Local community art project “Taste of Life” kicked off yesterday, with the aim of promoting the development of the city’s old quarters and their traditional snacks to visitors and residents alike through activities such as guided tours.
Project manager Pong Chio Fai made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the project at the traditional Tai Long Fong Teahouse yesterday, a Cantonese dim sum restaurant that has been operating for over 70 years, near Hong Kung Temple on Rua de Cinco de Octobre.
Subsidised by the Macau Cultural Development Fund, the “Taste of Life” community art project is co-hosted by the Dream Theatre Association, Macao Cultural Heritage Reinventing Studies Association, and Culture & Thinking Creative Commune.
Pong said that the project will be divided into three phases, which will last until next year, with its first phase starting with the collection of historical information, followed by art creation and guided tours for the public. Pong said that there will be about 20 people per tour, while its third phase will be scheduled for next year with a city tour.
A series of books and video interviews using traditional food shops in the community as an inspiration has been published, and a series of activities will be held in the near future, including a guided tour and the preparation of traditional food in a parent-child experience workshop, as well as a mobile theatre, Pong said.
Pong also said he hopes to promote the stories of the traditional, old shops in Macau’s old quarters through the programme, especially in the vicinity of Rua de Cinco de Outubro (“Fifth of October Street” – named for the day when Portugal became a republic on October 5, 1910) among both locals and tourists in a new and creative way, so as to stimulate the community’s economy and strengthen the arts and cultural atmosphere there.
Project manager Pong Chio Fai (right) addresses yesterday’s opening ceremony of the “Taste of Life” project at the traditional Tai Long Fong Teahouse on Rua Cinco de Outubro. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
