The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) will host the “Prayer and Blessing – Exhibition of Chinese New Year Wood-block prints of Shanxi and Hunan Provinces”, with an opening ceremony to be held on Thursday, 31 January, at 6:30pm, at the Chun Chou Tong Pavilion in Lou Lim Ioc Garden. In conjunction with the exhibition, IC organizes “Traditional New Year Wood-block Prints Workshop” on 16 and 17 February. Admission is free. All are welcome.
This exhibition is organized by the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Shanxi Provincial Government and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Hunan Provincial Government, and co-organized by the Department of Publicity and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao S.A.R. and the Center for Ethnic and Folk Literature and Art Development of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China.
The “Prayer and Blessing” exhibition, dedicated to traditional New Year prints, showcases this ancestral traditional art form typical of Shanxi and Hunan Provinces in a creative and vivid manner. The New Year woodblock prints of the County of Pingyang and Jiangzhou from Shanxi Province express the blessings of the local people through a rich variety of symbolic images featuring a profusion of folk elements. The New Year woodblock prints of Tantou from Hunan Province feature a unique artistic style, expressively reflecting the characteristics of the southern state of ancient Chu through their colours and design.
In order to allow the public to experience the fun of making New Year prints, there are four sessions of “Traditional New Year Wood-block Prints Workshop”. Transmitters from two provinces are specially invited to teach colouring and printing techniques and share the artistic features of the New Year prints. The workshops will be held on 16 and 17 February, from 10:30am to 12:30am and from 3pm to 5pm, at the Chun Chou Tong Pavilion in Lou Lim Ioc Garden, conducted in Mandarin. Each session of workshops takes 2 hours and is limited to 30 participants. Admission is free. Interested parties can register online between 1 and 13 February through IC’s “Activity registration System” at www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event, subject to availability. Distribution is on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, in order to allow the audience to have a better understanding of the complicated process of making the New Year prints, transmitters from two provinces will present demonstration during the exhibition period from 1 and 6 February, from 10am to 12pm and from 3pm to 5pm.
The “Prayer and Blessing – Exhibition of Chinese New Year Wood-block prints of Shanxi and Hunan Provinces” will be held from 1 and 27 February at the Chun Chou Tong Pavilion in Lou Lim Ioc Garden. The Garden is open from 9am to 7pm, including public holidays. Admission is free. For more information about the exhibition and activities, please call through tel. no. 8988 4000 during office hours.