite of 200-editioned offset lithographs (this edition is marked No. 127) was one of the first that Datuk Ibrahim Hussein, or Ib, as he was fondly known, had produced in limited editions, the others included Dance of Life and the cover painting for his major Japan shows at the Takashimaya Gallery in Tokyo and Osaka in 1989. Dance was something dear to Ib’s heart with his close association with dancers Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, Lari Leong and Mavin Khoo (who made a rare dance cameo for his 72nd birthday celebration) and his inclusion of dancers in the arts festivals he organised. Ib had always been fascinated by the traditional Balinese dance repertoire – Kecak, Legong and Barong. His dancing lines drift ecstatically in motion, moving erratically in sync with the transcendental movements of the Kecak ritual.

Datuk Ibrahim Hussein was enrolled at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore in 1956. He received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting and the Royal Academy in London where he graduated in 1963 and 1966 respectively. A Fullbright Award saw him touring the United States and participating in exhibitions there. His career hit sky-high when he was selected to exhibit alongside Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali in Kuwait in 1977. In 1970, he was selected for the Smithsonian Institute workshop in the Venice Biennale. He had won many illustrious international awards, including the Japan Foundation Cultural Award (1988), the Monte Carlo 18th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art (1984), the Order of Andres Bello of Venezuela (1993), the Order of Bernardo O’ Higgins of Chile (1996), the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award (1997) and the Anugerah Tokoh Melayu Terbilang (2007). A rare recipient of triple “Datuk” titles from various royalties, Ib was honoured with a retrospective exhibition by the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur in 1986. After 11 years of struggle and planning, the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation in Langkawi was launched in 2000. Together with his wife Datin Sim, he had organised the Club Mediterranee Asian Arts Festival in Cherating, Pahang and in Bali, Indonesia as well as the First Langkawi International Festival of the Arts.