It's interesting to note this 1966 Pago-Pago with its almost circular centrist monolith, with what looks like a hole in the centre, and bereft of the usual sharp flanges at the top, or at least some tiered pagoda typical of his Southeast Asian travels. It looks like some kind of plant form rather than a man-made structure. Latiff Mohidin was still in Europe, most probably Berlin, after imbibing the great European modern artistic impulses all over with the after-thought how these were inspired, influenced by other “non-European” cultures. How what he called the “trunk root of tradition” could prevail even when the painting's preoccupation was on divergent and unrelated subjects or images. As he intoned: “Art is a living energy, art is like a flowing river…” Latiff Mohidin’s international profile took a quantum leap with the landmark Pago-Pago (1960-1969) exhibition at the prestigious Centre Pompidou in Paris on February 28 to May 28, 2018. Regarded as a national treasure for his contributions in paint and sculptures and in letters (poetry), Latiff made history when accorded his second Retrospective (Latiff Mohidin 60 Years) by the National Art Gallery, Malaysia, in 2012-2013. His tutelage did not come with the British yellow-brick-road tradition, but in the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Berlin; Atelier La Courier-Frelaut, Paris; and Pratt Institute, New York. His main art award was 2nd Prize (Graphic) in the Salon Malaysia in 1968. He is a literary giant, having won the SEA Write Award in Bangkok in 1984, the National Literary Award in 1984 and 1986, and the Malaysian Government literary prize from 1972-1976. He was a Creative Fellow at Universiti Sains Malaysia (1977) and a guest writer at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (1988).