photobook celebrating the exhibition

João Miguel Barros, Director of Halftone, was the curator of the exhibition and its photobook.

In his statement:

‘Narratives in the Oriente’ is a plural project based on diversity. More than anything, the diversity of visions in the aesthetic and artistic proposals of twenty artists living in Macau. To make this possible, the curatorial brief had the benefit of not indicating a general theme for the exhibition, leaving it entirely up to each participant, after discussion with the curator, to choose the proposal to be included in the exhibition space for which it was created.

These twenty artists from Macau, Portuguese and Chinese, reveal a certain view of the world. They show their own particular outlook. These are twenty microcosms that do not appear to coincide, twenty aesthetic proposals that reflect different acculturation and sensibilities, but which in some way reflect the multiplicity of the society in which we live, plural, diverse and contradictory, and which, through these different gazes, allow us to evaluate the cultural richness that surrounds us.

All participants were asked to produce a conceptual text describing the spirit of their proposal, allowing us to delve deeper into an understanding of each artist’s work.

This exhibition is proof of the vitality of contemporary photography in Macau, which, in curatorial terms, is far removed from the traditional displays of beautiful, manicured landscapes in photography shows. It also clearly demonstrates that photography is by no means a ‘minor’ discipline among the visual arts, but an artistic manifestation that should be taken seriously and undergo further study.

Macau society is richly multicultural and photography, as an artistic manifestation, should be viewed from a positive perspective for its potential to project the Special Administrative Region of Macau at international level.

We are therefore extremely grateful to the Fundação Oriente, which, with the support of the BNU and IPOR, gave this project a home, allowing us to demonstrate the full potential of this new way of looking at contemporary photography.

João Miguel Barros

Curator

Several Halftone member were invited for the exhibition and photobook, herewith listed.