In sponsoring The Lost Buddhas exhibition, we are pleased that we have helped bring such a majestic array of sculpture from China to Sydney, but also feel a keen realisation of how little we in Australia know about the religious and artistic traditions of Asia. Most Australians schooled in the 1960s and 1970s were taught, and possibly can recall, that the year 1066 was important because Harold - then King of England – was shot in the eye by a Norman archer and died at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman conquest of England was effectively complete. Whilst undoubtedly a very important historical event, we never learned whether any similarly dramatic event occurred in Song Dynasty China. Nor were we taught either when, or how, Buddhism spread eastwards from India to China, Korea and Japan, let alone the extent of the artistic representation of the image of Buddha in those countries. No doubt the teaching of history deals more with Asia nowadays, but we are proud to make a small contribution by working with the Art Gallery of New South Wales to host this exhibition. Warwick Johnson
Managing Director
Optimal Fund Management 
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