Fair brings craft art to Tap Seac Square

The Tap Seac Art Fair Craft Market, organized by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), was held between Friday and yesterday, featuring 200 booths. The event will return once again to the area this weekend, together with several workshops and concerts.
An Award Ceremony and Concert of the Subsidy Program for the Production of Original Song Albums was also held in the area on Saturday night.
The ceremony recognized artists who have received subsidies from the Cultural Affairs Bureau, as part of the bureau-sponsored program. Group artists and solo singers, such as “Tuna Macanese” and “Forget the G,” performed renditions of their songs during the ceremony.
A small number of the approximately 200 booths in the Art Fair were not occupied by vendors, remaining empty during the weekend.

However, the overall attendance was considered fairly positive, with craft artists coming from the city, as well as from parts of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia and Singapore. Artists from Mainland China also joined the event.
Kan Kwan, a ‘leather flowers’ artist from Hong Kong, told the Times that this is the fifth time he has traveled to Macau for the Art Fair. “I want to promote this industry. I hope that more people will get to know it [the industry], as well as our brand,” said Kan, explaining the reasons that have led to his continued participation.
Moreover, Kan noted that his previous attendance at the fair had helped him to learn more about craft arts. “After all, it is a relatively large event, which invites craft artists from several Southeast [Asian] countries. We get to expand our knowledge about different things,” he explained.
In Kan’s words, the event has become “fairer” this year in terms of the arrangement of booths. In previous editions, customers were not always able able to visit all of the booths because some of them were poorly positioned in concealed corners.
Angel Chung, a local mother who brought her daughter to the market, said that she and her friends, together with their three children, had paid a visit to the event in order to “learn more about hand crafts.”  Staff reporter