MGM Art Space exhibits old Beijing city gates

Toby Leung

In commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Macau’s handover, the MGM inaugurated two exhibitions at its Art Space yesterday, featuring two red sandalwood replicas of ancient Beijing buildings and the works of hundreds of photographers which reflected changes to the MSAR.
“This time, we want to help people remember that we’ve [belonged to] China, our motherland, for fifteen years, so we’d like to include something from Beijing,” said the MGM vice-president of marketing and communications, Mr Toby Leung, at a media preview held on Tuesday.
The two red sandalwood carvings are miniature landscapes made on the scale of 1:10 by the China Red Sandalwood Museum, which comprises of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven as well as the main entrance of the outer city, Yongding Gate.
“They are a good representation of the old Beijing city, a city whose planning begun 800 years ago,” explained Mr Leung, “it’s actually a very good example for all cities in China to use that imperial model for city planning. It’s like a tale of two cities, Beijing and Macau.”
Red sandalwood carving craftsmen will demonstrate traditional carving techniques at the exhibition, in order to encourage the preservation of this intangible cultural heritage.
“Unfortunately, it’s a dying art. If you ask members of the younger generation now about whether they might pursue a career as a sandalwood artist, they might not even know what you are talking about,” said Mr Leung, adding that the remaining craftsmen mostly have been working on this art form for several decades.
Meanwhile, the photo exhibition, titled “One Hundred Photographers Focus on Macao,” illustrates Macau’s development over the past 15 years. Both of the exhibitions will take place till March 22, 2015.