【An experimental cultural and heritage tour】
The performance synthesized with elements of “Heritage guided tour ”, “ evening walk along the old city / streets”, “touring headset system”, and “literature & contemporary arts” that hadn't been brought together before.
【Introduction】
Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association (MHAA) and Macao Ieng Chi Dance Association (ICDA) jointly organize an experimental cultural tour for local residence and visitors to explore the Historic Centre of Macau in a different way that you have never expected. It aims to let participants “walk into a poetic night of Macau, listen to the romance of the old city, and explore the divine beauty of Macau though poetries and contemporary arts”.
Starting from 2012, MHAA and ICDA have jointly presented this special heritage stroll. The premier show received very positive feedbacks and gained lots of invaluable suggestions. Further on the success of the event premiere in 2012, this year, with the continued support from artists, designers, poets, governmental departments, local citizens, volunteers and scholars, the night walk will extended to its new vision and scale to achieve its mission. This year, the event will take place on June 15th and 16th (Sat & Sun), with new story-telling, route, concept, artists and performances to cope with the theme:
Heritage stroll with poetries – our nostalgic path to the new wishes.
The core value of this event is to invite a wider public to get to know more about our city, history, heritage and the people in it. Love the city, love the culture and preserve it in a proper way.
* Note: The tour is conducted in Cantonese ONLY *
Date: 15th & 16th June 2013 (Sat-Sun)
Time:
Group A / C : 6:45pm – 8:45pm
Group B/ D : 7:45pm – 9:45pm
Route:
Group A / C :
Ruins of St. Paul’s --- Travessa da Paixão --- Rua de S. Paulo --- Calçada do Embaixador --- Travessa do Fogão --- Rua dos Ervanários --- Pátio da Eterna Felicidade --- Beco dos Faitiões --- Rua de Santo António --- St. Antony’s Church --- Casa Garden
Group B/ D :
Na Tcha Temple --- Pátio do Espinho --- Section of the Old City Walls --- Ruins of St. Paul’s --- Travessa da Paixão --- Rua de S. Paulo --- Calçada do Embaixador --- Pátio da Eterna Felicidade --- Beco dos Faitiões --- Rua de Santo António --- St. Antony’s Church --- Casa Garden
Tickets are available at Kong Seng Ticketing Service or via website www.macauticket.com for online ticketing.
*Admission by Ticket Only
Organizers Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association / Macao Ieng Chi Dance Association
Co-organizers OUT TO Production GRP / Point View Art Association / Macau Cultural Creative Impulse Association
Supporting Unit Oriental Foundation / Todot Design / Creative Links / Viva Music Studio /
i.image Studio / Felice Performance Production Company Limited
Subsidizers Cultural Affairs Bureau
Golden Sponsor Sands Macau
Sponsors Tai Fung Bank / Bank of China (Macau)
* Note: Please refer details to the Chinese Version *
The performance synthesized with elements of “Heritage guided tour ”, “ evening walk along the old city / streets”, “touring headset system”, and “literature & contemporary arts” that hadn't been brought together before.
【Introduction】
Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association (MHAA) and Macao Ieng Chi Dance Association (ICDA) jointly organize an experimental cultural tour for local residence and visitors to explore the Historic Centre of Macau in a different way that you have never expected. It aims to let participants “walk into a poetic night of Macau, listen to the romance of the old city, and explore the divine beauty of Macau though poetries and contemporary arts”.
Starting from 2012, MHAA and ICDA have jointly presented this special heritage stroll. The premier show received very positive feedbacks and gained lots of invaluable suggestions. Further on the success of the event premiere in 2012, this year, with the continued support from artists, designers, poets, governmental departments, local citizens, volunteers and scholars, the night walk will extended to its new vision and scale to achieve its mission. This year, the event will take place on June 15th and 16th (Sat & Sun), with new story-telling, route, concept, artists and performances to cope with the theme:
Heritage stroll with poetries – our nostalgic path to the new wishes.
The core value of this event is to invite a wider public to get to know more about our city, history, heritage and the people in it. Love the city, love the culture and preserve it in a proper way.
