Art and Opera has always been part Susanna Goho-Quek's soul; now it's the subject of her fifth children's book, "Fun at the Opera", which is based on a child's magical night at the Chinese opera.
As a child, Chinese opera was a big part of Auntie Susanna's life. Her mother managed an opera troupe and her older brother was the star of the show.
She had such a great time watching the performances that she wanted to write about it for the new generation of children who have not even heard of Chinese opera. To ensure an even wider audience, she has written the book in English and Chinese and plans to translate the book into French, Russian, Tamil, Malay, Dutch, German Japanese and many more languages.
I've had many conversations with Auntie Susanna about the opera and she fears that the opera, which dates back to the 10th century, is a disappearing art form and she wants to do all she can to prevent its extinction from the world stage.
To that end, she has made it one of her primary objectives to collect and preserve as many Chinese opera items as she can. She has amassed an amazing array of costumes and she's still collecting more for her private treasure trove of artifacts.
She eventually hopes to hold an exhibition some time in the near future. (Calling all sponsors!)
In addition to writing and illustrating her book about the opera, Auntie Susanna paints exquisite portraits of both male and female opera stars. The a selection of these art pieces are available for sale at her gallery, The House of Suzie Wong at Lot 10 in Kuala Lumpur.
Chinese opera is considered such a cultural treasure that it even has a prime spot on UNESCO's Intangible Heritage list.
Fun at the Opera is available from Closetful of Books now.
 |
| Auntie Susanna with Dr M.M. Pallam Raju, Minister of Human Resources Development, India, at the launch of "Fun at the Opera" at the New Delhi World Book Fair |
