Katherina’s next exhibition was held in March and April of 1990 at the State Gallery of Sabah in Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia. As an official government event the exhibition was opened by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Kadoh Agundong on 22 March 1990, and through its duration was remarkably heavily attended. School-bus loads of students were brought in to view the works, and workshops were held.

From the local news department: a prerecorded radio interview with the sculptor was broadcast while Katherina, her mother Vera and husband William were driving through the jungle to the northwestern town of Kudat. At the appointed time they turned off the road and, it being high noon near the equator, they sought shade among the oil palms. The interview was fairly lengthy, and the motor/air conditioner of the rental car interfered with the radio reception. Accordingly both were shut down from time to time so that the occupants could hear the interview better — on/off, on/off, on/off — until it finally ended!

There was also considerable newspaper coverage, some of which appears here.

While it was a wonderful event, and seemingly appreciated by all, there was one shadow that fell over it. One evening two of Katherina’s paintings were stolen from the State Gallery and never recovered.

We can only thank most warmly Mohd Yaman for inviting Katherina not once but twice to Sabah, “the Land Beneath the Wind.” Most regretfully we have to report that Sabah’s greatest art lover and nurturer Dato Yaman passed away a few years back.

Type: Solo