On 1 June, Sunday, members of the consular corps accredited to Hong Kong and Macao visited the territory to attend the 25th Macao Arts Festival (MAF). The trip, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), included visits to the exhibition Collotype • Recurrence – Spatial Convergence of John Thomson and Wong Ho Sang held at the Macao Museum as well as the Pak Tai Temple, in front of which they had the chance to watch two films in the Dance Dome - 360° Cinema Experience, included in the Festival’s programme. The delegation also attended the MAF closing performance, A Dream of Light, and showed their satisfaction with this visit which allowed them to experience and better understand Macao’s cultural and artistic atmosphere.

The exhibition Collotype • Recurrence – Spatial Convergence of John Thomson and Wong Ho Sang, presents works by British photographer John Thomson taken between 1868 and 1872 in China, depicting the social and cultural conditions of the time. It also presents wet plate photographic works specially created for this event by contemporary Macao photographer Wong Ho Sang.

During the visit to Pak Tai Temple, the consuls, accompanied by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Mr. Ung Vai Meng, the Head of IC’s Cultural Events Department, Mr. Kent Ieong, were briefed about the history, culture and architectural features of Macao’s temples. The visit was followed by two films, Pal O’ Me Heart and The Beautiful, included in Dance Dome - 360° Cinema Experience, an intimate cinema set up at the Pak Tai Temple Square that offered viewers an extraordinary immersive experience. At the end of the day, IC organised a banquet in honour of the consular corps, after which guests attended the 25th MAF closing show, A Dream of Light. Representatives of MAVA, creators of the show, were also present at the banquet, sharing with the consular delegation the show’s creative and design concepts, allowing these foreign guests to better understand the images and symbols, among others, present in the performance. Following the banquet, the guests headed for the Ruins of St. Paul’s, the backdrop for A Dream of Light, to watch this extraordinary audiovisual architectural mapping show which reflects the city’s multicultural atmosphere. The members of the consular delegation expressed their great satisfaction for attending the 25th the Macao Arts Festival.