A collection of artworks, ceramics, documents and books from the 4th to the 19th century are being showcased in an exhibition entitled “Crescent on the Sea” at the Rui Cunha Foundation (FRC) gallery, which all those interested in curiosity items can still visit until Saturday.
The Maritime Silk Road antiques are exhibited by third-generation antique collector Luis Au (歐路易), featuring around 50 items on display. The exhibition is co-organised by the gallery in conjunction with the Au Family Collection, which has held exhibitions to promote local history annually since 2023. Its title is derived from a crescent-shaped lake in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, according to a statement on the FRC website.
A statement displayed at the gallery noted that the Au family have been collecting antiques since the 1950s, due to a passion for studying Macau history.
Expanding on the family’s background, the statement said that the Au family relocated to Macau during the late Qing Dynasty* and its members have worked at the Moorish Barracks (which is the headquarters of what is now called the Marine and Water Bureau [DSAMA]) since the Republican Era of China (1911 to 1949). Au, like his grandfather and father before him, works in the maritime field.
“After a century of work in Macau, a city with a rich combination of Eastern and Western cultures, my family, with a Sino-Portuguese cultural background, devoted itself to promoting Macau’s cultural heritage education and local ancient treasures and relics”, Au said in the gallery statement.
Moreover, the online statement said that the exhibition aims to celebrate “the 10th anniversary of the Silk Road between Chang’an (ancient Xi’an) and Tianshan (a mountain range that crosses the borders of China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) inscription in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014; as well as the 20th anniversary of the Historic Centre of Macau inscription on the same UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005”, the FRC website said.
One can visit the free-admission exhibition from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and tomorrow, as well as from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
*The Qing Dynasty, according to Wikipedia, ruled China from 1636/1644 to 1912.
Photos: Rui Pastorin
