Creative Macau-Centre for Creative Industries celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday at its headquarters on the ground floor of the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape, with the event also seeing the opening of a collective exhibition by Creative Macau members titled “Four Seasons”, and the launch of the 20th Anniversary book “DOCUMENTA 2023”.
Lúcia Lemos, Creative Macau’s coordinator, told The Macau Post Daily that Macau’s creative industry has “changed a lot” in 20 years.
She noted that back then, Macau did not have a lot of people in the creative field while the focus was more on painting compared to other art forms. Time has seen artists in Macau who have become “very professional”, with some who “have reached the top” in the city and have also been invited to go abroad, Lemos pointed out.
A “variety of people with new ideas” have also appeared since then, some of whom may not be professional artists but are striving to get there. Moreover, there are nowadays more artists in Macau from different cultures, including local artists, who have the courage and motivation to showcase their work.
Lemos added that in terms of supporting artists, she believed that Creative Macau as a platform has helped aspiring artists and those who were just starting out by promoting and exhibiting their work, as well as them going abroad. “We really have been doing a lot for the locals” not only in showing their art, but in preparing them for different events and connecting them with other creative people, she added.
Meanwhile, Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM) President José Luís de Sales Marques said during his welcome speech that “today, cultural and creative industries are considered to be an important sector of the 1+4 model of economic diversification. We know that it is not an easy task, there are several constraints, but we must persist!”
Creative Macau is a project developed and managed by the Institute of European Studies of Macau, according to the official website of Creative Macau.
“We are proud and humble at the same time, acknowledging that we have contributed to the development of these industries, but also that there is still much more to do. We hope that Creative Macau will continue to be a key player in the development of the Cultural and Creative Industries in this region”, he added.
Creative Macau-Centre for Creative Industries Coordinator Lúcia Lemos (3rd from left) and Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM) President José Luís de Sales Marques (4th from left) cut the cake for the centre’s 20th anniversary, alongside Cultural Affairs Bureau President (IC) Leong Wai Man (2nd from left) and other guests at the centre in Nape yesterday.
– Photo: Rui Pastorin
