A Chinese and Portuguese Picture Book Fair will be premiered during the fourth Sino-Lusophone Cultural and Arts Festival, which will be held from October 28 to November 18.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) held an outdoor program revelation ceremony for the festival yesterday afternoon, officially referred to as the 4th Encounter in Macao – Arts and Cultural Festival between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
The book fair will be held at the Carmo Hall in Taipa from October 28 to November 2, featuring over 500 picture books and children’s books in different languages, but especially in Chinese and Portuguese.
During the fair, two family reading sessions will be held per day for participants to learn more about the exquisitely illustrated works of Macau, mainland China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
On October 29 and 30, talks and workshops related to picture books and children’s literature will be held at the Exhibitions Gallery of the Taipa Houses.
In addition to the pictorial fair, the festival will also highlight moving images. On November 4, the opening film In Search of Lost Time directed by Derek Yee Tung Sing will be screened at Galaxy Cinemas. From November 5 to 18, around 30 outstanding film productions from China and Portuguese-speaking countries will be screened at Cinematheque.Passion.
Once again, the festival will be held concurrently with the Lusophonia Festival, an iconic Lusophone event in the city. This year, the latter festival will be held from October 28 to 30 at the Taipa Houses area to celebrate its silver jubilee, with Macanese culture being the focus. In fact, from this edition onwards, the festival will highlight one cultural characteristic from Portuguese-speaking countries or regions each year.
Participants at the Lusophonia will be able to get a glimpse of the cultures and lifestyles of Macanese, Angolan, Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Guinea Bissau, Goa, Daman and Diu, Mozambican, Portuguese, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor communities in Macau.
They will showcase their music, handicrafts, featured apparel and accessories, gastronomy and tourist information for visitors to experience the long-standing festive traditions and diverse folk cultures of these different regions.
The IC will also work together with the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) to stage wine-tasting and cultural workshops during the festival.
Discussing the smaller budget this year, which is at about MOP7 million and about a million patacas smaller than the previous year, IC president Leong Wai Man explained that the reduced budget was related to the elements being different this year from those last year.
