Macao News https://macaonews.org Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:20:29 +0000 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 15:44:46 +0800 Macao News 68192 2023-12-07 15:44:46 2023-12-07 15:44:46 After six years in the making, Zhuhai’s sparkling new landmark, which is home to four different venues, finally opened its doors last month.]]>As the smallest mainland city in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), Zhuhai has always punched above its weight, and with its new stylish Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre which opened to the public on 16 November, Macao’s immediate neighbour solidifies its status as a vibrant regional hub.  Located in Zhuhai’s Jinwan district, the landmark – designed by Zaha Hadid Architects – combines a 1,200-seat grand theatre, a 500-seat black box theatre, an art museum and a science museum. These various institutions are positioned symmetrically around a central plaza.  Eye-catching is an apt description for the facility, which features a streamlined, latticed roof canopy inspired by the V-formation of migratory birds.  It is also situated in the middle of an artificial lake, meaning that visitors must cross one of the bridges on either side of the structure to enter or exit.  [See more: The new Guangzhou Museum of Art is open to the public] In designing the building, the architects also sought to make the building as sustainable as possible through the inclusion of natural lighting, solar shading, thermal insulation and energy-saving systems.  The Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre is an instant icon, in other words. Check out the photos below and see for yourself.  [caption id="attachment_68198" align="alignnone" width="1496"] Photo by CAT-OPTOGRAM[/caption]  ]]> Mon, 04 Dec 2023 07:10:14 +0800 Macao News 68053 2023-12-04 07:52:51 2023-12-04 07:10:14 A new exhibition of Macao’s advertising history promises to invoke nostalgia for the ways in which we once lived. ]]>Seventy years' worth of Macao’s advertising is now on display at the IAM Gallery in a nostalgic exhibition showcasing the industry’s past and present. The likes of yesteryear television commercials, large neon signs, and old fliers from well-known companies and billboards are brought to life again through “special installations and multimedia replication,” according to the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM). Evolution of Advertising is the most comprehensive exhibition of Macao’s advertising history to date, say co-organisers IAM and the Association of Advertising Agents of Macau. [See more: An exhibition by celebrated photographer Candida Höfer comes to MAM] [caption id="attachment_68055" align="aligncenter" width="605"] Photo courtesy of the Municipal Affairs Bureau[/caption] It takes viewers on a journey from printed media through the rise of outdoor advertising and on to digital technology’s indelible impact on the advertising industry. “IAM hopes that the exhibition can help the younger generation learn more about old Macao, its old events and old objects, increase their understanding of the city’s history, and thereby enhance their sense of identity and belonging,” the bureau says. Evolution of Advertising runs until 3 March 2024 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm daily. Guided tours are available on certain days, though require advance registration.  ]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2023 07:42:54 +0800 Macao News 67948 2023-11-30 07:43:17 2023-11-30 07:42:54 Sixty thought-provoking images of interiors and architecture, captured by Höfer over the past twenty years, will be on show.]]>The Macao Museum of Art (MAM) is hosting a landmark exhibition of work by the much-lauded German photographer Candida Höfer, from 5 December. The exhibition, titled Epic Gaze, comprises 60 images depicting building’s exteriors and drawing viewers into their interiors – the likes of chapels, theatres, and libraries, many of them ornate.  According to statement from the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), which helped organise the exhibition, Höfer selected each piece to inspire “the public to reflect on how these spaces continue to shape and influence the collective memory of future generations through the presentation of different types of Western cultural architecture in different periods.”  [See more: Calling all local filmmakers: there’s a new short film fest in town] Höfer is widely recognised as one of the most important conceptual photographers of the latter half of the 20th century, and has won numerous international awards. “She is known for her signature eye-level orthogonal views of architectural interiors of public spaces that are devoid of human presence,” said the IC. Candida Höfer herself will participate in two “artistic dialogues” at MAM, on 6 and 9 December. She will be joined by the art critic Herbert Burkert and curators João Ó and Rita Machado. The exhibition will run until 3 March 2024 and admission is free. More information can be found on MAM’s website.  ]]> Tue, 28 Nov 2023 07:20:02 +0800 Macao News 67879 2023-11-28 07:51:29 2023-11-28 07:20:02 Members of the new regional grouping will pool their connections with national and international museums in order to stage better shows.]]