KUCHING: People can now visit and purchase merchandise, artworks, handicrafts produced by students of Kuching Autistic Association (KAA) at its newly refurbished Autism Art Gallery.
The art gallery, which was completely refurbished last year at a cost of RM 29,800 is located in the KAA’s Resource and Educational Centre in Taman Desa Wira here.
It provides a venue for displaying, selling and promoting autism art, while creating greater awareness on the artistic abilities of people with autism.
When officiating at the launch of the art gallery on Saturday (Apr 23), Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said the opening of the art gallery marked a huge milestone for the association.
“I want to congratulate and thank KAA, sponsors and London Stock Exchange Group Foundation (LSEG Foundation), because of your love and care, you have made this art gallery possible.
“Through the art gallery, you provide the opportunity to share the joy and talent with the public of the artworks created by the students here, and I’m very touched,” he said.
Meanwhile, KAA president Dr Catherine Chen said the art gallery is designed to provide opportunities for people with autism to present a variety of meaningful self-expressions through various forms of art.
“The idea of having an art gallery was first conceived in 2018, when Hilton Hotel Kuching generously offered KAA a space within the Hotel Lobby floor as an art gallery, and KAA successfully opened the first Autism Art Gallery at Hilton in October 2018.
“In December 2019, the artwork from the gallery was moved to KAA’s premises, as Hilton Kuching was about to undergo renovation works,” she said.
Then came COVID-19 and KAA’s artwork merchandise sales almost came to a standstill for several months, and it was a difficult time for all, she said.
“However, at a time when fund-raising became very challenging, the LSEG Foundation gave KAA a generous donation of RM151,890 in 2020 and a further donation of RM 79,203 in February last year.
“This generous and timely donation enabled KAA to continue producing artwork merchandise and handmade items for sale, and this has become one of the major sources of income generation for the Association,” she said.
Out of the funds contributed by the LSEG Foundation, she added that KAA was able to completely refurbish the art gallery, turning what was previously a multi-purpose room, into an inspiring art gallery with purpose built white cabinets and display shelves, that enables to showcase the artwork, merchandise and handmade necklaces to best effect.
“The bulk of the funds contributed by the LSEG Foundation have been used for the development of artwork merchandise. Known as the Autism Art range, KAA’s t-shirts, mugs, bags, coasters, notebooks, umbrellas, keychains and magnets have been well received by the general public,” she said.
She also said that in 2020, the sales of autism art merchandise generated more than RM75,000 for KAA, and from January 2021 to January 2022, the sales of autism art merchandise raised more than RM104,000.
On another note, she said that KAA is currently planning an Autism Art Exhibition at the end of this year.
Meanwhile, also present were LSEG Charity Committee relationship manager Dayang Amydzweina, and LSEG Charity Committee chairperson Voon Boh Ning.
