In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland later this year, the Macao Youth Artistic Association has rolled out a raft of cultural and artistic events and competitions, including its annual Macau Reunification Cup youth music competition and Traces of Time children’s painting competition, which are open to all students from Macau, including non-local students enrolled in local education institutions.
A press conference about the two upcoming competitions was held yesterday at the Macau Science Centre in Nape. Young people in Macau who wish to compete in the youth music competition and/or the children’s painting competition can apply, respectively, from now until July 28 and from August 1 until November 3, via the association’s Facebook Page or WeChat: MacauMYAA.
According to Macao Youth Artistic Association Chairman Anson Lai Hon Cheng, this year’s youth music competition consists of five divisions - Piano, Plucked Piano, Strings, Wind, and Percussion. To suit students of all ages, each division is organised according to different levels of difficulty, and there will be four awards for each category, namely Gold, Silver, Bronze and Excellence, to recognise the winning contestants’ outstanding performance.
In terms of the children’s painting competition, Lai said that the themes of the competition include the historical moment of Macau’s return to the motherland, the embodiment of Macau’s culture and traditions, Macau’s development and changes, Macau’s natural landscape, and the relationship between Macau and the motherland, or other topics. There are categories for preschool, junior primary school, senior primary school, junior high school and senior high school students. The contestants can use any drawing media, such as coloured pencils, watercolours and oils to express their understanding of and feelings for Macau and to draw Macau’s scenic beauty, culture and traditions, as well as historical buildings, so as to show the city’s multiculturalism and internationalisation.
The organisers said they hoped that the two competitions would showcase to the world the achievements and progress made by Macau’s art circles in the 25 years since its reversion to the motherland so that the general public can feel the growth and development of young people and children in various fields of art, culture and imagery, and to increase local residents’ love for and recognition of the nation and Macau culture.
“I was very impressed by a contestant in the youth music competition in the past year, who is a foreign student and did not know how to speak Chinese at all. She competed in the Chinese work category and won the gold medal, which proves that the competition is a success not only for our native Macau children to spread the message, but also for international students to learn about our Chinese cultural and artistic works,” Lai told the Post after the press conference, adding he hoped that a series of his association’s competitions could enhance foreign children’s understanding of the history of Macau.
Macau will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its return to the motherland on December 20 this year, coinciding with the swearing-in of the special administrative region’s next-term chief executive and other principal officials.
The organisers of the Macao Youth Artistic Association’s upcoming Macau Reunification Cup youth music competition and Traces of Time children’s painting competition pose after yesterday’s press conference at the Macau Science Centre in Nape. Macao Youth Artistic Association Chairman Anson Lai Hon Cheng (centre) chaired the press conference. – Photo: Yuki Lei
