The fifth annual !Outloud International Street Art Festival (響朵) kicked off at Ponte 16 on Saturday.
Organised by the Macao Old District Promotion Association and Outloud Team, the festival aims to celebrate street art while promoting cultural exchanges and Macau’s heritage.
The organisers said during Saturday’s opening ceremony that the Cantonese slang “heong do” (響朵), meaning “to reveal one’s identity to make an impression”, inspired the event.
They noted that it represents tenacious individuals who announce themselves to the world through creative expression.
The opening ceremony featured a rapper accompanied by a lion dance performance and was attended by a number of guests and government officials. The festival is taking place at multiple locations in the Inner Harbour area until the end of this month. It includes graffiti and dance competitions, workshops, art installations, music, parades, and charity activities. Some graffiti art and installations can already be seen in Praça de Ponte e Horta (colloquially known in Cantonese as Si Ta Hau).
On Saturday, when a graffiti competition was held, a graffiti trio from Taiwan told The Macau Post Daily this was their first visit to Macau. They expressed their gratefulness for having been invited and their excitement at having been able to compete and exchange graffiti techniques over the two-day competition alongside artists from around the world.
The biggest event at the festival will take place from this Friday to Sunday, when 12 international street artists will be painting large murals on the exterior walls of Hotel S and adjacent shop areas. The total area of wall space covered by the murals is expected to exceed 500 square metres, making it the largest sanctioned graffiti installation in Macau to date, according to the organisers. For more information, visit: facebook.com/Outloudmacau
Government officials and guests pose in front of an installation art near Praça de Ponte e Horta. – Photo provided by Outloud
A rapper accompanied by a lion dance performs during Saturday’s opening ceremony at Ponte 16. – Photos: William Chan
Graffiti artist from Sichuan
Graffiti artists from Hong Kong
Taiwan graffiti artists posing
