Exhibition Causes a Stir in Christchurch
The Yao Hong Ying Embroidery Exhibition currently displayed at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery South Island has received hundreds of visitors each day for the past two days and on the 5th of June, the numbers reached 130 visitors. Assistant Curator Ms. Lee said that on most days, the number of visitors averaged around 60 per day, however, most of the visitors today did not make bookings before they came, which resulted in the large number of visitors. Although the large group kept the staff and volunteers very busy, their hard work was rewarded by the joyful faces of the visitors.
As most of the staff of FGS South Island are in North Island taking part in the gathering of BLIA New Zealand, FGY Art Gallery South Island and Water Drop Tea House was greatly short staffed during this time. Due to this problem, the 12:30 free guided tour had to be cancelled; however, this did not seem to disappoint the crowd as they happily strolled through the gallery and enjoyed delicious food in the cafe while they waited for the 1:30 pm tour. The long wait that the visitors had to endure showed how passionate they were about the embroidery exhibition and the line of customers queued up to order was also a sight to see.
On 5th June, a group of BLIA members from Australia’s Chung Tian Temple visited FGS South Island. After paying homage to Buddha, the group was given a brief tour of the temple. Although they were on a tight schedule, the group insisted on seeing the embroidery exhibition before leaving.
On 6th of June, FGY Art Gallery South Island received over 110 visitors and although the exhibition is soon reaching its end on 28th June, it is still the talk of the town. Many of the visitors not were not only impressed by the artworks, they also said that they will be recommending it to their friends and family. Members of the Probus Christchurch Chapter again visited FGY Art Gallery South Island and although this was not the first time that they had seen these works of art, they were still deeply touched by it.