Collateral event from Macao, China at the 59th Biennale Arte, exhibition YiiMa Art Group: Allegory of Dreams is a true and spectacular ‘allegory of dreams’ which describes the relationship between humans and their surroundings.
Organised by the Macao Museum of Art, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, and co-organised by the Venice-based PDG Arte Communications, “YiiMa” Art Group: Allegory of Dreams, opening on 23 April in Venice, is the collateral event from Macao, China at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
The exhibition showcases eleven pieces (sets) by YiiMa Art Group, an artistic collective founded in 2019 by Ung Vai Meng and Chan Hin Io, responding to the title and theme of this year’s Biennale Arte, The Milk of Dreams. According to the artists, the title emphasises dreamlike imagination, evoking through an allegory the close relationship between humans and the living environment. Through sculpture, photography, video documentation and performance art, Ung Vai Meng and Chan Hin Io merge land and sky in a unique perspective, offering a reinterpretation of the richness and density of some hidden corners of Macao, as well as of memories of the city that are fading away like dreams. As stated by the artists, “we intervene in the natural social scenes full of everyday symbols through specific body movements to present the unique cultural environment in Macau.”
Divided into four different sections (Boat of Dreamers, Symbols of Dreams, Space of Dreams, and Iao Hon Dynasty), the exhibition builds a bridge between dreams and reality, performance art and documentation, portraying the many challenges faced by today’s cultural environment and eliciting a deep reflection upon different aspects of local culture. YiiMa visited several places in Macao such as iron shops, martial arts halls, antique stores, and old offices; places that are full of historical traces and embody changes through time. They also explored different communities, visiting and talking to residents in search of creative inspiration: “We believe art should reflect the actual reality of each era and somehow inspire the viewer”.
Through documentation on the artists’ numerous on-site performances and actions, the exhibition reveals the richness and density of some less-known corners of Macau and lead visitors into the city’s unique cultural environment, full of memories, histories and “dreams”. The exhibition also offers the opportunity to experience dreamlike yet allegorical scenes of everyday life in Macau through a strong visual impact, and helps to understand and interpret the city from multiple angles.
According to the Curator João Miguel Barros, who successfully presented the first large-scale YiiMa Art Group exhibition at Museu Coleção Berardo in Portugal, visitors will be able to ‘see’ Macau, a city full of stories, and to experience its traditions, the intimacies of its culture. The curator also stated that the collective creative process is an “unusual performative dynamic in the art world. Each image results from a work of planning and in-depth study, and is then brilliantly executed with an artistic expression of great symbolic value”. That’s why the project presented in Venice will also include big images, video and installations. “Even those who cannot physically travel due to travel restrictions – said Mr Barros – will be able to discover a place that is timeless and unique in the world, for its multicultural richness and its peculiar identity”.
Furthermore, the collective of artists stated that the project Allegory of Dreams aims to raise “a reflection on various social phenomena and express our concern for humanism”. Since 2007, Macao has participated as Collateral Event in the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Thus, ‘YiiMa’ Art Group: Allegory of Dreams compounds eighth year of Macau artists presenting their works at the Venice Biennale Arte and this recent year of changes and challenges brought by the pandemic. At this unusual moment, the Macau Museum of Art joins hands with the exhibition team to present an exhibition that connects the past and the present and invites the audience to discover Macau’s unique, quest-worthy cultural treasures and urban landscape.
