A solo exhibition titled “Animal Theatre” by local artist Bunny Lai Sut Weng is being held at the Lisbon-based Orient Foundation’s local Casa Garden premises, with the artworks, which comprise colourful backdrops and cute animals, satirising the exploitation of animals by humans.
On until November 26, the exhibition is held concurrently with the “XIV Autumn Salon”, about which The Macau Post Daily published an article on Tuesday.
According to a recent Art For All Society Macau (AFA) statement, the exhibition features a group of toy bears without faces building a kingdom of sweets in an animal theatre, with Macau’s cultural heritage buildings used in the paintings’ colourful backdrop. The statement noted, however, that despite the teddy bears’ cuteness and vivid background, the works are, in reality, also “a satire on the exploitation of animals by human beings”.
One might find the works reminiscent of George Orwell’s (1903 - 1947) novel “Animal Farm” published in 1945, the statement said, where the author depicts the darkness and blindness of humans in the struggle for power through the anthropomorphism of animals.
“Just like Orwell’s anthropomorphism, animals and humans seem to be in opposition to each other, but the process of giving animals their humanity is an examination of humans themselves and society”, according to the statement.
Lai was born in 1993 and received her bachelor’s degree from what was then Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) in 2016, and her master’s degree from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 2020. She was the recipient of the Orient Foundation Art Award in 2014, with her artworks having become part of the foundation’s collection. They were also shown in Lisbon in 2015 where Lai held her first solo exhibition.
Her current exhibition is the first part of her Animal Theatre series developed while studying for her master’s degree, the statement noted, as well as part of AFA’s annual project titled “Object and Non-Object” - The Art of Painting Exhibition Series. It was also featured at the Art Macao 2023 - Macau International Art Biennale Invitational Exhibition by Local Artists, specifically the work “Fountain of Vision”.
For more details, visit https://www.afamacau.com
Photos taken last week by Rui Pastorin
