A Chinese painting exhibition entitled “Life is always for learning – Old Crow Shan” by local artist Kuan Wai Sang is being held at the UNESCO Centre of Macau in Nape and hosted by the Macau Foundation (FM) as part of the ongoing Macau Artists Promotion Project, according to an article on Macau Foundation’s (FM) website.
Kuan told The Macau Post Daily in a phone interview yesterday that Old Crow Shan (Lao Ya Shan in Putonghua) is his hometown, a remote village in Kaiping a county-level city some 90 kilometres north-west of Macau. “Old Crow Shan Home [老鴉山居]” is the alias Kuan gave himself to remember the footprints of his growth, and memory of his hometown. The title of the exhibition is also inspired by his thoughts.
Kuan is the 91st artist to participate in the Macau Artists Promotion Project. He was born in Kaiping in 1970 and moved to Macau in the 1980’s.
In his early years, according to the article, Kuan got enlightenment and guidance from famous local painter Guan Quan Chang and other famous artists, to study Chinese painting. In recent years, he has started learning from nature. Kuan has participated in exhibitions in Macau, Hong Kong, the mainland, Japan, and South Korea. Many of his works have been collected by local government and private collections, the article points out.
The exhibition displays about 80 pieces of Kuan’s recent work such as landscapes, flowers and birds as well as calligraphy, together with some of his new work using nature as the theme. He is following the Chinese traditional artistic creation theory that artistic creation comes from the teaching of nature, but the beauty of nature cannot automatically become the beauty of art. The artists have to undergo their own transformation process of inner feelings, observation and perception to express nature in their paintings, the article points out.
Kuan told The Macau Post Daily that he is a Western cuisine chef working for MGM. He said that he spends his leisure time painting and teaching.
The exhibition runs until Monday in two halls at the UNESCO Centre of Macau in 403, Alameda Dr. Carlos d’Assumpção, daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.
As part of the government’s COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures, all visitors entering the venue must wear a facemask, have their temperature checked and present a digital health declaration.
For enquiries, call 28727066 or email to unesco_info@fm.org.mo.
Photos: Camy Tam
