Macau for arts lovers – how to pack the most into a 12-hour tour
Known for its bright lights and gambling high rollers, Macau has a surprising amount of art to see. When you’ve finished feasting on it, catch some more culture with a show at one of the casino theatres
It would be easy to write off Macau as a temple of bad taste and nouveau riche bling, but the former Portuguese enclave is working hard to reposition itself in China’s ever-changing cultural landscape. In fact, it gives Hong Kong a run for its money when it comes to new art and culture.
Yes, it is still the same odd cocktail of sin city, Unesco heritage sites, sardines and sausage. But as we found out, there is a lot for even a frequent visitor to discover in just 12 hours this summer.
10am: Macau Museum of Art
No fewer than seven exhibitions are on show at the spacious art museum that forms part of the Macau Cultural Centre. One of them, “The Art of Zhang Daqian”, is reason alone to hop on that ferry to Macau – as some of Hong Kong’s top Chinese art collectors have done.
It is an exceptional exhibition of 100 early and mid-career works by the great Chinese artist, including the painstaking reproductions that he made of the crumbling Buddhist frescoes in Dunhuang (he stayed for long periods in the caves from 1941 to 1943), later portraits and landscapes that reflected the influence of those anonymous, ancient craftsmen that he had so admired, and carved seals that he designed for his many aliases.
