– What weighed most heavily in your decision to leave Macau and move to Taipei? How has living between the two places changed your view of artistic life?
Gali Ma Wai In – When I left Macau, I wasn’t really thinking about whether I would become an artist in the future. I wanted to study Journalism, so I decided to go to Taiwan. Later, I stayed there to pursue postgraduate studies and, quite naturally, ended up becoming an independent artist.
I have been in Taiwan since I was 18. I don’t think I ever had a specific plan. Things simply happened, one step at a time.
You work in fields as diverse as film, virtual reality, theater, literature and criticism. Does this diversity stem mainly from creative curiosity, or also from the need to adapt to the artistic environment?
G. I. – When I was younger, I thought I might become a novelist. I began writing poetry and essays in middle school and, later, during graduate school, I started writing film screenplays and theater scripts.
Even today, I feel that creative work doesn’t really have many boundaries. Every form of expression has its own appeal. I rarely see this diversity as a survival strategy. Rather, there are different media that I want to explore at particular moments and in particular contexts, or opportunities arise that allow me to delve deeper into specific forms of creative work.
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Recently, I realized that perhaps I’m not especially good at creating within a single genre. That means I may need to spend more time thinking about the essence of each medium and each genre, creating according to their own characteristics.
However, the fact that my work cannot be easily categorized or clearly defined is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the final result has artistic meaning.
How important was the Step Out Bookplay Little Theatre Festival to your development as a playwright? What forms of support are still lacking for young artists and for creators working outside Macau?
G. I. – I became involved in writing for the theater through the Step Out Bookplay Little Theatre Festival in 2015. Fortunately, other opportunities to create for the stage emerged afterward. I learned how to create through practice.
The festival served as a platform for my growth, allowing me to explore my own themes and interests in a very free environment, without having to worry about questions such as, “What should I write to win a literary award?”
She was a guest art critic at the 27th Macau Arts Festival and the only student selected for the screenwriting program of the 12th Golden Horse Film Academy. Among her most representative short films are Pop-it and NATASHA. (Photo: International Film Camp)
I feel that the greatest challenges in making a living from creative work, or in actually producing a piece of work, arise mainly at the beginning: How do I get opportunities to create? How do I get people to see my work? How do I manage to develop the next project?
These are practical questions, also related to timing, place and personal connections. It would be a great pity if these factors overshadowed reflection and personal growth, leading someone to become a creator who “has many works and receives many invitations, but has lost their own style and distinctive characteristics.”
Ultimately, what kind of artist do I want to be? How can an artist evolve in terms of themes and techniques? Those are the real questions.
How do you deal with the instability of artistic life, creative blocks and the difficulty of securing resources without losing the desire to keep creating?
G. I. –Personally, I feel that my creative flame has never gone out. I believe I have an almost religious reverence for art – whether theater, cinema or novels – when I encounter truly extraordinary works.
Her works often draw on women’s experiences, combining technological and fantastical themes while exploring different narrative forms. More recently, she was playwright-in-residence at the 16th Step Out Bookplay Little Theatre Festival, where she presented the new play Notes on Heart (Untitled) and the exhibition-format theater piece Story Before Story. (Photo: Antonio Tongchar)
I simply feel happy to be part of the artistic world. As long as we remember that what we do is, at its core, something so simple, we are less likely to lose our way.
Geography, gender, power, survival, fame and profit belong to another level. My task is to understand these limitations without disconnecting myself from reality, to find ways of surviving and creative strategies within this social environment, while at the same time preserving freedom of thought and artistic creation.
What advice would you give to young artists in Macau who hesitate between staying and seeking opportunities abroad? What conditions do you consider essential for an artist to develop their work?
G. I. – I would say that if they want to try, they should do it. Only after trying will they know whether it is possible or not.
I left to find out for myself, and the experience was not as wonderful as I had imagined. There were many disappointments and painful moments, but also many lessons that made me who I am today. And I am still growing.
When we have an idea, as long as we take the necessary steps and are prepared to face the worst possible consequences, there is nothing we cannot do.
