The local museum dedicated to commemorating Xian Xinghai (冼星海) yesterday received historical materials about the nation’s renowned composer, such as music sheets, documents and photos, donated by Baldyrgan Baikadamova, daughter of Xian’s cherished friend, Kazakh musician Bakhytzhan Baikadamov, who invited Xian to stay with him when he was stranded in Kazakhstan in the 1940s.
Baikadamova has come to Macau where she handed the materials to Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) Vice President Choi Kin Long during a ceremony held at the museum yesterday.
The local museum dedicated to the legacy of Xian, officially known as Xian Xinghai Memorial Museum, opened in November 2019.
The memorial museum, housed in a Portuguese-style house, is located near the junction of Avenida do Coronel Mesquita (美副將大馬路) and Rua de Francisco Xavier Pereira (俾利喇街), i.e., situated next to the headquarters of public broadcaster TDM.
Born in Macau on June 13, 1905, Xian is revered as “the people’s musician”, whose most famous works include the “Yellow River Cantata”, “March of the Army and the People”, and “Production Cantata”, which galvanised national morale, an IC statement yesterday noted.
Xian passed away in Moscow on October 30, 1945, at the age of 40.
A local avenue is named after Xian – Avenida Xian Xing Hai in Nape running from the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) complex to the back of the Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau hotel.
During the final years of his life, Xian was stranded in Kazakhstan, which then was a part of the now defunct Soviet Union, while attempting to return to China from Russia.
According to an information board displayed in the Xian Xinghai Memorial Museum, Xian followed a film crew to Moscow in December 1940. As the German army invaded the Soviet Union’s western regions in June of the following year, Xian was forced to retreat to Mongolia and tried to find a way back to China. He was stranded there for a year and did not succeed in returning because the border between Mongolia and China was closed.
Xian then attempted to return to China via Kazakhstan, but again failed. Xian took desperate refuge in Almaty where he was helped by Baikadamov, according to the information board.
Yesterday’s IC statement noted that in the 1940s, Xian was stranded in the Soviet Union in the Kazakh city of Almaty where he was invited by the family of Baikadamov to stay with them, forging a deep friendship.
Delivering a speech during yesterday’s ceremony, Choi noted that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 120th anniversary of Xian’s birth.
Choi expressed his bureau’s sincere gratitude to Baikadamova for her donation of precious materials related to Xian’s life in Almaty, saying that the materials preserve Xian’s memory on foreign soil and document the profound friendship he shared with the family of Baikadamov.
Choi said that the donated materials will enrich the collection of the Xian Xinghai Memorial Museum and serve as invaluable materials for patriotic education in Macau.
Choi said that Xian received the selfless assistance from the family of Baikadamov. United by music, Choi said, they forged a friendship that transcended national borders. Choi expressed his bureau’s heartfelt gratitude to Baikadamova for personally travelling to Macau, bringing the precious historical memories back to Xian’s homeland.
After the donation ceremony, Baikadamova engaged in an exchange session with young local people, recounting her father’s friendship with Xian and the hardships they endured during the anti-fascist war.
Baikadamova spoke Russian during the session, with her remarks delivered in Putonghua by an interpreter.
Baldyrgan Baikadamova (left) hands Xian Xinghai’s historical materials related to his life in Almaty in Kazakhstan to Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) Vice President Choi Kin Long during yesterday’s donation ceremony at the Xian Xinghai Memorial Museum. – Photo: Tony Wong
