Arts & Culture

Macao’s beloved residency show is back. A new and improved House of Dancing Water debuted in May, bringing fresh energy, a new character and high-tech upgrades to the city’s theatrical marvel on a swimming pool stage.

Lo Seng Chung has dedicated much of his life to preserving the folk customs surrounding Tou Tei, revered in Macao as the guardian of land and locality. Earlier this year, his efforts were formally recognised by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Macao doesn’t just preserve its heritage – it lives and breathes it. We explore how four of the city’s most cherished festivals together embody its distinctive cultural identity.

The Chinese animated movie Ne Zha 2 has set multiple box office records worldwide. For Macao, its arrival not only reconnects residents with their city’s rich cultural traditions surrounding Na Tcha, but can serve as inspiration for the local film industry.

The Portuguese began arriving in Hong Kong in the mid-19th century, many of them crossing the Pearl River Delta from Macao. A new exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of History pays tribute to this community of high-achievers’  contributions to the city, through stories that are often buried beneath the city’s strong Sino-British narrative.’

The Macanese architect was invited to contribute an installation to Northern Italy’s ever-evolving open-air art museum back in 2019. Now, “Fragments of Light” stands alongside work by Pritzker Prize-winners and pioneers in environmental art within the spectacular Val di Sella.

The Macao-based maestro Oswaldo Veiga Jardim had always dreamed of conducting his own independent orchestra. That recently became a reality, thanks to a government grant and the deep pool of musical talent simmering beneath the surface of the Greater Bay Area.

This year’s collaborative exhibition between the Macao Museum of Art and the Palace Museum offers a glimpse into the life of Emperor Qianlong, a visionary leader proud to rule over a multi-cultural China during the High Qing period. “Palace of Double Brilliance” contains more than a hundred artifacts from Qianlong’s beloved home in the Forbidden City.

Macao is home to a new resident theatre show, directed by one of the country’s great creatives: Zhang Yimou. In combining the ancient arts of lion dance and throat singing with holograms, flying manta rays and humanoid robots, Zhang aims to “present China’s cultural richness in a way that resonates with new generations” while cultivating Macao’s reputation as a City of Performing Arts.

The Poly MGM Museum unveiled its inaugural exhibition in November, bringing precious relics, cutting edge technology and an emphasis on cross-cultural dialogue to the city’s arts scene.