Macau is not starting from scratch in its cultural relationship with the Lusophone world. Quite the opposite. Throughout the year, festivals, cultural weeks, literary gatherings, exhibitions, concerts, celebrations and gastronomic initiatives bring artists, writers and creators from several Portuguese-speaking countries to the city. Work has been done, institutions are involved, and there is a cultural dimension which, within the scale of the city, cannot be ignored. The problem lies in what happens afterwards.
Too many initiatives appear to be isolated measures: they begin, fulfil their programme and end without leaving behind a relationship proportionate to the effort invested. For a few days, Macau presents itself as a meeting place between China and the Lusophone world. Then, each side returns to its own place, and the bridge remains virtually empty until the next event.
Many of these events succeed in bringing the Lusophone world to Macau, but cases in which Macau follows the opposite route remain rare. Artists, exhibitions and projects arrive in the city, but are seldom subsequently presented, replicated or developed in their countries of origin. Circulation exists, but it is uneven. The bridge functions mainly as an entrance and far less as an exit.
True exchange takes place when Chinese audiences, schools, universities, local associations and emerging creators are involved. Without that openness, the Lusophone presence is celebrated, but the relationship is not necessarily deepened
That is why Macau’s participation in a major Brazilian biennial carries special significance. Not only because of the prestige of the event, but because it represents movement in the opposite direction: Macau is no longer merely the stage that receives others, but also begins to occupy cultural space abroad. It is an important step.
The role of a platform cannot be limited to organising encounters. It must create consequences. An exhibition should be capable of generating new exhibitions; an artistic residency, new collaborations; a festival, translations, publications, co-productions or the circulation of artists. Without such continuity, cultural diplomacy risks becoming a succession of good photographs, appropriate speeches and results that are difficult to measure.
It is also important to ask who these events reach. True exchange takes place when Chinese audiences, schools, universities, local associations and emerging creators are involved. Without that openness, the Lusophone presence is celebrated, but the relationship is not necessarily deepened.
There is also the question of resources. Many projects have ambitions that exceed the funding, promotion and circulation capacity they receive. International impact is demanded with resources of merely local reach. A lack of repercussion is then confused with a lack of quality, when what was often missing was a strategy capable of extending the life of the project.
Macau has already built part of the bridge. The challenge now is to make it work in both directions and beyond the duration of each event. A cultural connection only becomes real when it produces memory, repetition and a future. Without that, the bridge exists — but disappears as soon as the lights go out.
