Dear Members,

Our next Annual Exhibition will fall in March 2019. According to Penang State Art Gallery Committee, there will be a review after each exhibition of the art societies, should the quality of the show not up to standard, they may refuse application for future exhibition. I think it is a good measure to ensure the quality of the show, as well as to make the artists strive for the best!

Our Committee has decided that the future exhibitions will be juried shows and a Grand Prize will be awarded to the most outstanding work. We have secured a sponsorship in terms of cash prize of RM3,000 each year for the next 5 years. We are also looking for other forms of sponsorship to add to the Grand Award at the moment.

After a lengthy discussion, the Committee has decided the theme for 2019 exhibition to be “Abstract Experiment”. I know this is not an easy theme, and in fact a very bold move for this theme. Most of us are comfortable with streetscape, landscape, flora and fauna, as well as still life paintings but not many of us have tried abstract. We have studied the risks of perhaps just a few members participating in this show, or perhaps the exhibition turns out to be a disaster and hence would be barred for future exhibition in the Penang State Art Gallery, yet we decided to give it a go. For the sake of art, we should not always sit in the comfort zone but explore the unthinkable. For the success of this exhibition, I urge you to give us your full supports, and make use of these 3 months to explore and experiment with abstract watercolour. I have confident you will make it, and we all will make it!

Khoo Cheang Jin
President, PWCS

各位会员，

大家好！很快的明年的常年展又要到来了。

我们明年的展览定在三月，从州画廊传来的讯息指：明年开始各画会的常年展将由画廊委员会做出评价，水准不达标的画会在下一年的申请可能不会通过。这项举措是好的，不只确保展览的品质，也鞭策画家更努力向上，自我提升。我相信我们画会的成员都能竭尽所能，把最好的作品展现出来。

我们会议后决定来年的常年展形式将改为遴选画展，並设立一个大奖，我们已经找到下来五年，每年3千马币的赞助奖金，同时我们也还在努力申请其它形式的奖励。

经过委员会一番热烈的讨论，我们把明年展览的主题定为“抽象实验”。这是一个非常大胆的决定，因为我们会员中涉猎抽象画的少之又少，举凡街景、风景、花卉、动物、静物等等都难不倒我们，但抽象，尤其是抽象水彩一直是我们很多人包括我自己不敢踏足的领域，但没去做也不代表我们就做不出，没有尝试我们又如何知道我们能去到哪里？当然，我们权衡了一切可能性，即参展的会员可能就只有小猫三、四只，或展出的作品可能不获好评，甚至因此被州画廊打入冷宫，后年展览申请被拒！但是我们最终还是决定了勇敢地踏出这一步，不为别的，只为艺术！只为给我们自己一个冲击，去探索一个未知的艺术领域，或许能对我们的艺术道路有所助益！

展览成败，取决于我们自己，我希望会员们能给画会百分百支持，利用这三个月的时间去探索、去尝试抽象实验，创作抽象水彩。我知道，你们可以的！

会长邱昌仁谨启