Camy Tam
A photographic exhibition titled “Quarantine 21+7”, curated by António Mil-Homens and organised by the Rui Cunha Foundation (FRC), is being held at the FRC Gallery.
According to a statement on the gallery’s website, “This exhibition aims to raise awareness on the mental impact of quarantine, and show how that impact can be reduced by keeping the right mindset: solidarity, imagination and positivity,” reads the “manifesto of intentions”.
The statement says that the exhibition is the result of a project comprising 20 panels with photographs by different authors, representing the daily lives of the first residents who were confined in Macau’s mandatory 21-day quarantine, plus seven days for self-health management, after their return from Europe in early 2021.
The “experiment” took place between January 21 and February 1 at the Grand Coloane Resort Hotel in Hac Sa – one of Macau’s so-called “quarantine hotels”.
As described by the artists of the exhibition, “The photos are the result of a “spontaneous daily photography contest” that was initiated by a group of residents undergoing quarantine. All the communication was done through a messaging app. Some of them in the group didn’t even know each other and had turned to the challenge which inspired them to think positively and creatively within a group of people who faced the same situation. It wasn’t easy to come up with new subjects to photograph while confined to a hotel guestroom. But this challenge, and the extensive communication it required, helped create a positive emotional bond with the surroundings, and with each other,” according to the statement.
The statement points out that the photos show the “high moments of everyday life” during the isolation. The participants underlined that the success of the “resilience test” was also due to “the amazing cooperation from family and friends on the outside, the kindness of the hotel staff, and the effort of the Health Bureau personnel,” according to the statement.
The exhibition is open until Friday at the FRC Gallery at 749 Avenida da Praia Grande. It is open until Friday daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
As part of the government’s COVID-19 prevention measures, all visitors entering the gallery are required to wear a facemask, have their temperature checked and present their digital health code.
For enquiries, call 2892 3288 or visit www.ruicunha.org.
Photos: Camy Tam
