UP CLOSE & PERSONAL – An Interview with Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government (AAPPAC 30th Anniversary Edition)
Macao Arts Festival
Tell us a bit more about Cultural Affairs Bureau’s role in shaping and supporting Macao’s cultural landscape, and how it serves communities both within Macao and beyond.
Guided by Macao’s cultural development plan, the Cultural Affairs Bureau is dedicated to safeguarding our cultural heritage, cultivating artistic appreciation, and nurturing talent across the cultural and creative realms. A core part of our mission involves empowering community organizations and driving the growth of our cultural industries.
Through flagship events and innovative projects, we strive to broaden public engagement with the arts and facilitate dynamic cultural exchanges. This allows us to fully leverage Macao’s unique advantage as ‘the Exchange and Cooperation Base with Mainstream Chinese Culture and Co-existence of Different Cultures’.
At the same time, we actively foster robust collaborations with Portuguese-speaking countries, the Greater Bay Area, and the wider world, helping to promote and preserve the Chinese culture. By making full use of Macao’s unique cultural characteristics which blend Chinese and Western elements, we share with the world positive stories about China and the Macao, establishing Macao as a significant window for exchanges between Eastern and Western civilisations.
Could you share some recent cultural initiatives, programmes, or projects that you believe best reflect Macao’s vision and ambitions for the future development of arts and culture?
To support Macao in building itself as the “Exchange and Cooperation Base with Mainstream Chinese Culture and Co-existence of Different Cultures”, the Cultural Affairs Bureau launched a new cultural event in 2025, the Chinese Culture Performances Season. The season features national stage productions, including Peking Opera, immersive dramas, dance dramas, roadshows and operas, etc. By introducing national-level outstanding stage arts, and through outreach activities and exchange programmes, quality cultural resources are brought to communities and schools, promoting education, transmission and innovation of Chinese culture in Macao. Enhancing the inheritance, education, and innovative development of Chinese culture, fosters dialogue and mutual learning among different civilizations, and strengthens Macao’s cultural advantage as “One Base”.
Chinese Culture Season
The Greater Bay Area continues to create new opportunities for artistic exchange and collaboration. How is the Cultural Affairs Bureau working with partners across the region to strengthen cultural connectivity and foster greater collaboration among artists and cultural institutions?
The Cultural Affairs Bureau devotes in performing arts exchanges in the Greater Bay Area, hosting events like the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area Chinese Theatre Cultural Festival and taking part in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival, while also inviting outstanding performing arts works and groups from the Bay Area to appear in Macao’s major local festivals. At the institutional level, the Bureau engages actively in the “Greater Pearl River Delta Cultural Cooperation Conference” and the “Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area Cultural and Artistic Cooperation Summit Mechanism”, deepening collaboration among the three regions in performing arts talents, programmes and resources. On the strategic front, it promotes resource sharing, joint creation and co‑nurturing of talent through cross‑city platforms, supports local theatre companies, facilitates the restaging of original works across the Bay Area. The Cultural Affairs Bureau continues to deepen cultural ties within the Bay Area, giving full play to Macao’s unique advantage as “One Base.”
Chinese Theatre Cultural Festival
As AAPPAC celebrates its 30th Anniversary in 2026, what do you think has been the network’s biggest impact on the performing arts landscape in the Asia-Pacific region?
Throughout these three decades path, AAPPAC significantly impacted the development of a unified, collaborative ecosystem across the Asia-Pacific region, contributing to capacity building for arts professionals, cross-border co-commissioning, resource sharing in venue management, and the facilitation of inter-industry cooperation.
As Macao continues to develop as a cultural destination and centre for exchange between different cultures, what key opportunities and priorities do you see for the city’s cultural sector in the coming years?
In the future, Macao will continue to strengthen its role as a bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, persist in promoting cultural collaboration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hengqin, and build upon its brand image as the ‘City of Performing Arts’ and the ‘Culture City of East Asia’. Through resource integration and innovation, it will foster the deep integration of regional cultural tourism and the arts and cultural industries, enhance Macao’s cultural soft power and industrial collaboration, and promote the appropriate diversification development strategy of Macao.
Macao Cultural Centre
Finally, what message would you like to share with fellow AAPPAC members and cultural leaders gathering in Hong Kong this October?
This October in Hong Kong, let us celebrate the unique idiosyncrasies of our broad region, strengthen our connections with various performing arts venues, and we hereby extend our best wishes for a smooth and successful event.