“Above Zobeide, Exhibition from Macao, China”, the Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, was inaugurated on 18^th April, at 5:00pm (local time) in Venice, Italy. Curated by Chang Chan, the exhibition showcases large-scale art installations and digital prints created by the young Macao artist Wong Weng Cheong, presenting a fictional world while conveying concerns about the development of human civilisation.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was officiated by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, Leong Wai Man; the Counsellor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Italy, Zhang Lingxiao; the representative of China Pavilion at the 60^th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia and Member of the Board of the Bauhinia Culture Group Co., Ltd., Hu Xianzheng; the Chairman of the Board of the China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd., Li Jinsheng; the artist Wong Weng Cheong and the curator Chang Chan. The event was attended by the Advisor of the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government, Lo Hou Chi; the members of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Karen Chan Ka-yin, Alex Fan Hoi-kit, Kevin Lam Sze-cay, Heidi Lee Yik-shuen, Eva Man Kit-wah, Chloe Suen Yin-wah, Tam Kwok-kan, Tung Siu-hung and Zhao Zhi-jun; the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Winsome Chow; the Deputy Director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Eve Tam Mei-yee; the Director of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Maria Mok Kar-wing; and the Director of the Macao Museum of Art, Un Sio San, among others.

The President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Leong Wai Man, addressed in her speech that the exhibition not only reflected the global perspective and humanistic care of Macao’s art creation, but also revealed the personalities and talents of the young and emerging artists. The SAR Government will continue to create more conditions and opportunities for Macao’s artists, particularly young artists, in order to create artworks that reflect Chinese culture and Macao’s characteristics, and to continuously promote the development of cultural undertakings and of the cultural industries. Curator Chang Chan and artist Wong Weng Cheong expressed their appreciation to the organiser for their generous assistance and active support for artistic creation in Macao. They also expressed their honour to participate on behalf of Macao in La Biennale di Venezia, a platform aspired by art practitioners, and will take this precious opportunity to introduce Macao’s latest artistic developments to the world.

Wong Weng Cheong, born in Macao, studied fine art in the United Kingdom. Inspired by the city of “Zobeide” in the novel Invisible Cities, the artist employed art installations to create a fictional world full of metaphors: a wilderness above the ruins of a city – inhabited solely by a group of herbivores with elongated legs. Meanwhile, the audience, occasionally captured by the camera, seem to be “outsiders” in search of novelty. Through the ingenious juxtaposition of realities and imagination, nature and civilisation, animals and humans, rulers and outsiders, the artist presents the crisis of mutation confronted by humans in the urban development driven by material desires. These elements prompt viewers to contemplate the plight confronted by humanity in the contemporary world and reflects the seemingly vulnerable yet tenacious survival of all beings.

“Above Zobeide, Exhibition from Macao, China” is held at Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701, Venezia, Italy until 24^th November. For more information about the exhibition, please visit www.MAM.gov.mo.