On the third floor of The Parisian Macao in Cotai, a shop venue houses works of local artist Kit Lei Ka Ieng for her latest exhibition, where visitors can find several moving images featuring traditional cultural elements created through new media technology.
Entitled “Ascendance - Kit Lei Ka Ieng’s New Media Art World”, the near month-long exhibition kicked off on Friday and comprises 13 digital animations and interactive installations. It is the second part of Art For All Society’s (AFA) annual “Artificial Landscape: New Media Art Exhibitions” series.
Lei is a lecturer at the Macao Polytechnic University’s (MPU) Faculty of Art and Design, whose multimedia practice focuses on video art, sound installation and new media art, according to information board displayed at the gallery. For her current exhibition, the statement said that new media technology is being utilised as the artist’s “artistic language”.
Each of the works displayed at the exhibition combines traditional Chinese mythology and folklore with contemporary technological elements, the statement noted.
Among the works showcased is a piece entitled “8 Immortals Crossing the Sea”, which uses elements like sound and artificial intelligence (AI), featuring the eight immortals (八仙)* in Chinese mythology reimagined as enlightened stray cats and symbolising Macau’s “ongoing pursuit of breakthrough and development amidst the tides of change”.
“Lotus Pond” and “Dragon and Flower - Portuguese Tile” are also among those on display, with these particular works exploring geometric forms and the “essence of vitality”, the statement said.
The exhibition, the statement pointed out, is “a profound dialogue on technology, culture, and belief”, with exhibitiongoers invited to “reconsider the relationship between humanity and technology, tradition and modernity, and the role and value of art in contemporary society within a world interwoven with the virtual and the real”.
Open daily, one can visit the free-admission exhibition from 12 noon to 7 p.m., with more details available at www.afamacau.com.
*The eight immortals, according to Wikipedia, are a group of xian (immortals) in Chinese mythology. Each immortal’s power can be transferred to a vessel (法器) that can bestow life or destroy evil.
Photos taken yesterday by Rui Pastorin
