The opening ceremony of “Edgar Degas: Figures in Motion” was held at MGM Art Space yesterday, with an attendance of over 100 guests from many sectors of Macau society.
The exhibition features a total of 74 sculptures from renowned impressionist artist Edgar Degas that have hitherto never been shown in Asia, including his famous meter-tall sculpture, “Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen.”
Several guests of honor officiated the ribbon-cutting ceremony with ballerinas by their sides, in reference to Degas’s fascination with ballet dancers. They were then taken on a tour led by Dalit L. Durst, the chief curator of the M.T. Abraham Foundation, which owns the collection.
Among the guests of honor were Pansy Ho, co-chairperson and executive director of MGM China, Ung Vai Meng, the president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Eric Berti, consul general of France in Hong Kong and Macau, and Amir Kabiri, chairman of the Board of the M.T. Abraham Foundation.
“The object of the exhibition is to show another important side of Degas [his sculptures], for which he is less known,” said Eric Berti at the ceremony. “These pieces, never before shown in Asia, [represent] a cultural exchange opportunity for Macau.”
“We can share in this exchange in Macau, those precious moments that Degas captured,” the Consul General added.
Pansy Ho said that the exhibition would help to promote cultural exchanges between China and France, and would also be beneficial in contributing to “Macau’s diversified cultural offerings […] in our attempt to bring world-class art to Macau.”
She also stressed that cultural programs such as the Degas exhibition would help to nurture creative talent among the local youth and could encourage them to take an interest in culture. Over the long-term, Ho believes that such programs could improve Macau’s status as an international city where globally influential artworks are created, appreciated and treasured.
The exhibition is being exclusively sponsored by MGM and co-presented by Le French May and the M.T. Abraham Foundation, with the support of the French Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau.
It will be open to the public until the end of November. DB
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