In order to leverage Macao’s role as “a base for exchange and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream and the coexistence of different cultures” for exchange, and to encourage exchange and cooperation on the protection and management of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road, facilitate the nomination of the Maritime Silk Road for the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List, and commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the “Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Forum” will be held in Macao on 16 and 17 November. The Forum is jointly presented by the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government and the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, the China Academy of Cultural Heritage, the Guangzhou Secretariat of City Alliance for Maritime Silk Road Heritage Conservation and World Heritage Nomination and ICOMOS China, and co-organized by the University of Macau and the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies. In order to enhance the public’s understanding of the value of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) will launch a series of activities on Maritime Silk Road culture from November to December, including a photography exhibition on the conservation and study of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road, thematic guided tours to historical sites of the Maritime Silk Road in Macao, thematic parent-child workshops and WeChat prize games. All are welcome to participate.

IC held a press conference today (27 October) at the Auditorium of the Macao Museum of Art in the presence of the President of IC, Leong Wai Man; the member of the Cultural Heritage Committee, Wu Chou Kit; the Assistant Librarian of the University of Macau, Raymond Wong; the Visiting Assistant Professor of the School of Tourism Management of the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Ly Tuan Phong, and the Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of IC, Choi Kin Long. The press conference covered an introduction to the “Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Forum” and its activity series.

“One base” and Cultural Forum facilitate mutual learning of different cultures; experts and scholars from home and abroad share research results

The “Maritime Silk Road” was one of the crucial passages for foreign trade and cultural exchange in ancient China. As an important historical stop on the Maritime Silk Road and a member of the City Alliance for Maritime Silk Road Heritage Conservation and World Heritage Nomination, Macao is a city with profound connotations of multi-cultural exchange. In order to deepen the research on the value of the Maritime Silk Road and uphold Macao’s role as “One base ”, the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government and the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China have jointly organized the “Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Forum” to strengthen the exchange and cooperation among the regions and cities along the Maritime Silk Road and facilitate the conservation and use of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road and its nomination for the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List.

The “Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Forum” will be held on 16 and 17 November at the Convention Center of the Macao Science Center. Two tertiary institution sessions will be held in the afternoon on 17 November at the Wu Yee Sun Library of the University of Macau and the Inspiration Building of the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, where several authoritative experts and scholars from home and abroad will share their research results and deliver speeches under the theme “Conservation and sustainable development of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road”. Some seats will be made available for the public to attend on site, and a livestream of the sessions will also be available. The photography exhibition on the conservation and study of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road will be held at the Convention Center of Macao Science Center, the Wu Yee Sun Library of the University of Macau, and the Forward Building of the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies – Taipa Campus, as well as via online platforms, which introduce the Maritime Silk Road cultural heritage of China’s 28 city members from the City Alliance for Maritime Silk Road Heritage Conservation and World Heritage Nomination through pictures and texts. For details of the exhibition periods, please refer to the activity timetable below.

Thematic guided tours and parent-child workshops to enhance public understanding of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road

In order to enhance the public’s knowledge of cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road, IC will launch thematic guided tours, parent-child workshops and WeChat prize games on the “Maritime Silk Road” from November to December. The “thematic guided tours to historical sites of the Maritime Silk Road in Macao” and the “thematic parent-child workshops on Maritime Silk Road” will be held from 12 November to 18 December. In the thematic guided tours, participants will be guided by professional docents to visit various historical sites of the Maritime Silk Road in Macao. The tours will be conducted in Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese and English, with a maximum of 18 participants for each session that lasts around two hours. In the parent-child workshops, children will create fabric and clay paintings under the theme “Maritime Silk Road” accompanied by their parents, so as to enhance their understanding of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road. WeChat prize games will also be launched, and the details will be announced in due course. A wide variety of intriguing activities will be rolled out and all are welcome to participate.

Admission to the “Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Forum”, thematic guided tours and parent-child workshops is free. Residents may register through the Forum’s webpage at www.culturalheritage.mo/MSRICF/2022 or IC’s “Activities Registration System” at www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event from 10am on 28 October. Seats for the Forum are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, while seats for the other activities will be selected by drawing lots. The guided tours will be available for group reservations of over 10 people. For enquiries and registration, please call 2855 8747 from Mondays to Sundays, from 9am to 6pm.

IC has been strictly following the anti-epidemic guidelines of the Health Bureau and will implement appropriate measures for the activities. In cooperation with the epidemic prevention efforts of the SAR Government, all participants must wear face masks, undergo body temperature checks, and present a valid “Venue QR Code” (also known as “Venue Code”) and the “Macao Health Code” of the day, and follow the relevant anti-epidemic measures and crowd control measures on-site. For more information, please visit the thematic website of the “Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Forum” (www.culturalheritage.mo/MSRICF/2022), “IC Art” page on Facebook and subscribe to IC’s official WeChat Account “IC_Art_Macao”.