The Macau Artists' Hall, part of the "Pontes de Encontro" exhibition, is on show at the Military Club Macau. For the first time the exhibition, organized under the pretext of the 19th anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty of Macau, features video, sculpture and oil painting on metals, according to curator José Duarte. In total there are 34 works by 35 artists, illustrating the artistic diversity produced in the territory.
"This year we extended the new media a little more," José Duarte explains. "We naturally have a relatively large number of paintings, whether traditional Chinese, or oils and acrylics on canvas, but we also have video, painting on metallic materials, paper sculpture, a work made entirely by ballpoint pen, a digital painting piece. We have a wide range of works of various media and a combination of traditional with more modern techniques, namely digitally based," the curator says of the works on show, adding that this is the first time that this exhibition includes video, sculpture and oil painting on metals.
Regarding the choice of artists, José Duarte, who assumes the exhibition's curatorship along with Lina Ramadas, explains that the process begins with those whose work is more familiar to them. "We started with some artists whose work is more familiar, we are looking to meet new artists, we also seek to have more established artists and younger artists. It is also an interactive process through which we begin with some works that have attracted us the most and we will, from then on, develop successive contact with artists until we arrive at a set of works that seem balanced and representative," the curator says of the process.
In the exhibition’s presentation text the curators explain that it "does not organize around a specific theme, technique or style". "Rather, it seeks to reflect on the activity of artists through works that are representative of their current creative, aesthetic or thematic concerns," they describe. This year, compared to previous years, more work based on new media is being presented, the curators José Duarte and Lina Ramadas continue. "This exhibition is, by its very nature, a meeting place for multiple ideas and forms of expression. Together, we believe that the work presented here conveys a strong message about the diversity and vitality of the arts in Macau. It blossoms along various paths. It is this richness that we believe visitors will recognize here," they conclude.
The Macau Artists' Hall is open to the public until January 6, every day from noon to 8:00 pm at the Ho Yin Gallery of the Macau Military Club. The exhibition follows the Portuguese painters' show, held in June, and the presentation of Portuguese-speaking artists in October, integrated in the "Pontes de Encontro" cycle, organized by the Cultural Events Promotion Association.
