The philosopher George Santayana once proclaimed: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Zulkifli Yusoff often delves into the politics, history and folklore of the tanah air, to edify his canvas. The Malay Annals, Hang Tuah, Hikayat Munshi Abdullah, Malay Sketches (referencing the assassination in Pasir Salak), and more recently, the national treatise, the Rukun Negara, as a purge of the bloody internecine racial strife of May 13, 1969. With the five tenets and the New Economic Policy as its cornerstone, the Rukun Negara aimed to redress economic disparities among the races for a just society. The five tenets behind the philosophical wellsprings are: Belief in God; Loyalty to King and Country; Supremacy of the Constitution; Rule of Law; and Courtesy and Morality. Zulkifli Yusoff had the distinction of having featured in two Venice Biennale appearances, the first in 1997, under Modernities and Memories: Recent Works from the Islamic World, and another in 2019. He won the hugely coveted Grand Minister's Prize and the Major Award for Sculpture at the 3rd Salon Malaysia in 1992, and the Major Award in the Bakat Muda Sezaman in 1988 and 1989 (jointly). He also won the National Academic Award (Visual Art) in 2007. He was selected for various prestigious exhibitions such as the Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia (1993), the Singapore Biennale and Art Stage Singapore, both in 2013. After his diploma at the Mara Institute of Technology (ITM), he studied for his Masters at the Manchester Polytechnic (1991). He had taught both at ITM and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim, where he was Associate Professor.