Be Kind. Have Courage

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Be Kind. Have Courage.

Mental Health Awareness Art Exhibition

10 October - 12 December 2020 (extended to 13 January 2021)

Inner Joy Art (Gallery)

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“There is no health without mental health.” - World Health Organization (WHO).

Mental health is undeniably very important to everyone, and the importance of maintaining the health of our mental well-being is really something that should be given more highlight and attention to; particularly this year, because of the current pandemic that the entire world is facing.

Mental health well-being includes the health of our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of our life, from childhood to adolescence, and through adulthood too. It makes a lot of difference to be kind to ourselves and to one another, as well as to have the courage to reach out to others and to seek support when we need to.

With the above and in conjunction with the World Mental Health Day which falls on 10 October 2020, Inner Joy Art (Gallery) presents to you a specially curated art exhibition with the theme “Be Kind. Have Courage : Mental Health Awareness”. This art exhibition runs from 10 October - 12 December 2020.

Through this art exhibition, 12 local and international artists from various backgrounds are showcasing their artworks that ‘speak’ about mental health awareness along the theme “Be Kind. Have Courage.” Interestingly, this is also aligned with the theme of the World Mental Health Day 2020; i.e. Kindness.

The 12 artists in this exhibition are Danial Kushairi, Ejan Ahmad, Grace Wang (黄婉秋), K. Aveena Devi, Kumar Nagalingam, Mariyam Shany Ahmed (Manje), Pan Wai Ling (Claire), Prabh Lahari, Rekha Menon, Shia Lynn Victor (nee Toh), Wong Jia Yaw (Edward) and Yow Chi Leng.

Amongst these 12 artists, there are different types of physical and mental strength and abilities; i.e. Danial is a 17-year old boy diagnosed with autism; Edward and Claire are deaf; Aveena is born with spina bifida and is on a wheelchair. Regardless of the different physical and mental abilities of these 12 artists, every single one of them (and us too) have the function to take good care of our mental health well-being. Through this exhibition, we are showcasing how art is one of the tools for that purpose.

We applaud each and every one of the artists in this exhibition for taking up the courage to participate in this exhibition in this trying time of the pandemic; showcasing through their arts, how being kind and having courage facilitate the mental health well-being of themselves and hopefully others too. It takes a lot of courage to showcase artworks in this theme. We would like to invite everyone to be kind and be open to each individual artists’ ways of expression through art when viewing the artworks showcased in this exhibition.

The opening reception of the art exhibition is on:

Date: 10 October 2020 (Saturday)

Time: 3.00 - 5.00 pm

Venue: Inner Joy Art, Section 16, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Notes: Limited to 30 pax only. Free entry.

(Please RSVP your attendance through the artist who invited you or through the gallery's email : hello@innerjoyart.com)

*Also available through Facebook Live streaming via https://www.facebook.com/InnerJoyArt

On the next day, 11 October 2020, 2 of the participating artists, Kumar Nagalingam and Grace Wang (黄婉秋) will be launching their books which also showcase messages along the theme of this art exhibition. The books are entitled “The Dialogue” (by Kumar Nagalingam), “Master, Where are You? 主人，你在哪” and “Accept Ourselves No Comparison 接纳自己不比较” (by Grace Wang (黄婉秋)). Details of the Books Launch are:

Date: 11 October 2020 (Sunday)

Time: 11.30 am

Venue: Venue: Inner Joy Art, Section 16, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Notes: Limited to 30 pax only. Free entry.

(Please RSVP your attendance through the artist who invited you or through the gallery's email : hello@innerjoyart.com)

*Also available through Facebook Live streaming via https://www.facebook.com/InnerJoyArt

We would like to conclude by quoting Dr. Ingrid Daniels, the President of the World Federation of Mental Health, “Together we are stronger and together we can make a big difference all over the world. World Mental Health Day aims to raise awareness in the global community about the critical mental health agendas – with a unifying voice through collaboration with various partners – to take action and to create lasting change through the messages we promote. We are all in this together and together we can bring about mental health for all.”

Indeed, we are all in this together. See you all in the exhibition!

*Updated : Here's a video of the opening reception and books launching. Special thanks to Sean Raoul for this video.