Our Photo Exhibition Has Ended

Last day of the photographis exhibition at KLPac
Last day of our photographic exhibition on the death of our mothers at KLPac.

The joint photographic exhibition titled “Exits – The Mysteries of Death” with Victor Chin and Wuan ended last Sunday. I felt a little sad and lost as Victor and Wuan began taking down the frames. It took this long to sink in that we do not need to go to KLPac anymore on weekends.

Victor and Wuan taking down the frames
Victor and Wuan taking down the frames hanging on the wall and panels.

Wuan and I and Victor spent six weekends at KLPac talking to visitors and sharing with them the stories behind the images. In talking, we relived the pain and anguish of experiencing the deaths of our mothers respectively. Yet, it was also a celebration to us – celebrating the love and care that our mothers had imparted to us. In sharing with visitors, we also came to realise many more aspects of our parents that we never knew.

Victor and Wuan arranging the frame for transportation
Packing up to leave.

At the same time, the images brought out a lot of emotions in our visitors, with many of them telling us that they were reminded of their loved ones. A number had tears in their eyes as they recalled the last moments they spent with a parent or a grandparent.

Bare wall and panels at KLPac's Pentas 2 foyer.
The bare wall and panels. The end of our exhibition.

Wuan and I are extremely glad that Victor took us under his wings and guided us along the way. Never had I envisioned to share the photographs of my mother and of her funeral in such a way. It was a liberating experience to be able to open up to strangers on a subject as intimate as this. Besides, death is something we seldom want to talk about openly. Thank you, Victor, for taking us on this unforgettable journey. We would also like to thank friends and visitors who dropped by to share with us their stories and for leaving messages in the guest book.

The Post-Wedding Banquet Post

Wuan has gone back to work. All outstanding matters for the wedding banquet have been settled. The joint photo exhibition with Victor Chin has been up and running for more than one week already. Things are back to normal, well almost. Today is the first time in many weeks that I can sit back, relax and gather my thoughts coherently. So many people to thank; so many photos to sort. More on this and some others in the next few entries. For now, I just want to enjoy the serenity and peace of mind.

Exits – The Mystery Of Death

Victor Chin, Peter Tan and Wuan at there photo exhibition at KLPac

About one year ago, Victor Chin bandied around the idea of Wuan and I holding a joint photo exhibition with him. The theme would be about the death of our mothers. We both have posted entries about the death of our mothers in our blogs respectively. As timing would have it, KLPac (Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre) gave us a slot just right after our wedding banquet in Penang.

As Victor would be traveling up to Penang for the banquet too, we had to do some juggling with our deadline to ensure that everything for the exhibition were done before we leave Kuala Lumpur. In fact, Victor did most of the work in organising the photographs and then send them for post-processing, printing and finally to the framer for stretching the printouts.

When we got the frames hung up on Monday, Victor announced to us that we got an extension to run the exhibition until September 13. It was originally slated to end on August 30. Friends and readers of The Digital Awakening are invited to view the images at Pentas 2 Foyer of KLPac. It is opened to the public from 10am to 10pm daily.

Why did we chose to showcase our deceased mothers? This is something that we would like to share during walkabouts and open discussions with visitors on every Saturday and Sunday (22, 23, 29 & 30 August and 5, 6, 12 & 13 September) from 2pm to 4pm. Do drop by.

The Star also ran an article on this exhibition titled “Pictures that speak a thousand words” in StarMetro yesterday (August 18, 2009).

Leaftlet of Exits - The Mystery of Death