Cultural Affairs Bureau Launches Festive Events in Celebration of Chinese New Year

The Year of the Goat is approaching and the cultural facilities under the Cultural Affairs Bureau, including the Macao Museum, the Mandarin’s House, the Lou Kau Mansion, the Dom Pedro V Theatre, the Na Tcha Exhibition Room, General Ye Ting’s House, the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business, the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt, the Guia Chapel and the Mount Fortress Corridor will remain open from the first to the third days of the Chinese New Year (19^th to 21^st February), offering an array of activities to celebrate the Year of the Goat with citizens and tourists, expressing best wishes for success for Macao’s cultural enterprises in the coming year.

On the first three days of Chinese New Year, the Mandarin’s House will organise a calligraphy activity as well as Lion Dance performances. During the same period, the Lou Kau Mansion will host traditional Chinese music performances with a festive aura; visitors will be offered an opportunity to create their New Year scrolls and write their blessings. Meanwhile, on 27^th February (Friday) from 11:00am the Macao Chinese Orchestra will perform a series of traditional festive pieces such as An Exultant Festival and Fengyang Flower Drum in the Entrance Hall of the Macao Museum in order to celebrate the Spring Festival with visitors.

An exhibition titled Sketching the Past – Historical Drawings from the Macao Museum Collection, will be held from 18 February to 3 May in the exhibition gallery located on the third floor of Macao Museum. The exhibition will display some of the major paintings and collections donated or acquired by the Macao Museum, including works by prominent painters like George Chinnery, Thomas Boswall Watson and Marciano António Baptista. Historical drawings are a major part of the collections of the Macao Museum; citizens and tourists can witness the transformation and development of customs in Macao and Southern China and appreciate the legacy of Western artists through this exhibition. The Western painters not only introduced Western art techniques but helped establish this area a Sino-Western point of convergence.

All branches of the Macao Central Library will be closed from 19 to 21 February, resuming normal operating hours on 22 February (the fourth day of Chinese New Year). The Reading Room of the Historical Archives of Macao will provide limited reader services on 18 February. If readers wish to access materials on that day, a request must be submitted by 5:00pm on 17 February. Citizens and visitors are welcome to all events; except when stated otherwise, admission to the above-mentioned activities, exhibitions and performances is free.

For more information on opening hours and activities, please call the Cultural Affairs Bureau at tel. no. 8399 6699 during working hours or visit www.icm.gov.mo.

 Opening hours of Cultural Affairs Bureau’s affiliated facilities during Chinese New Year