* Note: The tour is conducted in Cantonese ONLY *
Date: 15th & 16th June 2013 (Sat-Sun)
Time:
Group A / C : 6:45pm – 8:45pm
Group B/ D : 7:45pm – 9:45pm
Route:
Group A / C :
Ruins of St. Paul’s --- Travessa da Paixão --- Rua de S. Paulo --- Calçada do Embaixador --- Travessa do Fogão --- Rua dos Ervanários --- Pátio da Eterna Felicidade --- Beco dos Faitiões --- Rua de Santo António --- St. Antony’s Church --- Casa Garden
Group B/ D :
Na Tcha Temple --- Pátio do Espinho --- Section of the Old City Walls --- Ruins of St. Paul’s --- Travessa da Paixão --- Rua de S. Paulo --- Calçada do Embaixador --- Pátio da Eterna Felicidade --- Beco dos Faitiões --- Rua de Santo António --- St. Antony’s Church --- Casa Garden
Tickets are available at Kong Seng Ticketing Service or via website www.macauticket.com for online ticketing.
*Admission by Ticket Only
Organizers Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association / Macao Ieng Chi Dance Association
Co-organizers OUT TO Production GRP / Point View Art Association / Macau Cultural Creative Impulse Association
Supporting Unit Oriental Foundation / Todot Design / Creative Links / Viva Music Studio /
i.image Studio / Felice Performance Production Company Limited
Subsidizers Cultural Affairs Bureau
Golden Sponsor Sands Macau
Sponsors Tai Fung Bank / Bank of China (Macau)
* Note: Please refer details to the Chinese Version *
MEDIA (NEWS CLIPPING)
Heritage Stoll on Macao Post Daily, Weekender,
17th May 2013.
_______________________________________
Kyle Cussler
Usually the best way to learn about a city is through friends who know the place. But here in Macau, there’s another option to know the city and its intricacies-a guided heritage walk around the historic centre of Macau.
Most Macau heritage tours are presented in the form of historical narration, but in mid-June, the Macau Heritage Ambassador Association (MHAA) will organize a two-night heritage stroll complemented with contemporary arts and poetry. The stroll will use an alternative, creative approach, and will include multimedia performances-for the first time in Macau.
The tour is staffed by guides who volunteer their knowledge, energy and time preservation effort. Their aim is to encourage participants to consider how heritage connects to their lives.
Heritage connections
The tour begins at 6:45p.m. in the Ruins of St. Paul with a dance show. Further destinations include Calçada do Embaixador, Beco dos Faitiões and Largo de Santo Agostinho. It ends in the Casa Garden at 8:30 after a mini concert there.
“The tour will creatively connect various stories that happened in different times and at different times and at different places with poetry and art performances throughout the walk, leaving room for participants to imagine,” local dancer Lao Cho Wa, who directs the project, told MPD Weekender on Monday.
Each participant is given a headset to listen to the stories during the stroll. “Apart from the popular heritage sites,” said Lao, “we’ll bring them to some very old and quiet street and lanes that may have been forgotten in today’s increasingly rapid pace of life.”
Emotions find their locus
According to Lao, all participating artists first read the history and poetries connected to each site, then select one place that inspires them the most-a place where they feel emotionally attached. “Each artist is able to find at least one place where their memories grow,” she said, “which offers them some ideas to create their own work or performance.”
“One artist plans a light installation at Saint Anthony Church in commemorating the terrible storm that brought three days of rain and claimed 5,000 lives in 1874,” she said. “It almost flooded the city and people had nowhere to find a shelter. It was very dark at night and most if their lost their direction.”
“Suddenly the church was on fire,” said Lao. “As the church sits atop the mountain, many people saw it, went up there and survived the flood. The story impressed the artist and he decided to work with light and poetry to show what the church means to the history of Macau.”
Valuing our heritage
Taiwan-born artist Hope Chiang, the artistic director of the tour, moved to Macau over a decade ago. She explained her interest in Macau’s heritage. “Each day we go to work, back and forth, or enjoy a meal with someone in a nice restaurant,” she said. “When should we spare time to visit our city’s heritage and appreciate its history?”
Chiang argues that as a citizen, each of us must have somewhere to belong. “For me, when I see the façade of the Ruins of St. Paul, I have a sense of hope-it’s miraculous to see it standing today after three serious fires. When I feel upset or frustrated, I’ll come here to sit for a while and seek spiritual comfort,” she said.
