Macau Literary Festival opens with focused on intercultural dialogue

António Duarte Mil-Homens points to photo during an exhibition on Macau’s modern architecture
inspired by the late architect José Maneiras [Nadia Shaw]

The 15th Macau Literary Festival, also known as The Script Road, opened Thursday at Casa Garden, bringing together literature, cinema, theater, music, and visual arts under the theme of intercultural dialogue. The event runs through March 15 and features exhibitions and discussions highlighting Macau’s role as a cultural meeting point between East and West.

Organizers and guests at the opening ceremony emphasized the festival’s 15-year history and its contribution to promoting literary and artistic exchange in the city.

At the opening, Ricardo Pinto, festival organizer, hailed 15 years of “persistence, sharing, and collective creation,” thanking sponsors such as the Culture Development Fund, the Oriente Foundation, and hotels including Galaxy Entertainment Group and Sands China.

“Macau has stood for centuries as a historic crossroads of Chinese and Western civilizations; over hundreds of years, these two cultures have met, mingled, and thrived side by side, forging a one-of-a-kind cultural identity. The Macau Literary Festival carries forward this rich cultural legacy, using literature as a common language to foster mutual understanding among diverse cultures, and to showcase Macau’s unique role as a timeless hub for Sino-Western cultural exchange,” he added.

This year, organizers mark the centenary of Portuguese poet Camilo Pessanha’s death in 1926 with a special tribute.

The commemoration also honors Macanese architect José Maneiras through presentations by Rui Leão and Maria José de Freitas. Maneiras’ vision and craftsmanship shaped Macau’s residential and urban landscape, leaving a lasting imprint on its architectural identity.

Following speeches and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, photographer António Duarte Mil-Homens led visitors through exhibitions on Macau’s modern architecture inspired by the late architect José Maneiras.

Stopping before the “Employees’ Tower in São Francisco” piece, he explained how the building’s careful orientation and façades were shaped by an era before widespread air conditioning. He detailed, “It was all designed for the winter sun to enter.” Elaborating further, “Because in the old days there was no – few people had air conditioning; buildings with air conditioning were rare. The sun in summer was horrible.

“So, this building was entirely designed for the winter sun to enter. With the angles, with the brise-soleils, with the balconies, the winter sun enters all the rooms, either in the morning or in the afternoon, depending on the case. And it enters in winter. And in summer, it is protected; it only enters through a tiny slit. The sun doesn’t enter these buildings the way it could.”