Organized by Macao Museum under the Cultural Affairs Bureau, a themed exhibition entitled Heavenly Harmonies – Taoist Ritual Music in Macao will be open to public during December 17th, 2010 to March 20th, 2011. Opening Ceremony will be held at 6 pm on December 16th (Thursday). This exhibition is expected to better promote the preservation of the local intangible cultural heritage and provide more relevant information to the general public. Following the successful inscription of ‘Macao Religious Figure Carving’ on the list of the second batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage (in the category of traditional art) in June 2008, Macao Museum once again initiated the declaration for three other items, namely the “Taoist Ritual Music in Macao” (in the category of Traditional Arts), the “Cantonese Naamyam (Singing and Narrative Songs)” (in the category of Quyi), and the “Festival of the Drunken Dragon” (in the category of Folk Costums) to the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China in 2009. Taoism is a traditional Chinese native religion and part of the Chinese culture. It greatly enriches the Chinese traditional culture during its long development process. Up until now, its influence is still profound. Chinese traditional culture which is composed of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism is actually the backbone of Macao’s local culture. Therefore, the music played during the Taoist rituals (generally called “Taoist Fasts and Offerings Music” or “Taoist Ritual Music”) becomes one of the Macao’s local intangible cultural heritage elements.
The themed exhibition Heavenly Harmonies – Taoist Ritual Music in Macao held by the Museum aims at showing to the public the representative achievements of Macao’s local traditional music and promoting the cultural value contained. At the same time, this exhibition is expected to showcase the significance and the current progress of salvaging, conserving, systemizing and studying the local endangered traditional music. Besides, by holding this exhibition, it is believed that the general public can have a better knowledge and understanding about this intangible cultural heritage so that the public awareness of preservation can be enhanced. In order to help the residents and visitors in Macao get more acquainted with the features of the Taoist Ritual Music in Macao, the organizer has arranged two themed seminars to tie in with the exhibition. The first session was held on November 27th and the second one will be held in the Macao Museum Auditorium on December 18th (Saturday), from 3 pm to 5 pm. Wang Zhongren, a former associate professor of Wuhan Conservatory of Music, is especially invited to speak at the seminars. All are welcome to join in the seminars. As seating is limited and available on a first come first served basis, interested party may contact the Museum at 8394 1204 during office hours, from 10 am to 6 pm (closed on Mondays), or visit Cultural Affairs Bureau website at www.icm.gov.mo or Macao Museum at www.macaumuseum.gov.mo.