The tour will pass through Patio da Eterna Felicidade, which translates as ‘the lane of eternal happiness’. But Chiang questions the name’s validity. “When you go there, you only see a piece of abandoned land ──I’m not sure how that relates to ‘eternal happiness’,” she said.
However Chiang says that our emotions for a place fade as we grow. “Unfortunately we’re always busy to earn a living, and often too tired to feel more-we don’t have enough time and energy to connect ourselves to our heritage. But heritage also has emotions and memories. They are just like our friends. We both co-exist in the city and grow together,” Chiang said.
Macau’s true face shows at night
The importance of heritage depends on its surrounding environment. That’s why neighbouring streets and shops play a role in fostering a nostalgic ambience for the tour.
“Heritage site cannot exist individually as they are interrelated to the streets and even the people living there,” said Chiang. “That’s why we also bring participants to walk some well- preserved old places along the tour. Otherwise it’s not a complete route.”
With the theme of “nostalgic path to new wishes,” the tour also to depict images of local livelihood in bygone times through storytelling and sound-effects. “When tour –goers listen to the story of the past, they can immediately look at the place in the present and make a comparison in their minds,” she said.
“In my opinion, daytime Macau does not belong to the local because in recent years tourists are everywhere,” said Chiang. “Each day, each heritage site is crowed with visitors. Only in the night time, mostly after 7p.m., when there are no more travelers, tranquility returns, and it’s our turn to find our way to feel the city we love.”
Vibrancy of old neighbourhoods
This is the second year of the event and Lao keeps asking herself about its purpose. Is if a performance or a tour? She hopes to question the core value of heritage and how it relates to our real life. “Heritage defines our cultural identity and remains inseparable from our life,” she said. “It’s holistic, embracing all life.”
This year, the organiser made an evolutionary step. Last Saturday, dozens of volunteers divided themselves into four team to do a rehearsal and saw many antique shops and old stores along the way, especially in Ruados Ervanarios- one of the oldest and most historic streets in Macau. They decided to knock on doors and visit them one by one.
“We were not promoting the event but explaining to the shop owners why we organize this tour and decide to carry it out during the late evening,” said Lao. “Some owners kindly remind us that no one visits these places after night falls, and that’s why most of the shops there close after 6p.m.”
It appears to Lao that fewer people notice the vitality of the old neighbourhood at night. So they asked the owners to prolong their business hours. “Most of them live upstairs the store and all they need to do is to switch on their light and say hi to our participants, of allow participants to look at their on- sale items,” she said.
Intangible impact
Lao was so pleased to see dozens of young volunteers interacting with shopkeepers. Most of them are millennial generation. “They were a bit scared at first, but after they started to talk, they become more and more confident- they learned they’re not talking with a boss but a friendly neighbour,” she said.
“I can’t foresee the impact of our tours, but I admire the efforts of Macau people to spread the message to love our heritage with memories, and we believe that people, our city, and things happen in the present should interrelate to one another,” said Lao.
Heritage Stoll on Macao Post Daily, Weekender,
17th May 2013.
_______________________________________
Kyle Cussler
Usually the best way to learn about a city is through friends who know the place. But here in Macau, there’s another option to know the city and its intricacies-a guided heritage walk around the historic centre of Macau.
Most Macau heritage tours are presented in the form of historical narration, but in mid-June, the Macau Heritage Ambassador Association (MHAA) will organize a two-night heritage stroll complemented with contemporary arts and poetry. The stroll will use an alternative, creative approach, and will include multimedia performances-for the first time in Macau.
The tour is staffed by guides who volunteer their knowledge, energy and time preservation effort. Their aim is to encourage participants to consider how heritage connects to their lives.
Heritage connections
The tour begins at 6:45p.m. in the Ruins of St. Paul with a dance show. Further destinations include Calçada do Embaixador, Beco dos Faitiões and Largo de Santo Agostinho. It ends in the Casa Garden at 8:30 after a mini concert there.
“The tour will creatively connect various stories that happened in different times and at different times and at different places with poetry and art performances throughout the walk, leaving room for participants to imagine,” local dancer Lao Cho Wa, who directs the project, told MPD Weekender on Monday.
Each participant is given a headset to listen to the stories during the stroll. “Apart from the popular heritage sites,” said Lao, “we’ll bring them to some very old and quiet street and lanes that may have been forgotten in today’s increasingly rapid pace of life.”
