Organised by the Macao Museum of Art, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Above Zobeide, Exhibition from Macao, China will be held on 18 April (Thursday), at 5pm, in Venice, Italy as one of the Collateral Event of the ‘60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia’. The exhibition features large-scale installations and digital prints created by young Macao artist Wong Weng Cheong. Echoing the theme of this year’s biennale, ‘Foreigners Everywhere’, the artworks create a bizarre yet poetic parallel space to explore the concept of “foreigners” while also reflecting upon the urban development of Macao. The Macao curator Chang Chan and the artist Wong Weng Cheong recently arrived in Venice and are now making intensive arrangements for the exhibition.
Inspired by the fictional city of ‘Zobeide’ in the novel Invisible Cities by Italian writer Italo Calvino, the exhibition presents a fictional world – a wilderness above the ruins of a city – inhabited solely by a group of mutant herbivores that are incompatible with reality at first glance. The juxtaposition of civilisation and mutation mirrors a universal apocalyptic anxiety, attempting to reveal the hidden danger of mutation and prompting viewers to contemplate the increasing displacement of physical and spiritual aspects of human beings.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau selected the exhibition proposal through an open call last year. The winning team comprises Chang Chan, an independent curator who resides in Macao and London and obtained a master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management from the King’s College London and has curated several exhibitions in both cities; and Wong Weng Cheong, a young Macao artist who obtained a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and is engaged in intermedia art. He has held solo exhibitions and participated in joint exhibitions in London, Kyoto and Macao.
Since 2007, Macao has been participating in the ‘International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia’, one of the most prestigious art events in the world, in the hope of introducing representative contemporary artworks from Macao to the international arena and showcasing the unique appeal of Macao as a hub where Chinese and Western cultures converge. The Above Zobeide, Exhibition from Macao, China marks the 9th time Macao is participating in this great event in the international art arena, which not only showcases the outstanding works of the young Macao artist but also introduces the diverse cultural landscape of Macao to viewers all around the world. The exhibition will be held at Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701, Venezia, Italy from 20 April to 24 November 2024. For more information about the exhibition, please visit www.MAM.gov.mo.