KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Valentine Francis Willie, the influential curator, gallery owner and arts advocate credited with helping elevate Malaysian and South-east Asian contemporary art, died in Kuala Lumpur this morning, The Star reported.
He was 71.
Born in Sabah, Willie trained as a lawyer and practised in Kota Kinabalu and Labuan before leaving the legal profession to pursue a full-time career in the arts.
During the 1990s, he curated exhibitions featuring artists including Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Awang Damit Ahmad and Yee I-Lann, helping bring greater attention to Malaysian contemporary art.
In 1996, he co-founded Valentine Willie Fine Art (VWFA) with former Sotheby’s Hong Kong managing director Mee Seen Loong.
Under Willie’s leadership, VWFA expanded beyond Malaysia with galleries in Singapore, Yogyakarta and Manila, becoming one of the region’s most prominent platforms for South-east Asian art.
He also curated several major regional exhibitions, including Asean Masterworks, which was presented during the 1997 Asean Summit and later shown at the National Art Gallery.
In 2002, VWFA became the only Asean gallery invited to participate in ARCO, Spain’s leading contemporary art fair in Madrid.
Willie later moved into museum consultancy and private museum development, advising collectors across the region.
From 2015 to 2020, he served as creative director of Ilham Gallery, helping establish it as one of Kuala Lumpur’s leading contemporary art institutions.
In April this year, the VWFA digital archive was launched to document more than three decades of exhibitions, artists and cultural exchange linked to his work.
Valentine Willie, who said he loved dogs, wrote on Instagram in 2025 that he and his six siblings had none growing up, but surrounded themselves with pets in their adult years. — Picture from Instagram/valentinewillie
A wake will be held at the Xiao En Centre, Jalan Kuari, Cheras, from 8pm to 10pm today and from 10am to 10pm tomorrow.
A funeral mass will be held at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist in Bukit Nanas on June 11 at 11.30am.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Good Shepherd Education Fund, a cause close to Willie’s heart supporting those living on the margins of society.
Contributions can be made to Good Shepherd Services, Public Bank Berhad, account number 3195 1181 03.