Camy Tam
A public art exhibition entitled “Learning from Macao向澳門學習”, which is part of the ongoing Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021 event is displayed on the exterior wall of the Handover Gifts Museum of Macau in Nape.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) in conjunction with the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO).
According to a statement on the bureau’s website, the exhibition features a mega urban panorama of Macau created by the mainland-based Drawing Architecture Studio (繪造社) which used its signature language of architectural axonometric drawing (建築軸測圖語言) to create the exhibit.
The term axonometric describes a projection in which the horizontal and vertical axes are to the same scale, but the third axis is reduced to allow for perspective.
According to the statement, Drawing Architecture Studio was co-founded in Beijing by architect Li Han (李涵) and designer Hu Yan (胡妍) in 2013. The artists are dedicated to architectural drawing, building design, and urban research. Through their practice, they explore the potential of architectural drawing as a unique medium to document, represent, and critique social reality in the context of contemporary urbanisation. The artists explore inspiration from the tradition of architectural drawing, combining pop art, postmodern aesthetics, and the influence of today’s trendy culture to create grand cityscapes. Their works are mostly characterised by ultra-high density, precise details, and flat drawing style, expressing diverse contemporary urban cultures.
The statement points out that Macau offers a unique direction for artistic creation. The local gaming industry’s impact on the city’s architecture and landscape, and the changes to the city’s daily and recreational life are worth observing, learning, recording and representing. Through the mega-exhibit, the organisers believe that it can lead the public to gain a new concept of urban design in the 21st century, the statement underlines.
According to the bureau’s information, the size of the exhibit is 12.5 metres in height x 26.2 metres in length.
The exhibition is on display until December 30 on the outer wall of the Handover Gifts Museum of Macau at 237-285 Avenida Xian Xing Hai, Nape. For more information, visit the website https://www.artmacao.mo/2021/eng.
Photos: Camy Tam
