Message
The Macao Museum of Art under the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government has participated in the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia under the name of ‘Macao, China’ since 2007. Macao continued to participate in this art event in 2022 and presented the works of the ‘YiiMa’ art group, with the theme of ‘Allegory of Dreams’ responding to the title of the event: ‘The Milk of Dreams’.
‘YiiMa’, meaning the twins, is an art group established by Macao artists Ung Vai Meng and Chan Hin Io in 2019. This name is reminiscent of the ancient ports of Macao and Venice. Both cities have world cultural heritages and are like twins that are connected for the sake of art today.
The work of ‘YiiMa’ also connects dreams and reality, performance art and documentary. Ung Vai Meng and Chan Hin Io visited many local places which had witnessed the historical traces and the changes of the times, such as iron shop, martial arts hall, antique shop, old office, etc. These two artists used large-scale sculptures, documentary images and physical intervention to display their unique perspective of the ‘unity of man and nature’, expressing their interpretation and imagination of these places. Such images not only reveal the hidden corners of Macao and its dreamlike memories, but also show a dense visual impact, just like the epitome of the city – the most densely populated region in the world. Yet, ‘YiiMa’intervened, either as the flying immortals on Dunhuang murals or as the angels on church dome murals, witnessing and guarding everything in order to stop time and continue dreams, as well as inviting visitors to ‘seek dreams’ together!
I wish the exhibition a complete success!
Deland, Leong Wai Man
President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government