>The Macao Museum of Art is among 24 museums across the Greater Bay Area (GBA) that have formed an alliance to stage joint exhibitions and strengthen ties with museums nationwide and internationally. Other museums in the group include the Guangdong Museum, Shenzhen Museum, and the Hong Kong Museum of History. "These museums are complementary. They can work together to present high-quality shows through the alliance," Liu Shuguang, the head of the Chinese Museums Association, told China Daily. [See more: Chang Chan and Wong Weng Cheong will represent Macao at the 60th Venice Art Biennale] According to the paper, museums in China’s SARs have greater experience in areas of international cooperation, while museums elsewhere in the GBA have closer links with institutions around the country. "We have long cooperated with museums from Hong Kong and Macao. The establishment of the museum alliance in this area will offer more cooperation, the director of Guangdong Museum, Xiao Haiming, told China Daily. As an example of such cooperation, he drew attention to the joint exhibition with the Macao Museum of Art staged in Guangdong earlier this year, Focus: Acclimation of Art Between China and the West in the 18th-19th Century.  ]]> Mon, 27 Nov 2023 13:17:59 +0800 Kenny Fong 67835 2023-11-27 13:17:59 2023-11-27 13:17:59 Festival curator Marco Mueller hopes to cultivate new film talent in China, and link the arthouse film scenes of Europe, China and other Asian countries more closely. ]]>Marco Mueller, the prominent film festival organiser and movie director, is collaborating with the Macao Government to launch a brand new film festival in the city from 5 to 11 January, according to reports in film industry media.  The Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival aims to be a platform to link the mainland Chinese market for arthouse films with independent producers and other service providers in Europe and Asia. The festival also hopes to promote film education and nurture new talents in China through various programs, including masterclasses with renowned directors such as Japan’s Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Iran’s Amir Naderi.  A total of around 20 films made in Macao, Hong Kong and the mainland are to be screened at the festival. Work from the filmmakers hosting the masterclasses will also be presented.  Speaking to Deadline, Mueller said, “On the one side we are trying to honour new talents and on the other side we will be showing films that already have confirmed release dates. We will also have a training camp devised for students and young film lovers from Macao, Hong Kong and China.”  [See more: Calling all local filmmakers] Approximately 30 Asian and European film sales companies are expected to showcase their film trailers and videos to buyers during the event.  This is not the first time Mueller has helped to organise a film festival in Macao. Back in 2016, he was the director of the inaugural Macao International Film Festival and Awards, although he resigned months before it opened.  In a recent interview with local media, Marco Mueller stated that he has “a long history with Macao,” noting that “the first time I came to Macao to discuss the possibility of creating a large scale international event was back in 1994.”   ]]> Wed, 22 Nov 2023 07:20:34 +0800 Macao News 67714 2023-11-22 08:17:14 2023-11-22 07:20:34 A new series of creative writing workshops are on offer at Casa de Portugal, where the imaginations of children and adults alike will be encouraged to run wild.]]>Casa de Portugal em Macau is launching a series of written word workshops for people of all ages, aiming to offer some much-needed support and encouragement to Macao’s up-and-coming writers in the Portuguese language, Ponto Final reports. One of the three teachers facilitating the workshops, Pedro d’Alte, said that he was concerned by the lack of Portuguese literature in Macao. He noted that Casa de Portugal’s courses were about “instilling a taste and pleasure in writing and reading.” The free sessions of the Creative Writing Workshops in Portuguese begin this Saturday and will be broken into three groups: 7-10-year-olds, 11-15-year-olds, and adults. Each will have a different focus. The (already full) youngest group will emphasise the joys of the written word, while the middle group will engage in playful activities that will “grab participants’ attention, motivate them to write, and try to expand their vocabulary a little,” said d’Alte. As for the adult group, its teacher, Paula Pinto, said she would be “helping each person to let the wings of their imagination fly within them.” [See more: International and mainland Chinese authors return to the Macau Literary Festival] All the classes will be more about sparking creative thought and mind plasticity, than churning out stories, d’Alte explained. Participants are not required to attend every session. The third teacher, Lia d’Alte, said she hopes Casa de Portugal’s initiative will increase the amount of writing coming out of Macao. She lamented the lack of creative outlets for children, in particular, in the city – noting that this prompted the trio of teachers to offer this opportunity. “Literary writing is often not related to academic competence,” she added. “It’s related to taste, the desire to write, and the fact of having something to tell. It’s such a personal thing.” The Creative Writing Workshops in Portuguese are being sponsored by the Macau Foundation and take place at the Casa de Portugal headquarters. Registration can be made via email (cursos@casadeportugal.org) by calling 2872 6828.  ]]> Mon, 20 Nov 2023 07:05:51 +0800 Macao News 67649 2023-11-20 13:16:35 2023-11-20 07:05:51 The Cultural Affairs Bureau and Galaxy have announced a brand new short film festival, set to take place next year. They’re accepting applications until mid-December.]]>Applications are now open for the first Macao International Short Film Festival, a joint project between the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and Galaxy Entertainment Group. The festival will include thematic workshops and seminars, as well as 40,000 patacas in prize money for the winning film – as determined by a jury of experienced filmmakers.  