The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macau SAR Government presents the 24th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) with the aim of creating a platform for cultural exchange. This year, the Festival will open on 3 May and, for the period of one month, will feature thirty-four acts, half of which are local productions. This year's Festival includes a varied array of performances from Mainland China, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore, ranging from contemporary dance to traditional Beijing opera, from multimedia performances to shadow puppetry, from audiovisual architectural mappings to exhibitions of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. Shows for all tastes take to the stage, not only at the city's performing arts venues but also at many of Macao's world heritage sites. The MAF begins and ends with two contemporary dance works. Drought and Rain, by renowned French-Vietnamese director, choreographer and performance artist Ea Sola, lifts the curtain on this year's edition. This ballet continues Sola's study of the memories of war, expressing deep humanistic concerns and developing the notions of "hardship" and "forgiveness". FAR, an anatomy-defying work by multi-award winning British choreographer Wayne McGregor, is sure to bring the Festival to a scintillating close. At the core of the Festival programme are other treats. A team of outstanding choreographers from across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have collaborated to deliver Love Letters, a dance performance revealing the splendid results of a fruitful inter-regional co-operation. Han Yuniang, a new work presented by the China National Beijing Opera Theatre, stars Dong Yuanyuan, artistic successor of famed performer Mei Lanfang. Local artists, who studied under Spain's Telenoika Audiovisual Open Creative Community, have created two audiovisual shows in Mapping: Made in Macao I and II, designed specifically for the façades of the Mandarin's House and Tap Seac Square. French choreographer and dance revolutionary Xavier Le Roy blends science with imagination to explore the infinite possibilities of the human body in Self-Unfinished. Art exhibitions are also featured in the MAF. Vanishing Techniques – Photography of Jean Baudrillard showcases the French thinker's unique photographic theory and practice, which allowed him to demonstrate with a camera his varied ways of looking at and perceiving the world. The Macao Museum hosts Fantasy World – Chinoiserie, a display of European-made artefacts dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, inspired by an admiration for the Chinese art and philosophy being imported from the East during the Age of Enlightenment. For more information please consult the MAF website at www.icm.gov.mo/fam or booklet. Tickets for the 24th Macao Arts Festival will be available after 10am on 24 March 2013 at all Macao Kong Seng Ticketing Network outlets. Telephone and online bookings will be available from 12pm on the same day. This year, the Festival offers early bird discounts of up to 40%, between 24 March and 7 April, when buying tickets for at least 4 different performances or when buying 10 or more tickets for the same performance. After 8 April, purchasers meeting the same conditions will still receive a 30% discount. A 20% discount is also available on tickets to any show upon presentation of a Bank of China (Macau), Banco Weng Hang (Macau), LTD., Tai Fung Bank, ICBC (Macau), BCM Bank, Luso International Banking LTD. or BNU Credit Card or a Bank of China Tri-Currency Debit Card. The Festival has also created, in collaboration with Pacific Coffee Company, the "Arts and Coffee" special offer. With every purchase of one ticket each for the Festival's opening and closing shows, Drought and Rain and FAR, purchasers will receive a voucher for one free "tall" coffee drink at any Macao branch of Pacific Coffee Company. By presenting their 2013 MAF tickets at any Pacific Coffee Company in Macao, festival goers may also upgrade one drink. The 24th MAF press conference takes place on March 19, Tuesday, at 3pm, at the Tourism Activities Centre, with the presence of the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng; the Deputy Director of the Macao Government Tourist Office, one of the Festival's supporters, Tse Heng Sai; the Chief Executive Officer of TDM, Teledifusão de Macau, Leong Kam Chun; the representative of Air Macau, Mavis Chan, the Vice-President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Leong Hio Ming; the Chief of the Cultural Events Department, Ieong Chi Kin; and representatives of participating groups in this year's Festival. For more information on the 24th MAF, please call 8399 6699 during office hours.Ticketing hotlines: (853) 2855 5555 in Macao; (852) 2380 5083 in Hong Kong; (86) 139 2691 1111 in Mainland China.Online Reservations: www.macauticket.com
