the Press Conference of 2017 Macao International Museum Day Carnival
In response to this year’s International Museum Day, 17 Macao museums co-organize a large-scale annual museum event, the “2017 Macao International Museum Day Carnival” themed “The Mobile Museum – Red MarketX Drunken Dragon Festival”. The press conference was held on Wednesday, 19 April, at the Macao Science Centre Convention Hall. Representatives of each museum also presented and introduced excellent activities featured in this year’s Carnival. The opening ceremony will be held on 3 May, at 10:30am, at the Red Market (Mercado Municipal Almirante Lacerda). Representatives of cultural entities from Guangdong Province and of the Hong Kong Home Affairs Bureau and its respective museums were invited to participate in the ceremony. The general public is welcome to attend the ceremony.
The press conference was attended by the representative of the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business, The Taipa Houses-Museum, Museum of Taipa and Coloane History and of the Macao Tea Culture House: Head of the Department of Museums of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Lei Lai Kio; the Director of the Tung Sin Tong Historical Archive Exhibition Hall, Lei Keng Lam; the representative of the Grand Prix Museum and of the Wine Museum: Head of the Division of the Facilities Management of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Lei Wan Wai; the Director of the Macao Museum, Loi Chi Pang; the representative of the Fire Services Museum: 1stClass Chief, Chan Kit Wa; the Acting Head of the Division of Nature Conservation and Studies of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Gary Ho; the Chief Curator of the Communications Museum of Macao, Olivia Wong; the Director of the Macao Museum of Art and of the Handover Gifts Museum of Macao, Chan Hou Seng; the Deputy Curator of the Macao Science Center, Sylvester, Cheong Hung Fat; and the Director of the Maritime Museum, Chan I Un.
This edition of the Carnival is themed on festivities and buildings. Several of Macao’s museums, in collaboration with the Macao Fishmongers Association (Ou Mun Sin U Hong Chong Wui), combine the traditions of the Drunken Dragon Dance and the “Dragon Boat rice” distribution with the activities of the International Museum Day Carnival. The “Feast of the Drunken Dragon” is a unique traditional folk festivity and was inscribed in the Macao Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2009 and in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2011, respectively. In turn, the Red Market is inscribed in the Macao Cultural Heritage List as a building with architectural value and is a testimony to the city’s historical vicissitudes. This edition of the Macao International Museum Day Carnival, on the one hand, includes traditional ceremonies held by the Macao Fishmongers Association at the Red Market, such as offerings to the gods, drunken dragon and lion dance performances, parades through the streets of Macao and distribution of “Dragon Boat rice”; on the other hand, it also features opening ceremonies, exhibitions, workshops, lectures and guided tours, among others, through the diverse activities to promote the cultural and social characteristics of Macao’s festivities among local residents and tourists.
On the opening day, a series of activities will be held, including an exhibition about Dragon Boat rice inside the Red Market, while models of street hawkers' stalls and an exhibition on the history of Macao’s street vendors will be set-up outside the building; billboards introducing the background of these activities will also be set up in the surrounding streets. Additionally, a number of workshops will be held inside and outside the Red Market, including a perler beads workshop; a cyanotype workshop - creative postcard; a workshop of painting dragon boat collages; a workshop of fan painting about the Drunken Dragon Dance; The Drunken Dragon Dance - Lego building and hand painting parent-child workshop; Red Market - Drunken Dragon Dance key ring engraving; and the “Making your Fishy Bracelet” workshop, among others. The Lung Wah Tea House also hosts the lectures “About Dragon Boat Rice”, “The Reddest Market” and “Street Vendors and the Community”. Furthermore, guided tours dedicated to “The History and Evolution of the Red Market” will be available, as well as the printing of commemorative T-shirts and wine tasting, among other activities. All residents are welcome to participate.
This year’s 2017 Macao International Museum Day Carnival is jointly organized by the Nature and Agrarian Museum, the Grand Prix Museum, the Tung Sing Tong Historical Archive Exhibition Hall, the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business, the Fire Services Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Communications Museum, the Museum of Taipa and Coloane History, the Handover Gifts Museum of Macao, the Lin Zexu Memorial Museum of Macao, the Macao Science Center, the Macao Tea Culture House, the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial House in Macao, the Macao Museum, the Macao Museum of Art, the Wine Museum and the Taipa Houses; and is co-organised by the Macao Fishmongers Association (Ou Mun Sin U Hong Chong Wui) and Macao Street Vendors Mutual Aid Association (Ou Mun Si Fan Vu Chó Vui).
In May, each museum will organize other celebrations, exhibitions, workshops, lectures and free admission days. For more information, please visit the Macao Museum’s webpage at www.museums.gov.mo, or follow the Cultural Affairs Bureau or the Macao Government Tourism Office’s WeChat accounts or call through tel. no. 8988 4115 during office hours.
