The Grand Opening of "Once Upon A Time"

On 4th of August, over 40 VIPs and Friends of Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery were present during the grand opening of a book fair in Fo Guang Shan South Island. The theme of the book fair was “Once Upon a Time”, featuring the collections of books of fairy tales by one of our BLIA member, Peter John Stuart. Peter had invited Venerable Abbess Manshin and the owner of “Paper Plus North Land Mall”, Jess Raines to cut the tape.

Venerable Abbess Manshin, in her speech, mentioned that Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery aimed to provide space for artistic exhibition in Christchurch and everyone is welcomed. She also praised Peter for his generosity in sharing his collection of books of fairy tales with members of the public. Jeff described Peter as an epic fairy tale fan and the collection Peter has really impressed him.

Peter John Stuart had been working at Whitcombe & Tombs (Whitcoulls) bookstore since 25 and was assigned to work in London for some time before coming back to Christchurch. He was promoted to manager of Riccarton Mall Whitcoulls bookstore when he came back. He works at Smiths Bookshop, a bookshop which buys and sells second-hand books after he retired from his previous job. He then became a member of BLIA South Island NZ in 2010. He took refuge in the Triple Gems and become a Buddhist in 2012.

Peter expressed his gratitude to the art gallery for giving him such a wonderful opportunity to share his collections with other people. He thanked everyone including the venerable for their support to make this event a success.

There are many antique books on display during this exhibition including the ones given by Riccarton High School, St Andrew College and St Mary Sunday School to students in 1880s. Also included are antique books published during the Edwardian era and Victorian era.

The visitors had shown great interest in the antique books and asked many questions about them. All the VIPs and visitors were glad that they made it to the book fair despite the rain.