The sun, low in the sky, illuminates the upstairs corridor causing the window facing me to look like the yellow eye of a dragon. The black iron roof, ceilings lined with wooden beams, and creaking floor boards – it all seems to tell a story of the past that aptly echoes a poem written carefully on the window glass:
“Memories are easy to fade
but not easy to be forgotten
Tides rise and fall this is nature’s law
No one can ask for more
Just like the love you gave before”
The artwork, combining poetry and calligraphy, was on display last month in an exhibition entitled “Written in Water” presented in an old two-storey old house located at number 38 Beco da Ostra.
It showcased a total of 12 pieces of work from two young local artists, Aquino da Silva and Lavinia Che. Both artists not only aimed to revive the beauty of poetry through art, but also explored how artwork can rejuvenate aging architecture. They felt fortunate to have been able to borrow such a historic house from a friend to host their first exhibition in Macau.
According to Che, the place was a family home for twelve decades, but is now empty since the family moved out years ago. Nonetheless, it is still full of memories and traces the passage of time.
“It was a home for several generations of the family and their history passed from one generation to another. I’m glad to turn this adorable house into a temporary art gallery,” she says.
As time goes by, people and feelings change, and so it seems to be with poetry and calligraphy. Both have had a long and profound history in Western and Eastern cultures, but in today’s technological era, they are not as popular as they once were, Che notes.
“Our world nowadays is gradually becoming digitalised, simplified and symbolic. Few of us learn and appreciate poetry and calligraphy, and their influence on us could vanish sooner or later, just like a house falling apart without any proper maintenance. It’s just a matter of time,” she says. In order to create an eye-catching visual impact, the two artists not only used traditional skills and techniques, but also played around with various kinds of materials, including seashells, glass windows and furs to present their poems.
“We wanted to bring out the value of calligraphy to visitors and allow them to see that the beauty of poetry is no longer confined to a piece of paper, in the form of plain text only,” the artist points out.
The old house adds to the sense of nostalgic longing and is a very apt venue for the exhibition. The road on which it sits is quiet, with dark green weeds creeping along the pathway. Spiders scurry in dark corners, their old webs flapping in dusty silence as they cling to the wall. They look a bit spooky, but lovely at the same time. A grey stone stove, latches on solid oak doors, weathered paint peeling off in spots, and warm air seeping under doors.
“This old house gives emotion to our work and we do hope to explore more possibilities to host various types of art exhibitions in places like this in the future,” Che says.
