FGY Art Gallery Auckland’s Volunteers’ One Day Trip to South Island

To increase their exposure to, and to cultivate their interests in, Arts, 12 volunteers of Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Auckland, under the patronage of FGY New Zealand Curator Venerable Abbess Manshin, visited FGY Art Gallery Christchurch on 24^th April 2018. They were welcomed by Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi, FGY Art Gallery Christchurch Coordinator Vicky Han, BLIA South Island Vice President Lih-son Ding, Director committee Kok-wei Low, Secretary Forest Lin and other BLIA members.

The visitors were first taken for a tour of the Temple building where Venerable Abbess elaborated on the architectural design of the building. The incorporation of the statues of Bodhisattvas at the external front walls was inspired by the ‘Longman Grottoes’. The positioning of the ‘Buddha Hall’ was to allow the Buddha and the public to have a full view of the majestic mountain in front. The ‘Time Corridor’ was designed to capture the beauty of the rays and shadows of the setting Sun. After listening to the detailed introductions of Venerable Abbess, the visitors could fully feel and understand the ‘Buddhist Practitioners’ Concept’ adopted in the design.

Artist Huang Da An’s ‘Wood-Firing Ceramic Exhibition’ will be held at FGY Art Gallery Auckland in the month of June 2018. Venerable Abbess told the BLIA volunteers that studying Artist Huang’s art pieces on display was part of the purpose of their visit as this would help prepare them for the June exhibition in Auckland. The ceramic works of Artist Huang are all high quality pieces emanating strong life force. This is possible because of the Artist’s strict choice of fire wood and clay from the very start and his insistence on a 21 day continuous firing process. Artist Huang sometimes has to forgo his sleep to achieve this. His ceramic pieces are noted for their captivating colours and patterns and are of high artistic standard. They are also much sought after by collectors.

Later, the BLIA volunteers took the opportunity to visit Christchurch Art Centre and Christchurch Art Gallery. At the Art Gallery, they were introduced to the recent exhibition works by the Gallery guide. At the Art Centre, which was only recently re-open to the public 6 years after the earthquake, the visitors experienced the uniqueness of Victorian architecture of the university building. The wooden chairs and the ambience of the classrooms carried with them an Anglo Saxon feel. Abbess encouraged the volunteers to acquire a sense of ‘beauty’ from this study tour, and to later merge this ‘beautiful’ energy into their daily lives, positively influencing themselves and the public. Abbess said that the ‘beauty’ expressed in arts can elevate one’s inner quality positively. If one has the public in one’s heart, one can then share this ‘beauty’ with them.

The BLIA volunteers also visited the studio of Christchurch Artist Keith Morant. Keith thanked Abbess for the opportunity to hold his exhibition at FGY Art Gallery Auckland, and at the same time, he introduced to the visitors the creative concept behind his future ‘Rhythm of World’ Exhibition and showed them the art pieces for this Exhibition.

On the same day, Artist Paul Deans happened to come over to FGS Temple Christchurch with his Rosewood sculpture ‘Bodhisattva’. Paul showed his sculpture to the BLIA volunteers and described how he slowly turned a piece of wood into the final sculpture of a Bodhisattva. For this, Ch’an Meditation was the fountain of his creativity, and at the same time helped him in completing such solemn piece of work.

After a fruitful day of study tour, BLIA volunteers took the opportunity to share their thoughts on what they had learnt. Margaret thanked Venerable Abbess for arranging such a fine study tour. In the process, she realised the importance of time and space management and also the importance of exercising correct judgement in dealing with people. When faced with obstacle, just treat it as part of life’s journey, and not to be unduly worried. Careful observation and understanding of public’s needs together with positive thinking, will cause one’s wisdom to grow. Margaret commented that whenever Venerable Abbess Manshin and Venerable Jue Xi personally conducted Temple tour, she felt that the whole place was blessed with the Dharma presence, and every corner was filled with artistic fragrance.

Amy admitted that this study tour was indeed a rare opportunity for her to learn about Arts. She now felt as if she was in a painting and the FGS South Island Temple became an artistic paradise. Amy was moved by the torturous journey undergone by Abbess in the construction of the Temple, and Abbess’s relentless effort in propagating Humanistic Buddhism. All these have made her more resolute to stay on as FGY Art Gallery volunteer. After this study trip, Amy promised to keep in heart all the guidance given by the Venerables, improve her performance as a volunteer, and continue to strive for the propagation of Humanistic Buddhism.

Winnie recalled that at the Art Gallery Christchurch, the Gallery Coordinator’s presentation left a profound impression on her. The Coordinator made them understand that they must be able to link the minute details of the painting to the background of its painter himself. In the process of trying to make them understand the paintings, the Coordinator would intermittently throw questions to them to arouse their interests, and finally, to help them guess the story depicted by the paintings. This is really a professional and interesting way of introducing paintings, which must be emulated by BLIA members. From this trip, Ada was able to experience the beauty of ‘Changing of Nature’. Even the colour of leaf changes with change in weather. This taught her, in life, to constantly adjust herself to ever changing environments, and to seize opportunity to accomplish different things under different circumstances. Diamond Chen saw this as a soul cleansing trip. By having close interactions with the artists, Tan was able to have a better understanding of Arts. Mr. Su claimed that FGS South Island Temple is by itself a piece of artwork, and with Abbess’s positive emphasis on Arts, he found that all the exhibited items seemed to blend in well with the positive field force of the Temple.

In her summing up, Abbess urged the volunteers to concentrate more on what they are involved with in order to be fruitful. They have only to follow their team closely, work hard, and with the advent of wisdom, all their worries will disappear, and each of them will shine.