Review by William Chan
Local art organisation Comuna de Pedra’s (“Stone Community”) documentary “On The Road”, directed by local filmmaker Kinkuan Chao, was shown on Saturday afternoon at Casa Garden on Praça Luis de Camões.
“On The Road’’ features the life experiences of Ngai Tong Loi and Tang Kuai Lan, both suffering certain degrees of disability. The documentary features interviews with Ngai and Tang, as well as people around them.
In the documentary, Comuna de Pedra curator Jenny Mok Sin Teng frequently raises the question of what the purpose of culture is for civil society.
This problem reminds me of my interview of the Macao Chinese Orchestra’s principal guest conductor Yeh Tsung, which was published in The Macau Post Daily last week, when he said that one of the main functions of culture is to lead society: to inform and foster aesthetic values among the people.
For Mok and her fellow members, however, her idea of culture is beyond aesthetics. They reckon that society could be more inclusive, and that everyone should have the freedom of expression. By providing opportunities for the disabled and the elderly, who are usually excluded from performing art, they hope that the minorities’ voices and opinions could be heard and appreciated.
Mok’s vision required two key elements: resources and a form of aesthetics which is quite foreign to locals. The documentary attempts to support the latter element. By providing the context of Ngai and Tang’s lives, the audience were able to empathise and resonate with their stories so that they could better appreciate their performances.
This photo taken on Saturday afternoon at Casa Garden shows the opening scene of Comuna de Pedra ’s documentary “On The Road”. – Photo: William Chan
