Showcasing over 40 pieces of toy art and art prints from over 10 different countries and regions, the “ART TOY CON 2023” sales exhibition has broken into the international art scene by collaborating with artists, production teams and organisations across the world, aiming to promote cross-cultural understanding and artistic connections, Anny Chong Wai, the event curator and co-founder of the local Nativo Workshop, told The Macau Post Daily yesterday during a guided-tour.
The two-day event, hosted by the Macau City Visual Arts Society in conjunction with the Toy Academy and United Culture Media Company Limited, kicked off on Saturday at the Tap Seac Square Commercial Centre, commonly known as the Glasshouse, and ended yesterday.
This year’s annual event included a corner for collectors and toy art enthusiasts to showcase their own collections and toy art, Chong pointed out.
Ever since it started in 2021, ART TOY CON has celebrated creativity, cultural diversity and the fusion of art and play, and has partnered with a large number of international artists, Chong said.
This year, however, the event took its mission up another level by making artistic and cultural exchange its focus, shown especially in its “SLOT&SHOT” project, a display of the event’s mascot – “MACBALLZ” – figurines designed by the Nativo Workshop each of which was distinctly coloured by different artists from Ecuador, Germany, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Macau, Chong said.
Chong also said that the event was held in conjunction with nine other countries – Argentina, El Salvador, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica Mexico, Peru, Spain and Venezuela, adding that through web conferences and social media, ART TOY CON 2023 introduced Macau to an “international perspective on art”, while “presenting Macau to a wider international audience”.
One of the exhibition’s highlights was its art seminar “Shall We Talk”, where global figures in the toy art industry including Eric So, Ron English and Planet X discussed global views on the genre and the latest and future trends in toy art, Chong noted.
“Here we aim to learn from others and discover,” said Chong, who added: “Discover the world, and let the world discover us – Macau.” Despite its short duration, ART TOY CON Macau 2023 was “a great step” towards highlighting Macau’s cultural heritage to the world and fostering global cooperation in today’s increasingly interconnected world, she underlined.
Meanwhile, when asked about the inspiration behind his art pieces, the local toy art designer and artist of GrideToys, Gride Chan Wang Hou, told The Macau Post Daily via WhatsApp that his works trace their roots back to ancient Chinese myths, reinforcing the event’s objective for cultural exchange.
Toy art from GrideToys by local artist Gride Chan Wang Hou is displayed at the ART TOY CON Macau 2023 in the Tap Seac Glasshouse yesterday.
The eight figurines of the ART TOY CON Macau 2023’s mascot, “MACBALLZ”, part of the “SLOT&SHOT”colouring project, are displayed at the ART TOY CON Macau 2023 sales exhibition at the Tap Seac Glasshouse yesterday.
Nativo Workshop co-founder Anny Chong Wai (left) and United Culture Media Limited Company co-founder Chan Ting Ting pose at the ART TOY CON Macau 2023 at the Tap Seac Glasshouse yesterday. – Photos: Leong Ian Kio