The festival is not related to the 14th Macau International Short Film Festival being held in December. The latter is organised by the Institute of European Studies of Macau and Creative Macau. [See more: A guide to Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung movie locations in Macao] The new, government-organised festival aims to “encourage local film and television production professionals, develop a wider range of local short films, and expand opportunities for international exchange and cooperation,” according to the IC. To be considered, films must be 40 minutes or less in length (including opening and closing credits) but can be in narrative, documentary or animated formats. The Macao International Short Film Festival application period closes on 15 December. Dates for the festival are yet to be confirmed, but IC said it would take place next year. More information on eligibility criteria and how to submit films can be found here.  ]]> Wed, 15 Nov 2023 15:27:07 +0800 Kenny Fong 67522 2023-11-15 15:27:07 2023-11-15 15:27:07 The pair’s dystopian concept, Above Zobeide, will go on display at the famed art forum, scheduled for April next year. ]]>The Macao Museum of Art (MAM) has announced that curator Chang Chan and artist Wong Weng Cheong will represent Macao at the 60th Venice Biennale on 20 April 2024.  The pair’s exhibition blueprint, Above Zobeide, was selected in Macao’s first-ever open competition for the prestigious art event.  The inspiration for Chang and Wong’s exhibition came from Italo Calvino’s famed novel, Le città invisibili (Invisible Cities) and depicts an eerie post-apocalyptic landscape. [See more: Macao’s entry at the Venice Biennale, Allegory of Dreams, comes home] In selecting Chang and Wong’s proposal, the judges noted that it fit with the theme of the upcoming Biennale, “Foreigners Everywhere.” The appraisal panel included the president of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Fan Bo, and renowned art historian and Peking University professor, Zhu Qingsheng.  Chan is an independent curator who has organised many exhibitions in Macao and London, dividing her time between the two cities. Wong is a local artist who uses artificial intelligence and 3D imagery to create immersive experiences.  The Macao representative at the 2022 Venice Biennale was Chan Hin Io and Ung Vai Meng’s Allegory of Dreams, curated by Joāo Miguel Barros.   ]]> Mon, 30 Oct 2023 13:57:15 +0800 Kenny Fong 67048 2023-10-30 13:57:15 2023-10-30 13:57:15 Macao’s lion and dragon dance team will be returning home from Malaysia today with an impressive 7 medals, including 2 gold. ]]>Performers from Macao snagged two gold, one silver and one bronze medal on the last day of competition at the 6th Asian Dragon and Lion Dance Championship, bringing the SAR’s total medal tally to seven. The contest was held between 25 to 30 October at the Johor Bahru Arena Indoor Stadium in Malaysia, with the gold medals earned for the Northern Lion Dance, as well as the Southern Lion Dance events.  In the Southern Lion Dance event, Macao outperformed Taiwan and Vietnam, while in the Northern Lion Dance contest the SAR prevailed over teams from mainland China and Malaysia.  [See more: Details of the 10th International Lion Dance Championship have been announced] Macao also won bronze for the Southern Freestyle Lion Dance event, coming third to reigning champion Malaysia and runner-up Taiwan.  For the dragon dance contest, the SAR came second to Taiwan and edged out Malaysia.  A total of 10 countries and regions competed in 13 events for the 2023 championship, according to Dragon and Lion Dance Federation of Malaysia secretary-general Yong Kheng Chien.  The Macao team has performed well in previous iterations of the championship. During the contest held in Chongqing in 2019, the SAR took home 4 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.  —With reporting by Kenny Fong  ]]> Sat, 28 Oct 2023 09:51:38 +0800 Sara Santos Silva 67018 2023-10-28 13:01:34 2023-10-28 09:51:38 Part of a new generation of exponents of Portugal’s iconic musical genre, João is one of the most acclaimed fadistas today and performs in Macao tonight.]]>Fado singer Gisela João is set to perform one of the closing concerts of the Macao International Music Festival at the small auditorium of the Macao Cultural Centre on Saturday.  At the concert, her first performance in Macao since coming to the music world’s attention in 2012, João will be presenting a repertoire of songs from her latest album AuRora. The 39-year-old singer-songwriter is hailed one of the most talented fadistas in Portugal’s contemporary musical landscape, alongside fellow artists like Ana Moura and Cuca Roseta. João has amassed several awards, including the Globo de Ouro for Best National Interpreter in 2014, and performed on stages all around the globe.  Award-winning Portuguese writer and commentator Miguel Esteves Cardoso has compared the fadista to the late, great Amália Rodrigues and went on to affirm that “Gisela João is the great fado singer of the 21st century.” [See more: Henrique de Senna Fernandes exhibition honours the ‘guardian of Macao’s heritage’] An intrinsic part of Portuguese culture, fado gained global attention through the work of the great Amália Rodrigues (otherwise known as Queen of Fado) in the 1950s before it was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011. The genre has its roots in the Lisbon neighbourhood of Alfama and is known for its plaintive melodies and emotive lyrics. Fado songs are traditionally accompanied by the Portuguese guitarra, a kind of cittern that is unique to the country. João, born in the northern Portuguese town of Barcelos, sat down with Macao News on Friday to talk about Macao, fado and performing in sneakers. How does this feel to perform fado in Macao, given its historic connection to Portugal? It’s always an honour to go somewhere and sing the music that represents the Portuguese soul. But Macao is a special place. I learned about Macao in school and I was one of many kids watching the handover from Portuguese to Chinese administration live on TV.  