BLIA Members Established Good Interactions with Art Lovers at The Longest Night Joint Art Exhibition
New Zealand artist Keith Morant, who once held an exhibition at Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch, organized, under the name of the Morant Foundation, a Joint Art Exhibition, The Longest Night, at the Linwood Art Centre for 9 Christchurch artists. The Opening Ceremony for the Joint Art Exhibition was held on Sunday, 8th June 2021. More than a hundred people attended the Opening Ceremony, including Christchurch Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner, artists, community representatives, volunteers and the public. FGY Art Gallery Christchurch was invited to the occasion, and was represented by FGY Public Relation Officer Ryan Wang, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island Directors Cao Qian and Kok-Wei Low, and 4 other BLIA members.
At the Opening Ceremony, Keith and his wife Tricia first introduced the 9 participating artists to the audience. In his speech, Keith mentioned that the Morant Foundation had given full financial support to the Joint Art Exhibition, with the objectives of providing a platform for local artists to display their works of art, and of adding joy to the Society through the colours of artworks. After Keith’s introductory speech, Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner kicked off the Exhibition and in his opening speech, said: "The Morant Foundation, through this Joint Art Exhibition, celebrates a very important traditional Maori festival-Matariki, which is a day for family reunion and memory of ancestors. It also symbolizes the arrival of the winter solstice and the beginning of a New Year. In ancient times, people made good use of the cold winter season for artistic purposes at home, leading to the development of creative ideas and the creation of excellent works of art. I am very happy that this tradition has passed on from generation to generation until today". Afterwards, Kim Lowe, on behalf of the participating artists, expressed her heart-felt gratitude to Keith and Tricia for organising the Joint Exhibition.
The works displayed at the Exhibition included prints, paintings, ceramics, sculptures, oil paintings, acrylic works, etc. The theme of the Exhibition The Longest Night is the name of the work of artist Kim Lowe, and it expresses the astronomical scene of Matariki. (Matariki is the day before the winter solstice and is the shortest day between polar night and daylight).
Keith and Tricia were pleased to see BLIA South Island members attending the event. On their part, BLIA members conveyed to Keith and Tricia the blessings of the FGY Art Gallery Curator Venerable Abbess Manshin and Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi. Many attendees at the Opening Ceremony were curious about BLIA South Island members with yellow vests on, and enquired about the location of the FGY Art Gallery Christchurch and FGS Temple South Island so as to arrange for their visits there. Some artists expressed their eagerness to hold exhibitions at FGY Gallery and hoped to come to the Gallery to inquire about exhibition matters. On the day of the event, BLIA South Island members managed to establish good interactions with the public, allowing more people to know about the Temple and its Art Gallery, thus taking a step towards the localisation of Humanistic Buddhism in New Zealand.