Batu Gajah, Perak · opened 8 July 2023

Galeri Rumah Lat

Inside the gallery: his cartoons, framed and hung beside his story.
Inside the gallery: his cartoons, framed and hung beside his story.

The nation and the world have honoured his work. A prolific cartoonist, Datuk Lat draws at the level of the finest cartoonists anywhere. Besides recording his own life, books such as Kampung Boy carry the gentle values of Malaysian culture: affection, family and friendship, told with great sensitivity to landscape and the world around.

Galeri Rumah Lat was built in tribute to him, so that his work can be shown in a place of its own and kept for ever, for the public and for generations to come. On 8 July 2023 the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, officially opened the gallery at Batu Gajah.

The gallery entrance, with Lat’s wordmark.
The gallery entrance, with Lat’s wordmark.

A single-storey building that holds the exhibition of Datuk Lat’s work: selected cartoons from the early 1960s, his biography and a space for cartooning workshops.

Rumah Lat, the traditional Perak house.
Rumah Lat, the traditional Perak house.

The house

A traditional Malay house with a five-part roof, in the Perak style, built by traditional methods from local materials and shaped by the local way of life and climate.

Inside Galeri Rumah Lat

His desk and chair, set where he might have just stepped away.
His desk and chair, set where he might have just stepped away.
Dunia Lat, a room opening onto the world he drew.
Dunia Lat, a room opening onto the world he drew.
Framed cartoons and documents hang in the gallery.
Framed cartoons and documents hang in the gallery.
Honours and medals on show.
Honours and medals on show.
A wall-sized drawing of Malaysians at work and play.
A wall-sized drawing of Malaysians at work and play.
A vintage motorcycle before a street of the past.
A vintage motorcycle before a street of the past.
Visitors gather beneath Rumah Lat.
Visitors gather beneath Rumah Lat.

Photographs: Perak State Museum Board (Lembaga Muzium Negeri Perak)