jon bagul magit

Abdul Latif Magit ( Jon Bagul Magit ) Kota Belud Shining Star on BATIK PAINTING.

ARTIST: Jon Bagul (Abdul Latif Magit)
Born to the tribe of the ‘Bajau’ Horseman from Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, Jon Bagul has always been a naturally talented and aspiring artist. He kick-started his artist journey by producing T-shirt prints while still in high school back in Kota Belud and was renowned for his creativity. However, Jon started his career path working in the banking industry before progressing into his desired profession as a batik fine artist. Jon only took this leap of faith to be an artist when the Sabah government drove to re-educate Malaysians on native craft, especially in a time when batik was becoming a dying art in the early 1990s.
Jon learnt the beginnings of his craft of batik tjanting at Yayasan Sabah in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (1995) under a trainer who was sent by the Handicraft Development Cooperation. Later he pursued a year of business in Kota Belud, creating paintings and decorative work while horning his batik skills; circa 1995-1996, when he founded the JonBagul Studio.
Soon after, he felt the need to advance further his natural talent and entered a three year course with the National Crafts Institute, left Sabah for Kuala Lumpur from 1997 to 1999. He graduated with a Malaysian Vocational Training Council Certificate and immediately found a job in Kuala Lumpur with a Korean based batik making company in 2000.
Eventually, Jon left the company in 2002 and ventured as a sole business trader selling his very own creations of batik fine arts, operating under the name “Embokoyoh Batik”, in honour of his great grandfather. Since the establishment of his own business, Jon rents a studio at the Komplex Kraf Kuala Lumpur until the present day and works on commission for clients locally and overseas mostly.

Achievements:
Featured in Malaysian Magazines, such as:
•KL American (American Association of Malaysia), August 2008 issue
•Batik Guild Magazine, 2006 issue
•Home Concepts Magazine, Nov/Dec 2006 Issue
•Batik Guild Magazine, Inaugural issue, 2004 (Jon was displayed on the front cover of Magazine)

Milestone Experiences:

Produced an art piece for the People’s Republic of China Embassy as present for the Malaysian Prime Minister, Ahmad Badawi, in conjunction with the China – Malaysia Decade of Farawahida Mohd Abdul Hakim Kifflee Alliance, 2003