Artist Detail | Ilham Gallery
Siti Zainon Ismail
1949, Malaysia
Siti Zainon Ismail
1949, Malaysia

Siti Zainon Ismail (b. 1949, Selangor) is a renowned writer and artist. In 2019, she was chosen as Malaysia’s 14th National Laureate, one of the nation’s highest forms of recognition in the sphere of art and culture. In her youth, she studied art at the Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia (ASRI) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia before furthering her studies in traditional Malay design at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She received her PhD from the University of Malaya in 1992. Aside from her roles as writer, academic, artist, she has also held directorial roles in various national institutions. From 1976–92, she taught at the Institute of Malay Language, Literature, and Culture at UKM.