Interview by Rui Pastorin
An exhibition entitled “The Macau Dream is Alive and Well” is currently on at the Creative Macau gallery, showcasing art works created by visual artist Angela Hoi Ka Ian and designer Jovinia António in two sections: Hoi’s “That day I rolled a boulder up a mountain” and António’s “Tough Comforts”.
Hoi, an art teacher at a secondary school, told the Post in an interview during the exhibition’s opening ceremony last Thursday that the concept of the exhibition came from a piece that she did back in 2022, which was about the COVID-19 pandemic and took on the concept of waiting. “At the time, everyone was at home and we were all waiting for something to happen”, the artist said.
Continuing with the concept, Hoi said that her exhibition is themed after “repetition” and has been inspired by the story of Sysiphus in Greek mythology, in which the character, after trying to cheat death, receives eternal punishment.
His eternal punishment consisted of him pushing a boulder up a hill and each time he neared the top, the boulder would roll back down, with Sisyphus needing to do it all over again.
Hoi used the story of Sysiphus as a metaphor for daily life, noting: “The boulder represents everyone’s burden or some kind of strength to push us to somewhere we want to be, which is the main core of my exhibition.”
Hoi’s side of the exhibition, which is set under a dark backdrop, features installations, paintings, sculptures and video art. Ho said that she hoped to show that even if each day may seem to be the same or riddled with hopelessness, one could find a “flower or some kind of spotlight” within the monotony. “It’s our goal to find this kind of difference in our life”.
On the other side of the gallery, exhibition-goers will be able to see the vibrant colours of António’s artworks, one of which is an installation reminiscent of what one saw at a testing station during the pandemic. However, instead of being used for sanitisation and testing, the local designer said that it was instead used to sanitise one’s “negative emotions”, which needs to be done by the exhibition visitors before proceeding to the next part of the installation, which is the “patterned world” or “comfort zone” surrounded by soft thorns.
The COVID-19-inspired installation is complete with a QR code, which leads to her other works, and signs in Chinese, Portuguese and English similar to the ones displayed at the testing stations, reminding people to “disinfect” themselves before entering their comfort zones.
When asked how she came up with the concept, which started right after Macau’s borders reopened, António noted: “I felt like I wanted to do something related to the pandemic because it’s like a record”, underlining she believed that this was a really big part of Macau’s history.
Moreover, by sanitising one’s negative emotions and entering another world, she hoped exhibition visitors could have a better day. “I want people in Macau to come here to enjoy the atmosphere and just forget about their problems or issues and the tough times in their lives, António said, adding that she wants exhibition-goers to enjoy the artworks, which also include prints she created, as well as to make everyone happy and feel good.
The gallery is open from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, except public holidays. More details can be found on www.creativemacau.org.mo
Jovina António, a local designer and one of the founders of Stardust Journey, poses in front of her installation. – Photos: Rui Pastorin
These photos show works by António.
Artist Angela Hoi Ka Ian poses in front of the title of her exhibition.
These photos show some of Ho’s works on display