Emotions find their locus
According to Lao, all participating artists first read the history and poetries connected to each site, then select one place that inspires them the most-a place where they feel emotionally attached. “Each artist is able to find at least one place where their memories grow,” she said, “which offers them some ideas to create their own work or performance.”
“One artist plans a light installation at Saint Anthony Church in commemorating the terrible storm that brought three days of rain and claimed 5,000 lives in 1874,” she said. “It almost flooded the city and people had nowhere to find a shelter. It was very dark at night and most if their lost their direction.”
“Suddenly the church was on fire,” said Lao. “As the church sits atop the mountain, many people saw it, went up there and survived the flood. The story impressed the artist and he decided to work with light and poetry to show what the church means to the history of Macau.”
Valuing our heritage
Taiwan-born artist Hope Chiang, the artistic director of the tour, moved to Macau over a decade ago. She explained her interest in Macau’s heritage. “Each day we go to work, back and forth, or enjoy a meal with someone in a nice restaurant,” she said. “When should we spare time to visit our city’s heritage and appreciate its history?”
Chiang argues that as a citizen, each of us must have somewhere to belong. “For me, when I see the façade of the Ruins of St. Paul, I have a sense of hope-it’s miraculous to see it standing today after three serious fires. When I feel upset or frustrated, I’ll come here to sit for a while and seek spiritual comfort,” she said.
The tour will pass through Patio da Eterna Felicidade, which translates as ‘the lane of eternal happiness’. But Chiang questions the name’s validity. “When you go there, you only see a piece of abandoned land ──I’m not sure how that relates to ‘eternal happiness’,” she said.
However Chiang says that our emotions for a place fade as we grow. “Unfortunately we’re always busy to earn a living, and often too tired to feel more-we don’t have enough time and energy to connect ourselves to our heritage. But heritage also has emotions and memories. They are just like our friends. We both co-exist in the city and grow together,” Chiang said.
Macau’s true face shows at night
The importance of heritage depends on its surrounding environment. That’s why neighbouring streets and shops play a role in fostering a nostalgic ambience for the tour.
“Heritage site cannot exist individually as they are interrelated to the streets and even the people living there,” said Chiang. “That’s why we also bring participants to walk some well- preserved old places along the tour. Otherwise it’s not a complete route.”
With the theme of “nostalgic path to new wishes,” the tour also to depict images of local livelihood in bygone times through storytelling and sound-effects. “When tour –goers listen to the story of the past, they can immediately look at the place in the present and make a comparison in their minds,” she said.
“In my opinion, daytime Macau does not belong to the local because in recent years tourists are everywhere,” said Chiang. “Each day, each heritage site is crowed with visitors. Only in the night time, mostly after 7p.m., when there are no more travelers, tranquility returns, and it’s our turn to find our way to feel the city we love.”
Vibrancy of old neighbourhoods
This is the second year of the event and Lao keeps asking herself about its purpose. Is if a performance or a tour? She hopes to question the core value of heritage and how it relates to our real life. “Heritage defines our cultural identity and remains inseparable from our life,” she said. “It’s holistic, embracing all life.”
This year, the organiser made an evolutionary step. Last Saturday, dozens of volunteers divided themselves into four team to do a rehearsal and saw many antique shops and old stores along the way, especially in Ruados Ervanarios- one of the oldest and most historic streets in Macau. They decided to knock on doors and visit them one by one.
“We were not promoting the event but explaining to the shop owners why we organize this tour and decide to carry it out during the late evening,” said Lao. “Some owners kindly remind us that no one visits these places after night falls, and that’s why most of the shops there close after 6p.m.”
It appears to Lao that fewer people notice the vitality of the old neighbourhood at night. So they asked the owners to prolong their business hours. “Most of them live upstairs the store and all they need to do is to switch on their light and say hi to our participants, of allow participants to look at their on- sale items,” she said.
Intangible impact
Lao was so pleased to see dozens of young volunteers interacting with shopkeepers. Most of them are millennial generation. “They were a bit scared at first, but after they started to talk, they become more and more confident- they learned they’re not talking with a boss but a friendly neighbour,” she said.
“I can’t foresee the impact of our tours, but I admire the efforts of Macau people to spread the message to love our heritage with memories, and we believe that people, our city, and things happen in the present should interrelate to one another,” said Lao.