Redza Piyadasa

(b. 1939 – 2007, Malaysia)

Redza Piyadasa was an artist, art critic, and historian, whose works often tackled national identity and cultural history in Malaysia. In the late 1950s and early 60s, he took further studies at the Malayan Teachers College Brinsford Lodge and the Hornsey College of Art in London, England, before obtaining his MFA at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 1975 to 1977. As an art educator, he has taught in institutions such as the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Institut Teknologi MARA, and Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sulaiman in Kuala Terengganu. He has received several awards, including the Major Prize, Malaysian Landscape in 1974; the Australian Cultural Award in 1987; and the Prince Claus Award in 1998. In 1983, he co-authored the book Modern Artists of Malaysia, one of the first comprehensive surveys of modern Malaysian artists, together with art historian TK Sabapathy. In 2001, he held a retrospective at the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur.