The Macau Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) announced in a statement yesterday that its School of Continuing Education in conjunction with the China Institute of Arts Science & Technology’s Macau office held the Art Certificate Exam of China in July last year, with certificates awarded in November.
According to the statement, the exam was for Grade 3 in Pencil Sketch and Grade 6 for Watercolour Painting, with 28 high school students from Escola Luso-Chinesa Técnico-Profissional taking the exams.
The statement added that the works were submitted on the same day to the Art Certificate Exam Centre of China Institute of Arts Science & Technology for assessment, with each work evaluated “strictly and positively”.
The statement pointed out that the School of Continuing Education has been authorised to provide courses for the Art Certificate Exam of China since 2020, with the institute also registered as an exam centre.
The exam was first launched in 2004 to promote art education and encourage its “healthy development”. The exams have been conducted in line with relevant management rules across mainland China, covering 30 provinces and autonomous regions, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Famed artists are also invited as “assessment specialists”.
Aiming to encourage art education in society through graded exams, the exam’s three major categories are subdivided in a collection of 11 skills, which are “Chinese-style painting (flowers and birds, landscape painting, figure painting), Chinese calligraphy (soft brush calligraphy, pen calligraphy) and Western-style painting (pencil sketch, quick sketch, gouache, watercolour painting, oil painting, cartoon)”.
Gouache (aka body colour or opaque watercolour) is defined by Wikipedia as “a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material”.
This undated handout photo provided by IFTM shows students posing with their certificates. The caption provided by the tertiary education institution did not say when and where the photo was taken.
