The Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, i.e., the indoor cultural area which forms the plinth of the statue, on the Nape waterfront has reopened, after closure for renovation which started in December last year, marked by a ceremony yesterday evening.
Yesterday’s event also marked the opening ceremony of an exhibition being held at the centre, displaying sculptures of Kun Iam statues created by Portuguese architect and sculptor Cristina Rocha Leiria (李潔蓮), the designer of the 20-metre-high Kun Iam Statue which was erected in March 1999.
Rocha Leiria’s solo exhibition is being held until March 13 next year.
Delivering a speech during yesterday’s ceremony, Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man noted that construction of the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre was planned in 1997 and completed in 1999, adding that the centre symbolises Sino-Portuguese friendship.
Leong said that thanks to the two countries’ amity, Macau features a multicultural, open and inclusive environment, where the richness of its cultural resources is conducive to cultural and creative enterprises constantly creating unique projects infused with both Chinese and Western elements.
Leong said that her bureau decided to transform the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre into a multifunctional cultural tourism space suitable for hosting exhibitions and concerts as well as a space selling snacks and refreshments, cultural and creative souvenirs, as well as books, and providing information on local attractions and cultural activities, with the aim of promoting the development of Macau’s arts and culture as well as cultural and creative enterprises.
After the opening ceremony, Rocha Leiria briefed Leong and other guests about her exhibition.
The ongoing exhibition aims to enable members of the public to gain a better understanding of the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre – and the Kun Iam Statue above it.
The Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre and its surrounding outdoor space were closed on December 27 last year for renovation.
The centre opens between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily except Fridays, while its outdoor space opens between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. daily.
The Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre is located on a small man-made island off Nape, connected to the waterfront Avenida Dr Sun Yat-Sen by a 60-metre-long causeway. Including its 20-metre-high Kun Iam Statue, the centre is 32 metres high.
According to the bureau’s website, the 50-tonne statue was erected by assembling about 50 bronze components.
The centre was inaugurated on March 21, 1999, when Macau was still under temporary Portuguese administration.
Components of the statue were made in Nanjing before they were delivered to Macau to be assembled into the statue on the artificial island off the Nape waterfront.
An area in the centre displays historical photos and information on how the components of the Kun Iam Statue were cast in Nanjing and how they were assembled here.
The bureau’s website says that the Kun Iam Statue’s face was specifically designed to show the universality expressed in the concept of “Ecumenic”, i.e., without displaying any distinctive ethnicity.
Rocha Leiria was born in Lisbon in 1946. She lived in Mozambique during her childhood and adolescence.
Guanyin (“observing sound”) – Kun Iam in Cantonese – is a divinity associated with compassion in East Asian Buddhism. She is normally depicted as a female figure, embodying mercy and kindness. Guanyin is revered for her ability to hear the cries of suffering beings and is considered a protector and saviour.
Many locals regard Kun Iam as one of Macau’s three goddesses that protect our city, alongside A-Ma (Mazu) and Mary, thanks to whom Macau is also widely seen as a “blessed land” (“fukdeih”).
Cristina Rocha Leiria (left), the designer of the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, including the Kun Iam Statue, yesterday briefs about her exhibits in the centre to guests including Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man (third from right), Lou Ho Ian (second from right), director of the bureau’s Macau Museum, and Ieng Weng Fat (first from right), a member of the Cultural Development Consultative Council. – Photos: Tony Wong
Cultural Development Consultative Council member Ieng Weng Fat (from left to right), Bai Bing, deputy director of the Department of Publicity and Culture of the Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macau, Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man, Macau Museum Director Lou Ho Ian, and Cristina Rocha Leiria , the designer of the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, cut the ribbon during yesterday’s ceremony.
This photo taken yesterday evening shows the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre with the Kun Iam Statue above it.
