Dear Member,

Now that the Festive Season with all its celebrations is over, let us get ready to start the new Century with enthusiasm and Vigour.

The past year finished with a most interesting Chinese Painting Art Exhibition which opened at the Town Hall on 11th December for a brief 4 days.

All fourteen exhibiting artists were present and, had I practiced my Chinese more, I might have had a better chance to speak with them.

As it happened, I ventured a few words, and received the usual response of a broad smile followed by a torrent of Chinese. After that, I decided to hold my tongue for the rest of the afternoon.

I did find one artist who spoke good English and as his work was very interesting, we spent quite a bit of time discussing his work which was most unusual both in style and choice of subject.

There were some excellent paintings, and quite a variety of styles, many already familiar through books and the internet.

The range was also very wide, from the traditional copies of past masters - Pan Tianshou and Li Keran among them - to some very innovative work. I wish I had known about it in time to have let you know about it.

Last week I received the latest copy of my favourite magazine ORIENTATIONS and among the advertisements noticed one for the book ARTS OF CHINA by Michael Sullivan, anything by him is worth reading.

This is a book that I have recommended before. It gives a comprehensive overview of the history of China and the development of her arts over the centuries.

The present book is the Fourth Edition and has been revised and expanded to cover the latest archaeological discoveries and to emphasis the development of Contemporary Chinese art.

What also appeals to me is the fact that he has adopted the Pinyin romanization which is becoming more and more universal. I must confess that it took me a while when I started to read Chinese Art books, to come to term with the Wade-Giles system which I finally deciphered thanks to an American book, which typically, took it for granted that the reader is not born with an inbuilt knowledge. I shall forever be grateful for that.

Back to the book though. It comes in both cloth bound version and paper-back. It is published by UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS and if you are like me and wish to hold it in your hands immediately, I suggest you go to your favourite bookshop and ask them to get you a copy.

And now, before I close, I hope you will join me in congratulating our Vice-President and friend, William Lai for being the recipient of the

WILLOUGHBY CITY

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR 2000 AWARD

Thank you William for your unstinting support of the Society and for the help so generously given to both the Chinese and Australian communities to understand each other. You have done a good job!

See you all at the meeting

Your Secretary,

Mirra Hainsworth