Message

“Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” has been opened to the public. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on the biennale, my sincere gratitude to all participating curators, artists and supporting institutions, and my warm welcome to the audience.

Cultural development has long remained one of the top priorities of the Macao SAR Government. As part of its policy guidelines, the Macao SAR Government has been taking steps to develop “a base for exchange and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream and the coexistence of different cultures”. “Art Macao” aims to promote humanistic spirit, enrich residents’ daily lives with global art resources, stimulate the wisdom and imagination of the city, and optimize the cultural ecology of Macao, offering a diverse range of artistic expression which vividly manifests the concept of building this “base”.

The Biennale gathers a variety of exquisite works of art from Macao, Mainland China, and around the world, most of which present a broad vision for life, solid artistic foundations and profound philosophical reflections. Dynamic art forms with profound implications evoke visual spatial images, striving to perceive and express the world from a higher level. Such forms represent a step away from inherent dimensions and static forms toward a multi-dimensional mental space. The exhibits are full of definite and indefinite dialectics and strength, as well as thought-provoking beauty and fun. The artistic demonstration of the artists’ passion, ideas, imagination and inspiration, and the individual dedication of the “unique beauty of each one”, contributes to the artistic view of “diversity” and “integrity”. This year’s Biennale will be available for four months, featuring artworks by artists from different regions with different styles and characteristics, at public spaces, higher education institutions, neighborhood communities, resorts and hotels. Its far-reaching urban aesthetic effects are worth waiting for.

This event provides an opportunity for Macao artists to exchange spiritually with their counterparts from the motherland and the rest of the world. I believe it will leave a profound and good impression on all of us and become a rich source of inspiration for cultural creation for the city of lotus.

Ao Ieong U
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture
of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region

 


The hosting of “Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” is reason for celebration in the city. First and foremost, the good results achieved by Macao SAR so far in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, provide us the conditions to safely present to our residents and visitors this four months-long feast of art and culture, running under the theme “To create for the well-being”.

An event of the scale and variety of Art Macao holds the capacity to generate opportunities for local artists, event organizers, venue managers, tourism operators and more, who benefit from its organization. While further integrating “tourism + culture and creativity”, it enriches leisure programs for our residents, and we hope it may also offer more reasons for our visitors to come and stay longer in Macao.

Government and industry operators’ close collaboration enabled the mobilization of the unique cultural resources characteristic of our city to create an art and culture gala that integrates our cultural and tourism offer, enforcing our strengths as we advance to implement the Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and create a world class destination in the region.

The success of the organization of Art Macao is a full showcase of the close cooperation between public and private sectors, allowing us to achieve greater results. Grateful for the support of all those that made this event possible, it is my wish that Art Macao is embraced by all.

Lei Wai Nong
Secretary for Economy and Finance of the
Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region

Preface

As an initiative related to the city, “Art Macao” was first held two years ago in Macao. Plunged in an immersive cultural atmosphere with the entire city as an art gallery and an art garden, residents and tourists stroll around, enjoy the city’s sights and talk happily about the city. With the participation of the government, enterprises, artists and the public, we try to promote the city through activities, create a new brand of cultural tourism with a growing global influence, and enrich Macao’s role as a world centre of tourism and leisure. Furthermore, the initiative aims to showcase Macao’s new charm as “a base for exchange and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream and the coexistence of different cultures”, contributing to the development of a cultured Bay Area.

Today, “Art Macao” returns, and we can once again enjoy the beauty and vividness brought by art.

“Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” (hereinafter referred to as “Art Macao 2021”), under the patronage of the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture and the Secretariat for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macao Government Tourism Office, co-organized by the Education and Youth Development Bureau, with the participation of enterprises and higher education institutions, is held from July to October, themed “To Create for Well-being”, presenting a series of exhibitions full of creativity and imagination, as well as masterpieces crafted with sophistication and passion, creating a unique cultural panorama in Macao throughout the summer and autumn.

The theme “To Create for Well-being” meets the third of the 17 global goals of sustainable development defined by the United Nations between 2016 and 2030, “Good Health and Well-being”. “Good Health and Well-being” is one of people’s essential aspirations and goals, undoubtedly a stimulating factor for creativity, while the creative process provides correspondingly a sense of well-being to people, therefore increasing their happiness.

At present, many countries and regions are still immersed in the suffering caused by the pandemic. It is particularly significant that people create for well-being through art and hence establish spiritual exchange. “Art Macao 2021” is divided into several sections: Main Exhibition, Special Exhibition of Resorts and Hotels, Public Art Exhibition, Creative City Pavilion, Selected Works by Local Artists and Collateral Exhibition, among others. By gathering the power of contemporary visual arts, it aims to reshape the humanistic spirit in the post-epidemic era, explore new modes and new ideas for the development of Macao’s cultural undertakings and cultural industries.

Curated by Professor Qiu Zhijie, Dean of the School of Experimental Art of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and one of the most influential contemporary artists in China, the Main Exhibition, themed “Advance and Retreat of Globalization”, is divided into three parts: “The Dream of Mazu”, “Matteo Ricci’s Labyrinth of Memory” and “Advance and Retreat of Globalization”. The Main Exhibition, together with six public artworks distributed in the city that echo each other, highlights the geographical and cultural identities of Macao, providing a space for reflection and discussion on globalization and individuality, life and dream, remoteness and proximity, security and happiness, and other aspects. The 12 artworks in the Selected Works by Local Artists are regarded as an in-depth dialogue of Macao artists in response to the above theme. The Special Exhibition of Resorts and Hotels presents a rich array of artworks, including photographs with inscriptions by Zhang Daqian, installations with local themes, lion-themed sculptures, installations that offer a sensory exploration to the sea, steel rod sculptures with sketches of Macao’s landscapes, contemporary ceramics and masterpieces of Shen embroidery, allowing the public to immerse in an artistic atmosphere filled of creativity and fantasy.

