“VANITAS – Reflections on Transience and Legacy” is being hosted at the Rui Cunha Foundation (FRC) gallery, with only three days left to view the exhibits.
The exhibition, which kicked off last Thursday, mainly features a collection of photographs, alongside traditional Chinese paintings. Showcasing these works are six photographers alongside artists from the Macau Belt and Road Calligraphy and Painting Culture Arts Association. Poetry is also highlighted, with the book “A Oriente do Silêncio e outros Poemas” (“To the East of Silence and Other Poems”) by Rui Rocha that was launched earlier this week at the gallery.
The respective artists involved in the genres tackle the concept of “Vanitas”, which is Latin for “emptiness” or “futility” and is a genre of still-life paintings that symbolise the transience of life and the inevitability of death. According to a recent statement on the gallery website, the genre was “initially developed by Dutch painters in the 17th century during the Baroque Period, and kept being revisited in Western and Eastern painting”.
The sombre tone represented in this concept is found across the works exhibited throughout the gallery. Starting with the photography showcased, the lensmen and lenswomen presenting their works, which are mostly in black and white, are Carmen Serejo, Gonçalo Lobo Pinheiro, Francisco Ricarte, João Palla, Sara Augusto, and Shee Va.
Among the images they captured to depict the concept are the tomb of poet Camilo Pessanha in Macau; the Egyptian rites of death showcased in an exhibition; the Santa Cruz Cemetery in East Timor; the presence of religious structures and votive symbols within Macau’s temples and shrines; and the focus on the presence of earthly and aesthetic manifestations of Catholic rituals in the Prazeres Cemetery in Lisbon, as listed in a statement by the gallery.
Meanwhile, the association represents the related ideas through calligraphy and Chinese paintings on display. According to the organisers, the association described the concept of vanitas as an allegorical expression that “seeks to represent a higher ideal”.
The gallery is located at 749 Avenida da Praia Grande, Luen Pong Building. One can visit from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays.
According to AI Chatbot Poe, in art and history, the vanitas genre often uses objects like skulls, fading flowers, candles, and clocks, along with mottos like memento mori, which is Latin for “remember that you [must] die”.
– Photos: Rui Pastorin
