Official Opening Ceremony for “Our Love, Our Passion, Our Gratitude”

23 May Official Opening Ceremony for “Our Love, Our Passion, Our Gratitude”

The exhibition officially opened!

Things have been busy at the gallery, and so this report comes a bit later than intended.

The official opening of “Our Love, Our Passion, Our Gratitude” took place on Sunday, May 13, 2012, almost a week after it opened on May 8. We chose May 13 not because of the historical significance of the date, but because this year May 13 happens to be Mother’s Day. We thought it appropriate since it is a day when motherhood is celebrated, perhaps one of the most important roles in the life of most women.

We are indeed honored that Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir had graciously agreed to officially open the exhibition, and who better to be the guest of honor, other than Marina, who has tirelessly championed women’s issues for so many years.

The exhibition pays tribute to the role of women in the arts, whose efforts are often understated and not celebrated enough. As Marina mentioned in her opening remarks, the grandiose works of art remembered are usually those done by male artists, but it is the softer aspects of art that complete the whole, and for that it is the women artists who play a more central role.

All three of the artists featured – Ng Kim Heoh, Tan See Ling, and Tan Sock Chin – were present for the opening. Kim, while quite known in Penang, seldom gets her work exhibited in Kuala Lumpur, and it has been quite a while since the last time she exhibited here. For Sock Chin, this is perhaps the first time her works have been exhibited outside of Penang. See Ling, unlike the other two ladies, now resides in KL, and has had her works exhibited on a number of occasions, both in solo and in group exhibitions.

It is no coincidence that all three artists are associated with Penang, a state in Malaysia that has a rich art heritage, and from where a number of renowned Malaysian artists originated. It was a conscious decision primarily because of the state’s importance in Malaysian art history, a fact that is sometimes taken for granted.

We also decided to dispense with the traditional ribbon cutting that accompanies most art openings, and instead the signing of the exhibition poster/plaque by Marina became the symbolic gesture marking the opening of the group exhibition. The final ceremony, after the speeches and the signing, was presenting Marina Mahathir with a token of appreciation – an art piece by Tan See Ling, presented by the artist herself.

Sunday, May 13, 2012 marks another important milestone for Artemis Art, the official opening of our first exhibition, the first of many more to come.

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More images from the official opening can be found at Artemis Art’s Facebook page.