Deland, Leong Wai Man
Macao’s cultural environment is highly distinctive: Every day, local people unwind and rest at one particular space in front of a statue of a foreign poet. In the morning, elderly people practise Tai Chi here. Around midday, school children run around the statue and play. At night, lovers sit in front of it and whisper sweet nothings. The statue stands in remembrance of the renowned Portuguese national poet Luís de Camões. Every day in a park – which also happens to be named after the poet – the people of Macao live in calm and harmony under the gaze of the great poet. This unique cultural environment beautifully symbolises the relationship between Chinese and Portuguese cultures and the long friendship between the Chinese and the Portuguese people in Macao.
Allegedly, Camões came to Macao when the city opened its port to trade in the mid-16th century. Camões Grotto, as it is known, is not the only cultural relic that persists in Macao, and together these historic works remind us all of more than four hundred years of multicultural connection. Now, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government is delighted to join hands with the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre to present Journeys of Light: Macao Landscape Watercolours from the Macao Museum of Art Collection, an exhibition that, through the featured artists’ watercolour paintings, reveals even more of Macao’s cultural landscapes and streetscapes that are rich in history to audiences in Lisbon.
Macao has always been a platform for cultural exchange between the East and the West, and over centuries many of the events that have taken place on this platform have been depicted in watercolour. Artists such as British painter George Chinnery (1774 – 1852), French painter Auguste Borget (1808 – 1877), Russian painter George Vitalievich Smirnoff (1903 – 1947) and local modern painters Herculano Estorninho (1921 – 1994), Lai Ieng (1949 – ) and Lio Man Cheong (1951– ), have intersected international perspectives with their own vision to showcase the city’s unique historic heritage and artistic styles. Today, with the support of the Chinese central government, Macao is committed to furthering a base for exchange and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream alongside the existence of diverse cultures. With this in mind, Macao can provide a broader platform for international art and deepen exchanges between Macao and other international art circles.
Every person who has visited Lisbon knows of Camões’ iconic poem: ‘Here, where the land ends and the sea begins’. We believe that Macao will never cease to be an important bridge of communication between China and Portugal, and that art can be a starting point for dialogues that connect the hearts between the two peoples. We anticipate the exhibition Journeys of Light: Macao Landscape Watercolours from the Macao Museum of Art Collection will contribute to this ideal, and I wish the exhibition a resounding success!
DELAND, LEONG WAI MAN
President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government