The very first time I travelled outside of Portugal was to come to Macao back in 2007. I stayed here for a month, singing at a French restaurant that had organised a Portuguese-themed event called Avril du Portugal. I remember stumbling upon a little Portuguese tasca [traditional eatery] then and spotting my hometown’s symbol, the Barcelos cockerel. I immediately stopped to take a picture and a Chinese-looking gentleman started talking to me in perfect Portuguese. Travelling halfway across the world to find a different culture with aspects of my own amazed me. In 2007 I wasn’t the woman I am today. I was a small town girl travelling abroad for the first time. Returning to Macao feels like a full-circle moment.  I haven’t performed in Asia since that month-long stint in 2007, but that short stint was enough to give me a soft spot for Macao and the East. Would you like to perform in Asia more often? That would be a dream for me! To perform in Indonesia, Japan, mainland China. Asia is such a vibrant melting pot of cultures, languages, and aromas.  It’s a fascinating thing that the way music is made in Asia is different from the way music is made in the West – the notes, semitones and quarter tones are different. You’re sitting in a room where you don’t know the language, but the music you’re listening to makes you feel alive. To me, that’s what music really is about. Most of us live on auto-pilot nowadays. What I do, musically and artistically, is to bring people into the present moment – to stop, listen to the music and hopefully listen to themselves while at it. It’s not about me, neither is it about my music, it’s about being in that moment. In fact, this is what I hope for not only as a musician but as a member of an audience.  [See more: Portuguese rapper Carlão will headline the Lusofonia Festival this weekend] You’re known for rekindling fado and earning it fans across different demographics. How have you gone about that? I do own that, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. I remember when I moved to Lisbon in 2010 to sing fado, all my fellow fadistas were wearing long back dresses, embodying a perhaps overly solemn style that was very characteristic to the genre. I showed up in my short dresses, with  my tattoos, and performed in sneakers. Perhaps that has made me relatable. I don’t like this idea of artists seen as special beings meant to be idolised, that’s way too comfortable for the artist. I like to prove the complete opposite: I am human, I too fail and make mistakes. That’s the type of connection I want to create with people. I remember being 10 years old and being mocked at school because I liked fado. And the funny thing is, I don’t remember feeling upset about being mocked, but confused. How could they not feel drawn to fado like I was? Fado tells the stories of common lives, everybody’s stories – stories of heartbreak, love, fear, hope.  Sometimes things are right before our eyes and we don’t see them. In a way, I feel like I’ve found a way to make certain people, including people my age, see fado for the incredibly profound, beautiful music it is. Fado had always been there, but some people wouldn’t see it until someone who looked just like them sang it.  It sounds a bit like a cliché, but I feel like I didn’t choose fado. Fado chose me. And now I choose to look at life like the living poem of a fado song. What is your expectation for your concert in Macao? I never have expectations. I think a big part of what happens during a show is created by the audience. Artists will answer to the energy that the audience generates. We go up on stage and we feel our audience and what unfolds during the concert is greatly influenced by that feeling. I’ve cried on stage before just for sharing the beauty of a moment with an audience.   But I will promise this: to sing like it’s the last time I sing. I always do. [See more: Ari Calangi makes his return to the stage] What is it about fado that makes it transcend language barriers and resonate with audiences everywhere? We’re all human. We may be fighting each other, but in our essence we’re all the same and we feel the same emotions.  Every time I go up on stage, I aim to bring all of the people in the show together, as if I were embracing them all. It’s quite the experience for me and it absolutely transcends language.  Also, I always talk about the lyrics during my concerts, and not just when performing for non-Portuguese audiences. I talk about the poem in a fado song because poems are simultaneously simple and complex.  Being simple is incredibly difficult. Most songs are about love and most people will think of a boy-girl, boy-boy or girl-girl amorous relationship when they think of love. It’s not just that, love is so much more than that. It can be about the love you feel for your friend, your garden, your pet, yourself. I am always seeking love and I do spread a lot of love when I sing. I think that’s why when I sing, I am transported to a place that is so good to be in.  What are you most looking forward to doing or seeing in Macao? Eating! I love Chinese food. Plus walking the streets of Macao, visiting thrift shops, and maybe scooping up folk art.]]>