In celebration of International Museum Day, observed annually on the 18th of May, the Macao Museum, under the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will hold a series of activities throughout the month. On May 5th, the Macao Museum is participating in the 2013 Macao International Museum Day Carnival in Tap Seac Square, where they will set up promotional booths and organise games and activities suitable for both parents and children. Among the activities is the Drunken Dragon Dance – Paper Craft Workshop, designed to promote and preserve the Feast of the Drunken Dragon, an item of Macao's National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The workshop specialists will guide attendees in the fashioning of paper crafts related to the Drunken Dragon Dance, and participants will take home a Drunken Dragon Dance-themed fortune bag symbolising safety and good luck (available while stocks last). The Museum's booths will also host demonstrations by members of the Macao Fresh Fish and Commercial Association, who will give Drunken Dragon Dance lessons for all ages. To enable residents to better understand and cherish Macao's world heritage, there will be a contest titled What do you know about Macao's World Heritage? held at the Museum's booths. Winners will receive a prize from the Museum (available while stocks last). Also featured in the May 5th Carnival at Tap Seac Square, the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business will have its own booth introducing traditional Chinese tea culture. On International Museum Day itself (18th May), the Macao Museum will organise a lucky draw, Where are the Museum's Collections?, held from 11am to 1pm and from 3pm to 5pm to help visitors learn more about the collections housed there. Complimentary guided tours are available, at 3pm in Cantonese and at 4pm in Mandarin, and admission is free for the day at both the Macao Museum and the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business. May 25th, the occasion of the Macao Museum's 15th anniversary, is also the date of the opening ceremony for the exhibition Fantasy World – Chinoiserie. This show portrays the enthusiasm for Chinese art and customs that took hold in Europe, particularly in France, during the 17th and 18th centuries. Some 80 objects d'art will be displayed, among them oil paintings, engravings, ceramic items and tapestries, on loan from Les Arts Décoratifs - Musée des Arts décoratifs (Paris), Musée du Louvre - Département des Arts graphiques, Cité de la Céramique - Sèvres et Limoges, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie (Besançon) and Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A.. Entrance to the Macao Museum is free for Macao residents on Sundays. For further information regarding the above activities and to register for the workshop, please call 8394 1218 (Ms. Leong) during office hours, or 8394 1204 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. You may also visit the Macao Museum's website at www.macaumuseum.gov.mo. Registration for the Drunken Dragon Dance – Paper Craft Workshop is limited, and places are available on a first come, first served basis.
