Celebrate Singapore’s flowers, landscapes and jungles. Unique artworks, four different series. Enjoy the mysterious journey through 34 paintings by Elvira Byrnes dedicated to Singapore’s Bicentennial.
“I would like to celebrate the Singapore Bicentennial and offer my deep gratitude to its people and leaders for creating this peaceful cultural oasis by creating paintings inspired by the Orchid scholar-gentleman ideals, as they stand true as my own values, as well as all the great things about Singapore.” says Elvira Byrnes.
The light yet lingering unique fragrance of the orchid also had a profound effect on Confucius. He said “If you are in the company of good people, it is like entering a room full of orchids. After a while, you become soaked in the fragrance and you don’t even notice it. If you are in the company of bad people, it is like going into a room that smells of fish. After a while, you don’t notice the fishy smell as you have been immersed in it.”
The orchid’s fragrance was used to portray the sublimity of character which Confucius believed everyone should strive for and which formed the basis of his moral preaching, and to emphasize the influential power of people of such character. Such were the qualities that created Singapore.
Opening: 7pm, 7 February
Venue: Gallery II, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane, Singapore
When: 7 - 9 Feb 2020,
By: The Arts House at the Old Parliament
