“A World Tour of Sculptures From The Four Great Chinese Novels Exhibition” Opens at Fo Guang Shan

On 13th July, the “A World Tour of Sculptures from the Four Great Chinese Novels Exhibition” by artist Wu Jung Tzu was opened at Fo Guang Yuan Gallery One. The Opening ceremony was attended by the famous Taiwanese sculpting artist himself and his wife, Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery 1 Curator Venerable Abbess Manshin, BLIA North Island President Dolly Tsai, Vice-president Linda Daniell, Manukau Police Inspector Richard Wilkie, Local Howick Board Chairperson David Collins and over one hundred BLIA Members and the general public.

President Dolly spoke about that New Zealand is one amongst only 4 countries that is able to receive Mr Wu’s exhibition. Mr Wu’s ability to turn ordinary wood into pieces of vividly seemingly animated characters demonstrated his meticulous attention to details. Mr Wu said that: “The foundation of every piece is very important, for only stable foundations can become good support for the whole piece.” This is also an encouragement for all Buddhist practitioners to establish stable foundations that enable us to continue uphold right views along the path.

Inspector Wilkie and Chairperson Collins both praised the pieces for their visual impact and show casing of the Chinese culture’s excellence. This momentous trip signifies deeper exchange of cultures.

Abbess Manshin expressed that Fo Guan Yuan Art Gallery is Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s present to artists around the world. This allows art to be accessible during our daily lives and draws people into the wisdom of artistic expression. All of Mr Wu’s work exhibited rich expressions, characteristics and drama of sculpted piece’s personality.

Mr Wu explained to the audiences the conception, muse and techniques utilised for each of his pieces. He also described his connections with Venerable Master Hsing Yun, where these works were created with pointers from the Venerable Master himself. He realised that in order to really to express each piece’s deep symbolism he needs to establish good roots of cultivation himself. So at the behest of his teacher, he went back to school at 45 years of age, until he obtained a Master Degree for his field of study. The pieces for the 4 Chinese literary classics took 2 years to complete, where every character portrayed were the result of his inner cultivation accumulated 10 years prior.

This exhibition covered 82 characters from 4 famous Chinese classical literature. Having shipped them all the way from Taiwan, this allowed everyone to enjoy a display of very unique visual feast and also allow people to communicate with these classical characters.
All are welcome to come and enjoy!