The 15th Macau Fringe, organized by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and the Cultural Affairs Bureau, comes to the city from November 1 to 15, bringing with it dozens of impressive artists seeking to fill the territory with their creations. Here are just a few highlights.
The Bird
The ensemble Les Rémouleurs was founded in 1983 and has developed into one of the most innovative puppet and shadow theatre groups in France. Featuring a projection device invented by Olivier Vallet and la Compagnie des Rémouleurs, this bird-marionette with an eight-meter wingspan is held by twenty or so helium balloons. It glides over the public and collects the pictures sent by projectionists – showing shadows on the ground. This brilliant performance, halfway between street art, puppetry and shadow theatre helps us to see the setting of everyday life from an unexpected point of view.
Ensemble – Les Rémouleurs
Venues – The Ruins of St Paul’s
The Process of searching
Er Gao Production was established in 2007 by young independent artist He Qiwo, who hopes to create a platform for independent artists to exchange ideas. The Process of Searching reveals the artist’s pursuit of the aesthetic. Through pasting together movement, sound, environments and containers found in our daily lives, the choreographer invites audiences to transcend their understanding of matters around them and break through their usual course of thought in order to find the possibility of beauty. This site-specific dance performance captured people’s attention when first shown during the 10th Guangdong Dance Festival and will certainly find another great stage in Macau.
Ensemble – Er Gao Production
Venues – Senado Square
Play Games
Myan Myan Studio consists mostly of female members who create with their feminine energy, seeking to examine the irreversible damage in peoples’ hearts and reflecting on different issues. Play Games is a theatrical performance that addresses the issue of child abuse. It revolves around a mother who stops growing after the age of five and her daughter who matures normally. While the two pretend to be one happy family, it is clear that something is being hidden. Following the progress of the play, the secret behind the mother and the daughter is unveiled.
Ensemble – Myan Myan Studio
Venue – Old Court Building
Outsi(t)e
The performance Outsi(t)e is created by the Arte Partihada por Portugueses and Stella & Artists. Arte Partilhada por Portugueses consists of four Portuguese dancers who want to share with others the art of Portugal. Stella & Artists seeks to integrate the elements of Macau into Chinese traditional dance in order to create diversified choreographies. This site-specific performance Outsi(t)e features four couples. While their relationships are not clearly shown, their encounters will certainly lead to a series of dramatic movements and dances.
Ensembles – Arte Partilhada por Portugueses Stella & Artists
Venues – The Ruins of St Paul’s, Senado Square
The Ocean and community arts project
The program The Ocean and Community Arts Project consists of seminars, beach cleanups and excursions. It also includes an exhibition by a group of ocean-loving artists who have been collecting plastic rubbish along the coastline of Macau for half a year and will use the materials they collected to create art pieces. The program also plans to bring exhibitions to kindergartens and primary schools of Macau to educate students about our relationship with the ocean.
Ensembles – Step Out, Root Planning, Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation
Venues – All around Macau, kindergartens and primary schools along the coastline
(both former and current) of Macau
The Woodsman
The Woodsman depicts a tribe that keeps migrating inside a forest. During the migration, a child is left behind, who later starts his journey to find his father. The program is an outdoor eco-theatrical play that allows audiences to observe the environment and experience the interaction of the characters with nature.
Ensemble – Point View Art Association
Venue – Taipa Houses – Museum
For More information about Macau Fringe 2015, please visit
www.macaucityfringe.gov.mo.