Macao Museum of Art

Profile

The Macao Museum of Art is situated besides the Macao Cultural Centre and belongs to the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau. The total area is 10,192 square metres, of which about 4,000 square metres are exhibition areas. It is the largest Museum of cultural relics and arts in Macao.

Macao is a renowned historical city having both Asian and Western characteristics. As an art Museum, what we want to display here is such taste with the speciality of traditional oriental culture combined with the artistic flavour of the Western civilization. We hope our visitors will feel the unique atmosphere of art and culture here through our exhibitions.

Our collections are mainly from the previous Camões Grotto Museum and feature its collections and purchases of the past years. The most important ones are those rare cultural relics and artworks, such as the ceramics and stoneware excavated from Heisha in Macao, the Guangdong paintings and calligraphy from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the seal cuttings of the famous experts in Guangdong, Shiwan ceramics, Western paintings (historical paintings) arising in Macao and its neighbouring area during the 19th Century, the contemporary art of Macao, poster designs, photographic works, and so on. The splendid ceramic human statues from Shiwan in Guangdong are one of the most prestigious collections in the world. Moreover, the series of early Western paintings, the contemporary art of Macao, poster designs and photographic works are the best portraiture that reflect the history and culture, as well as art development, of Macao.

The Macao Museum of Art is a five-storied building, which has five exhibition rooms and two exhibition areas. The Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Room and China Ceramics Room are located on the 4th floor; the early Western paintings and Macao art works on the 3rd floor; one large special exhibition room is on the 2nd floor and several exhibition areas are on the 1st and ground floors. Besides those exhibitions of long-term collections, it also holds exhibitions of many different types exchanged with other nations and regions from time to time. It has held such important exhibitions as "the Golden Exile - Imperial Paintings of the Qing Dynasty", "Memories of the Past - Mexican Pre-Hispanic Art", "Reflections of the Master's Mind - an exhibition of Picasso's Prints", amongst others. In this way, it allows the public to enjoy the art works and cultures from different places and times.