FGS South Island’s Cities of the World Quilt Art Exhibition Aroused Childhood Memories of Christchurch Elderlies
The Cities of the World Quilt Art World Tour Exhibition held by Aotearoa Quilters at Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch had passed its 3rd week, and throughout the 3 weeks, it had received warm responses from people of all walks of life. Almost at intervals of every ten to fifteen minutes, there would come a visitor to the Exhibition. To date, almost a thousand people had been to the Exhibition.
The Exhibition organizer, Aotearoa Quilters, has chapters all over New Zealand. They had published the information of the Exhibition to the members. This had attracted quilting artists or enthusiasts from north, central and south of South Island to this “Cities of the World” Exhibition, with members of the Canterbury Chapter of Aotearoa Quilters making up the majority of the visitors. Quilting Art and Creative Handicraft enthusiasts from Picton, Ashburton, Darfield, Dunedin and Invercargill made up the remaining of the visitors.
Most of the visitors to this Quilting Exhibition were female elderlies. The Exhibition evoked their childhood memories. Some had learned quilting skills from their grandmothers or mothers and some had learned the skills by participating in handicraft associations. One visitor said that whenever her 12 year old grandson visited her, she would sew a piece of quilt work and gave it to him as a unique family gift. The visitors were full of praises for the exquisite craftsmanship and brilliant colours of the art pieces on display. They were very absorbed in their admiration of the works, with some bending down and others kneeling to scrutinise the works closely. When tired, some had no choice but to sit and view from afar. Such were the scenes of their intense indulgence!
The Dean of Christchurch, The Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley and New Zealand Customs officers Cliff John and Alex Miao also visited the Quilting Exhibition. They all expressed their respects and praises for the Artists for making such painstaking efforts in producing the exquisite works. After their meals, some patrons of Water Drop Café came over to FGY Art Gallery to visit the Quilting Exhibition. Surprised to see the colourful patchwork quilts on display, they were overtaken by a sense of joy.
Most of the visitors to the Temple came mainly for the Quilting Exhibition. After visiting the Exhibition, they would drop in at Water Drop Café for their meals. The aromatic coffee and delicious vegetarian food of the Café caused them to insist of coming for their meals there the next time they visit the exhibitions. To the Christchurch elderlies, to be able to visit an exhibition and at the same time have vegetarian meals in FGS Temple South Island are the best enjoyments in life.