An exhibition titled “Voices on Paper – Cantonese Opera and Operatic Songs Cultural Exhibition”, jointly organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and the Sun Yat-Sen Library of Guangdong Province, was inaugurated yesterday afternoon at Sir Robert Ho Tung Library in Largo de Santo Agostinho, and is open to the public until November 12.
The exhibition displays historical documents, materials, photos and collections related to Cantonese Opera concurrently at three branches of the Macau Public Library system, namely Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, Taipa Library, and Seac Pai Van Library.
According to a statement by the bureau, the exhibition showcases symbolic artifacts such as Cantonese Opera repertoire and costumes, bamboo flutes and biographies of renowned Cantonese Opera conductors, provided by various cultural organisations from Macau and Guangdong, as a means of showing the history and development of the traditional art form to the public.
Yesterday’s opening ceremony was officiated by Deputy Director-General of the Department of Publicity and Culture of the Central People’s Government Liaison Office Yin Rutao, IC Vice-President Cheong Lai San, as well as local veteran Cantonese Opera actor Tang Va Chio and actress Wong Mui Fan, who were both invited to perform an impromptu Cantonese Opera excerpt on-site. The event was attended by representatives of several public libraries and local Cantonese Opera troupes.
Cheong said in her opening remarks that the exhibition mainly serves as an “aesthetic education” to spark citizens’ interest in the traditional Chinese art form, while promoting this unique heritage to tourists and the outside world. She stressed that Cantonese Opera is “part of people’s daily lives” and therefore must be taken into the community. She added that the event has opened doors for strengthening collaboration amongst libraries of Guangdong and Macau in art promotion, thereby facilitating the sharing of cultural resources between cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
In her speech, Cheong announced that a series of educational workshops focusing on Cantonese Opera makeup, gestures and movements will be held respectively at Sir Robert Ho Tung Library on October 21 and at S. Lourenço Library on October 29, in order to provide residents with a first-hand experience of the tradition’s artistic charm.
According to information provided by the bureau, Cantonese Opera is one of the major traditional Chinese opera genres whose origin can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. It is prevalent in the Cantonese-speaking regions including Guangdong, in the south of Guanxi, Macau, Hong Kong, and amongst ethnic Chinese communities in Malaysia and Singapore. In 2009, it was inscribed onto UNESCO’s Representative List of World Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Two local Cantonese Opera artists perform an excerpt during the opening ceremony of yesterday’s exhibition at Sir Robert Ho Tung Library. – Photo: Gabriel Tam
