New Zealand Artist Keith Morant Vowed to Return to Practice the Bodhisattva Way in His Next Life

From 2 April 2022, the Songs for Remembrance Exhibition would be held at Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch to commemorate the late Keith Morant, a renowned New Zealand oil painting Artist. Keith had established a long-term relationship with FGY Christchurch, and since his 78th birthday fell on the month of April, FGY Art Gallery Christchurch specially organised a commemorative exhibition in April 2022 to cherish the memory of Keith as a Master Artist of his generation.

Keith was born in England in 1944 and he had been passionate about art throughout his life. He had been engaged in artistic creation and exhibitions in London in his younger days. In 1973, Keith moved to Christchurch New Zealand where he continued to create and exhibit. Since 1980, he started to exhibit overseas, and his footprints had spread to many cities in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, including London, New York, Ferrara, Miami, Toronto, Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Venice, etc. where he gained international recognitions. From 1985 to 2017, Keith had won 14 art awards and honours in New Zealand, Italy, Nepal, New York, Germany, Venice, etc., including the first prize “Presidential Medal of the Italian Republic” at the  “Premio San Valentino Art Exhibition" in 2009.

Keith and his wife Tricia, a Ceramic Artist, often appeared together at various art exhibitions. In 2016, Keith and Tricia attended "Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One-stroke Calligraphy World Tour Exhibition" at FGY Gallery Christchurch, and afterwards they attended the "Face to Face with Artists" tea party where they met Venerable Abbess Manshin, the Curator of FGY Art Gallery New Zealand, with whom they had forged an inseparable bond ever since. Keith was full of praises for Fo Guang Shan's concept of Humanistic Buddhism, which brought new inspiration to his artistic endeavour. Through his artistic creations, Keith hoped to enrich his own life and that of the   public.

Keith and Tricia had held the "Ringing True" and "Ceramica" Joint Art Exhibition at FGY Art Gallery Christchurch in August 2017, and the "Rhythm of the World" Exhibition at FGY Art Gallery Auckland in August 2018. They had also participated in the "Art Salon Exhibition" at the FGY Art Gallery Auckland several times. Keith and Tricia said that they were honoured and moved by being able to exhibit at the FGY Art Galleries. Participating in the various activities of FGS Temple allowed Keith and Tricia to feel the compassion and strength of Humanistic Buddhism, as well as the kindness of the Temple people.

"Compassion through Creativity" had been Keith's motto. His paintings were full of Chan, encompassing the concept of Emptiness of Buddhism. The paintings aroused awareness in everyone's heart and caused him to search for the true meaning of inner self, finally leading to the discovering of the essence and purity of life. In the "Ringing True" Exhibition, there were many large and small circles of different colours in the paintings. These circles were the doors to liberation and Enlightenment and represented the ultimate perfection. The concept of Humanistic Buddhism is based on compassion, love, care and harmony. These values had inspired Keith to create the "Rhythm of the World" Exhibition, where tones and rhythms were portrayed at all levels and dimensions, creating a fusion between abstractionism and harmony.

In 2019, the Morant Foundation, founded by Keith, supported 13 of its artists to hold the "Transience Art Exhibition" at   FGY Art Gallery Christchurch. This was a multi-media Art Exhibition that allowed the Art Gallery to connect with many varied local artists. In the same year, the Art Gallery Christchurch cooperated with Keith in using his four artistic creations as blueprints to make convenient, lightweight, artistically valuable and environmentally friendly shopping bags. These shopping bags advocated green and environmentally friendly living, and were very popular with the public.

Keith, who loved to paint, also loved to write poetry. He had published a collection of poems, the “Last Leaves”, in which he expressed his passion for art and for life. In 2018, Keith donated more than 100 pieces of his artworks to FGY Art Gallery New Zealand, and after that, the New Zealand Gallery arranged the "Song of Life" World Tour Exhibition for these artworks. This year, "Song of Life" Exhibition   will be held in Malaysia, China and Taiwan, fulfilling Keith’s wishes to spread “Compassion through creativity” to a wider audience.

In December 2021, Keith called up Abbess Manshin to inform that he was critically ill, and Abbess Manshin immediately flew from Auckland to Christchurch to pay Keith a visit. Keith and Tricia were moved by Abbess Manshin’s gesture in leading the FGY Christchurch team to offer care and condolence to Keith, and to chant the Sutra and pray for Keith.

With the blessings of everyone, Keith passed away peacefully in January 2022. He vowed to return to this World to practice the Bodhisattva Way.