The Arts Council of the Federation of Malaya formed by the then senior civil servant Mubin Sheppard in 1952, had been put to task by the Federal Government 'to encourage and develop a greater knowledge, understanding and practice of the Arts in the Federation of Malaya'. In 1958 the council was asked to name a committee to establish a National Art Gallery . The working Committee functioned for several years until in 1963 that a newly appointed Board of trustees was convened . The first Chairman appointed was Professor Ungku Aziz and the Deputy Chairman was P.G. Lim. The first exhibition on 28 August 1958, by
Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first
Prime Minister of Malaysia as ''the Balai Seni Lukisan Negara or 'National Art Gallery''. The gallery which was established since 1958, had thrived for 25 years in a temporary abode at the Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman, the country's first House of Parliament on the site known today as the Malaysian Tourism Center . The Balai changed its name to the National Visual Arts Gallery in 2011 with the establishment of the National Visual Art Development Board Act of 2011 (Act 724) the
Akta Lembaga Pembangunan Seni Visual Negara 2011.The Balai is also a statutory body and an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture, of Malaysia. ==Transportation==