A cooperation protocol signed between the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre of the Ministry of Education and Science of Portugal last year marked the establishment of a significant platform for Chinese and Portuguese cultural exchange. The exhibition “Shanghai Portuguese Refugees in Macao (1937-1964)”, organized by the Macao Archives under the auspices of Cultural Affairs Bureau, will be continued in Portugal, at Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre in Lisbon and then at Alfredo Pimenta Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Guimarães. The exhibition’s opening ceremony will be held in Lisbon on 11 October 2016, at 6pm (local time).
Since the mid-nineteenth century, Macanese groups migrated to different parts of the world. Hong Kong and Shanghai had been the major cities that the Macanese resided. Starting from 1937, due to Japanese invasion of China, World War II, Chinese civil war and other factors, the Macanese were forced to leave Shanghai to seek shelter in Macao. Some of them later settled in Macao and others stayed in the enclave for some time before they continued their journey to other places like North America (United States and Canada), Brazil, Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. The Macao Archives holds a few thousand records related to this topic. This exhibition will showcase a selection of over one hundred records to illustrate the historical background of the Macanese diaspora around the world, the social inclusion of Macanese in Shanghai, the journey of Portuguese refugees to Macao and the aid they received in Macao, as well as the documentation and materials, including personal items of one of the Shanghai Portuguese refugees Clementina Fernandes.
The exhibition “Shanghai Portuguese Refugees in Macao (1937-1964)” will be held at the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre from 11 October 2016 to 29 January 2017, and will then extend to Alfredo Pimenta Municipal Archives for continuing display from 3 March to 1 September 2017. It is a manifestation of the friendly cooperation and resources sharing between the cultural institutions in Portugal and Macao and a new impulse to Chinese and Portuguese cultural exchange.
