PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION BY JOAN FOO MAHONY IN KUALA LUMPUR WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY GUEST ALLISTER LEE
Smitten By Faith Issue # 00056 19th January 2023
When the 19th century Russian composer Mussorgsky went to an art exhibition, he was so moved and inspired by the artworks that in 1874, he composed ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ a lyrical and compelling orchestral work in 10 movements, with each movement representing one of the many artworks on display
Installing Fr. Joseph Tham’s artworks at the Gallery, Sunway University. That’s me carefully monitoring the art installer, Bernard and his excellent team.
Photo ©Allister Lee
A sneak preview of Fr. Joseph’s artworks was already revealed in the previous edition # 000055 of Smitten By Faith. And so, today fresh on the heels of Fr. Joseph Tham’s awesome art exhibition, ‘THE BEAUTY OF THE UNIVERSE’ at the Gallery in Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur from January 9th to 15th 2023, it is only fitting that I follow this up with the right coda; the finale.
I am not a musician nor do I have the genius of Mussorgsky. However, I would like to share with you PHOTOGRAPHS - our version of ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ - all taken by a very talented young man, ALLISTER LEE who is doing his graduate studies in Bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome. Allister was visiting Kuala Lumpur and he offered his help with the Exhibition. How lucky we were to have his photographs ! His extraordinary talent as a photographer; his joy and sense of mischief and fun shine through in his candid photographs of the VIEWERS of the Exhibition. After all, what is an Exhibition for, if it has no effect whatsoever on the viewers ? To our great delight, it was very clear that throughout the week-long Exhibition, people loved the artworks. They kept coming to view and they stayed … and they stayed. The calligraphy and the paintings showed not just Fr. Joseph’s delicate skill with the Chinese brush but the wall labels with Fr. Joseph’s special reflections on Chinese philosophy and Christian spirituality captivated all.
Above left : Allister with the artist, Fr. Joseph Tham LC
Above right : Allister with Fr. Thomas Montanaro LC and Fr. Joseph Tham LC when I managed to tear them away from the Exhibition to give them a very quick tour of Kuala Lumpur. Here they are in front of the beautiful Jamek Sultan Abdul Mosque.
PS - the photos above were taken by me and not of the high quality of Allister’s pictures - as you will see below.
So, Allister Lee’s stunning photographs below - his ‘Pictures at an Exhibition' - have a story to tell. You can easily see how Exhibition viewers were captured by the visually stunning display of artworks. Allister’s photographs are able to walk you through the Gallery by observing the many people who came to view and be inspired by Fr. Joseph’s Tham’s calligraphy and paintings. You can catch sightings of all the visitors - from VIPs to ordinary people to university students and to the very adorable refugee children.
All photos above © Allister Lee
Fr. Joseph’s artworks at the Exhibition play an important role in seamlessly depicting Chinese philosophy and Christian spirituality. The artist shows us how Chinese art connects us to our past and traditions; it reminds us of ethics, morals and spirituality. The Beauty of the Universe captured in art – for all of us to enjoy. Allister Lee’s photographs of the viewers show this with such gusto !
During the Exhibition, playing in the background was the most beautiful classical music and in my mind, I was already imagining Mussorgsky’s various promenades and the intermezzos as I watched the viewers gently stroll through each of Fr. Joseph Tham’s artworks and focussing intently on each painting’s content; its message and its meaning.
[ Editor’s note: For readers to enjoy the photographs, this article is published today ( Thursday) instead of the usual weekend posts because of the forthcoming Chinese New Year holidays. HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO OUR READERS ! ]
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