An exhibition entitled “MO2049” by Portuguese artist Ricardo Lima and organised by Taipa Village Cultural Association is being held at Taipa Village Art Space.

The event is sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and the first sci-fi exhibition hosted by the association.

The exhibition displays a concept art collection showcasing a glimpse of Macau’s future, according to a statement by the association. 

Lima is a concept artist and illustrator working in the entertainment industry. He graduated in Drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon, and later moved to Singapore where he studied at the Feng Zhu School of Design (FZD). 

After completing his studies, Lima returned to Portugal and began freelancing. He recently worked with Eidos Montreal on an exhibition entitled “Shadow of the Tomb Raider”, and he is now part of the One Pixel Brush team, according to the statement.

The statement noted that the exhibition is inspired by worlds created in sci-fi films, namely Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990), Ghost in the Shell (1995), Fifth Element (1997), and Dredd (2012).

Lima has taken the exhibition as an opportunity to develop a personal project using Macau, a place he has never visited before, as the backdrop for a film viewed through a dystopian lens. 

Lima has focused his imagination on Macau’s future to create a powerful representation of new realities through his artwork, driven by his “constant desire to bring new worlds to life,” according to the statement. 

His science fiction narrative depicts a relationship between megacities and Mother Nature as the cycle of change accelerates towards an anthropogenic (i.e. the impact of human activity on Nature) future, the statement points out. In doing so, the body of work presented explores realistic visions of potential environments that captured his imagination, such as Macau’s port area and waterfront, remnants of the past, immersive public space and food markets, the statement says. 

The statement also points out that Macau’s rapid evolution has prompted Lima to explore the city’s transformation into a fascinating destination à la New York, Shanghai and Hong Kong – all flourishing, busy cities that are globalised, hyper-dense, diverse, well-established and packed with cutting edge urban infrastructure – as it takes place in the near future.

At the exhibition, the Ruins of St. Paul’s are reduced to a huge, “frivolous” hologram and a backdrop for an open-air night market, the statement says. The Grand Lisboa is the setting for a downtown docking area where yachts and sampans meet to load and unload merchandise and commuters. In order to give visual expression to the vibrancy and transformation of the city into something new, Lima’s digital illustrations overlay two images and are printed using a diffraction grating, a high-tech optical device that separates light into its constituent colours and produces a polychromatic spectra reminiscent of lighting effects in sci-fi films, according to the statement.

The work enhances the futuristic vision and animates the captured environment with palpable qualities of change and dynamism, the statement says. 

The exhibits are for sale priced at 3,600 patacas each. With a light box, the exhibits cost 5,000 patacas each.

The exhibition runs until January 8 at the gallery of Taipa Village Art Space in 10, Rua dos Clérigos in Taipa. It opens daily from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free.

For enquiries, call 2857 6118 or visit www.taipavillagemacau.org.mo 

Photos: Camy Tam