SJM Resorts is partnering with the Macau Artist Society and the Macau Youth Art Association to showcase the Celebration of Art & Culture – Artistic Lantern Festival at Grand Lisboa Palace and Grand Lisboa Hotel.
Six local grand masters and eight local young artists have joined forces to create iconic lantern installations that celebrate Chinese art and traditions, showcase Macau’s cultural heritage, and promote cross-sector synergies between “tourism and arts and culture”.
This powerful combination of creative minds is a remarkable collaboration, spanning generations and conjoining multiple genres, with traditional art crossing over with modern creativity.
The lanterns will be on exhibit at the Grand Lisboa Palace West Entrance and Jardim Secreto, as well as in the lobby of Grand Lisboa Macau in celebration of both the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.
Ms. Daisy Ho, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SJM, remarked, “We are truly privileged to set the stage for this collaboration between six of Macau’s legendary artists and eight talented young artists. In addition to preserving the traditional art of lantern making, it is an excellent opportunity to showcase the multi-faceted talents we have in Macau. This event will become a regular addition to our yearly calendar, through which SJM can celebrate with the community as well as provide a platform that contributes to fostering local talents.”
Mr. Lok Hei, President of the Macau Artist Society, said, “This delightful collaboration between the Macau Artist Society and SJM honours the age-old family tradition of admiring the full moon accompanied by a blossom of lanterns during Mid-Autumn, while celebrating fresh creativity in this art form deeply set in Chinese Culture. The event is about ‘perpetuation’ and marks a time of celebration for all Macau residents and visitors to come together during this special festive season.”
Mr. Lai Ieng, Chairman of the Macau Art Master Association and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Macau Artist Society, worked closely with Ms. Nicole Ng, a graphic designer to create one of the lanterns on display.
“For this exhibition, I selected a few of my past paintings of Macau architecture, including Western and Chinese buildings, and then handed them over to the young artists to express their creativity and see what kind of creative resonance could be generated from the exchange of works,” comments Lai Ieng. “I’m always keen to work with young people and they love to listen to my stories, so the process is full of laughter. I learned a lot from them, especially when I saw that they had some new techniques or new painting tools that interested me, or when they took me to some new places to sketch.”
“It was really an honour to work with Mr Lai Ieng and I was inspired by his paintings in the process,” adds Nicole Ng. “It was also the first time I have been involved in a collaboration between an established artist and a new generation of artists, and it was a very interesting and valuable experience to have an exchange of inspiration and innovation.”
“I was inspired by a series of Macau landscape paintings by Mr. Lai, in which he painted a variety of Macau buildings, including many doors in Chinese and Portuguese architectural styles. Because I was impressed by the doors he painted, I used them as the starting point for the design of the lantern. In addition, I felt the lightness and infectiousness of Mr. Lai’s watercolour paintings, so I added the image of soap bubbles to express this artistic quality.”
Local graffiti artis Thomas Lo Si In (“MCZ”) was also invited to participate in the event, creating an impressive Lotus lantern.
“This lantern exhibition is based on heritage, so I chose the lotus as the main subject of my creation because it has a connection with the ancient topography of Macau,” MCZ explains. “I have studied graffiti spray painting from the West in the past, but since these lanterns are full of oriental flavour, I added both unconventional graffiti techniques and original oriental hand-painting in ink to my work, hoping to show both eastern and western elements on the petals, in keeping with the diverse and tolerant culture of Macau, and to pass it on.”
“I think this collaboration was a very good experience, an exchange and dialogue between the old and the new, the experienced and the young,” adds MCZ. “Sometimes our younger generation may not understand the persistence of some of our predecessors, and they in turn may not understand the different things that are in the minds of young people today.”
The Celebration of Art & Culture – Artistic Lantern Festival event comprises various exciting activities for the Macau community, including lantern-making workshops, interactive AR games, and educational lantern exhibition tours led by SJM team members. SJM is also inviting charity organisations and students to join the tours and learn about the uniqueness of Chinese heritage, art and culture.
“Celebration of Art & Culture – Artistic Lantern Festival” will be held from 29 September to 31 October 2022 and is open free to the public.