In 2017, Macao was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. “Art Macao 2021” attracts the participation of three creative cities, namely Nanjing, the City of Literature; Wuhan, the City of Design; Linz, the City of Media Arts, bringing a more diversified visual experience with creativity to the public. Among the programmed activities, “Macao: City of Gastronomy - Bon Appétit!” features a romantic composition contest under the theme of Macao’s representative souvenirs “Lou Po pastry (wife)” and “Lou Kong pastry (husband)”, allowing participants to express their love through food and poems in writing, so as to allow readers to be dazzled by their romance.

In addition to the change of media from the material carrier to the virtual space, the changes of visual arts also lie in the relationship between art and the times. In the post-pandemic era, art provokes a new reflection and evaluation on life, promoting the development and progress of social civilization.

I hope that the event “Art Macao” can contribute to take Macao to the world stage, and that through all the contemporary visual arts works exhibited, all the imaginary beyond the memories, symbols and desires of the city, may be seen and noticed, creating public admiration by human civilization and urban history. Let us all participate in this feast of urban mobility and enjoy beauty and vividness!

 

Mok Ian Ian
President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the
Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region

 

 

 

It is a great satisfaction to see Art Macao return to the city, bringing along four months of cultural and artistic entertainment.

Despite the global conjuncture due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is encouraging to see that we are able to present a Macao International Art Biennale 2021 with a diverse array of local and international art exhibitions, outdoor installations and more. This year we have inclusive for the first time a Creative Cities pavilion, displaying Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy, along with other cities from different creative fields. At the same time, Art Macao carries on innovating for being a city-wide event, staged in venues that range from traditional exhibition sites to plazas and heritage areas, higher education institutions, and hotels and resorts, fruit of the partnership between Government and major tourism operators and conferences and exhibitions organizers of the city, taking the integration between “tourism + culture and creativity” to the next level.

Hosting Art Macao, running on this edition under the theme “To create for the well-being”, enables us to amplify the efforts made in Mainland China to raise Macao’s profile as a healthy, safe and quality destination. The event presents us with another reason to extend the invitation for a different profile of visitors to come to Macao for longer and more in-depth visits in the city, contributing to continue to progressively increase the number of visitors during the summer holidays and Autumn, revitalizing the tourism industry and related sectors, and supporting the economic rebound of the city.

Finally, I wish our residents and visitors may enjoy Art Macao and through the event experience the city as “a base for exchange and cooperation where Chinese culture is the mainstream and diverse cultures coexist”.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes
Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office of the
Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region

Curator’s Words

Macao, an outcome of the first tide of globalization, is where the early experience of globalization converged. Amid the circumstance where the world is being caught by the pandemic, the debut of “Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” is particularly important since it not only provides us a site to face the local culture of Macao but also involves in the discussion of contemporary international cultural issues. This Biennale is divided into six sections: Main Exhibition, Special Exhibition of Resorts and Hotels, Public Art Exhibition, Creative City Pavilion, Selected Works by Local Artists, and Collateral Exhibition. Artists from all over the world have been invited to participate in this event, in the discussion on globalization and individuality, on daily life and dreams, on distance and nearness, and on a sense of safety and the way to happiness.

The “Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” undertakes the mission of building a structure for the later editions of Macao Biennale. I believe that with the special geographical location and cultural identity of Macao, the concerted efforts of fellows from the art circle, cultural circle, and tourist circle, and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the Macao Biennial will certainly develop into an important mega event of international contemporary art.

Qiu Zhijie
Chief Curator

Art Macao, Making Life Beautiful

As a large-scale international cultural and artistic event in Macao, “Art Macao” has brought an immersive cultural atmosphere to the entire city as a gallery and an art garden. A brand-new urban cultural tourism brand is taking shape, prepared to generate a huge mass fervour for contemporary art in Macao.

“Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” is back from July to October 2021. Government departments, enterprises together with artists from all over the world will bring diverse visual arts experiences under the theme “To Create for Well-being”.

“Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021” is divided into several sections: Main Exhibition, Special Exhibition of Resorts and Hotels, Public Art Exhibition, Creative City Pavilion, Selected Works by Local Artists and Collateral Exhibition, among others. By gathering creative ideas from around the world, it aims to promote the reputation of Macao as a world heritage city and reshape the humanistic spirit in the post-epidemic era.

Curated by Professor Qiu Zhijie, one of the most influential contemporary artists in China and Dean of the School of Experimental Art of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Main Exhibition, themed “Advance and Retreat of Globalization”, is divided into three parts: “The Dream of Mazu”, “Matteo Ricci’s Labyrinth of Memory” and “Advance and Retreat of Globalization”, providing a space for reflection and discussion on globalization and individuality, life and dream, remoteness and proximity, security and happiness, among others. The Main Exhibition also echoes the geographical and cultural identities of Macao, and triggers an in-depth dialogue between local and external artistic concepts in the globalization process.

Laying on the longitudes of different cities and in the latitudes of creativity, “Art Macao” not only hosts international masters and local celebrities, but also attracts the participation of prestigious cities such as Macao, the City of Gastronomy; Nanjing, the City of Literature; Wuhan, the City of Design; Linz, the City of Media Arts. Whilst point of convergence of unique cultural essences originating from various creative cities, Macao will once again become a great garden filled of artistic creativity.

From July to October this year, Macao will connect the whole world with creativity and allow the public to enjoy beauty and vividness. Create for the well-being of the world, create for the evolution of the world.