Within a Sky Full of Earth

One thing that Bloom is about is the intent to build a network of creative supplies. Today we come with a list of stage castings scheduled for this weeks, mainly in Hong Kong. If you are interested or know someone who might be just use the contacts bellow.
Thank you and good luck:

• ACTORS/MODELS WANTED [BANK TV COMMERCIAL]
The Film Factory is casting for a TVC. They require Hong Kong people or Asian looking talent.
1. BOSS - Male, age 40-50, Cantonese speaker.
2. AGENT - Male or Female, age 25-30, Cantonese speaker.
3. BANK STAFF - Female, age 20-30, Cantonese speaker
4. WAITER - Male, age 20-30
Casting Dates: 19-24 January, 2009
Contact: Apple
Email: casting@filmfactory.net
Ph: 9655 5514

• ACTORS WANTED [SHORT FILM]
This company is looking for two actors for an upcoming short film. The film is about internet romance, sex and virtual identity.
1. MALE - Chinese, age 30-35, average build.
2. FEMALE - Chinese, age 30-35, good body.
Auditions: After Chinese New Year
Email: kjacobs@cityu.edu.hk

• ACTORS/MODELS WANTED [BANK TV COMMERCIAL]
Such Films is casting for a TVC.
1. FATHER - Male, age 30+, Cantonese speaker.
2. KID - Male, age 5-7, Asian look.
3. LADY - Female, age 20-25, ABC/Asian look
4. MIDDLE AGE WOMAN - Female, age 45-60, Cantonese speaker
Contact: Candy
Email1: candy.f@suchfilms.com.hk
Email2: puiie29@gmail.com
Ph: 9426 4152

• FEMALE FILIPINO ACTOR WANTED [MOVIE]
Star Fantasy is looking for a female Filipino actor to play a Filipino maid.
Shooting Dates: End February, 2009

• CHILD FILIPINO ACTORS WANTED [MOVIES]
Star Fantasy is looking for a range of young Filipino's for various main and extra roles in upcoming movies.
1. BOYS & GIRLS - Age 5-8
2. GIRLS - Age 11-13
Shooting Dates: February & March, 2009
Contact: Keely Chow
Email: starfantasy@gmail.com
Ph: 9163 3376

• ACTORS WANTED [VIDEO GAME]
This company is looking for actors to play roles in a video game for release in the US.
1. ELSIE - Female, Caucasian, blonde, height 5' - 5'6", age 20-25, American accent, must be able to ice skate (martial arts training is a plus).
2. INES - Female, Chinese/Eurasian, height around 5 foot, age 20-25, American accent.
3. TOOTHBRUSH - Female, age 20-25, dark skinned, brunette, height around 5'7"+, Australian accent.
4. FRIDA - Male, age 20-25, Indian/Mexican/Middle Eastern, thin, American accent, height shorter that 5'11".
5. DICK - Male, age 20-25, Korean/Chinese/Japanese, overweight, height 6 foot+, American accent.
6. KING KONG - Male, age 40-50, Asian, tall, lean, American access (bald is a plus).
7. UNCLE S. - Male, age 30-50, dark skinned Asian/Indian, lean body.
8. PRIEST VEGETA - Male, age 20-30, Korean/Chinese/Japanese, average height, American accent.
9. GRANDMA LEUNG - Female, age 55+, short, Chinese, American accent.
10. SYDNEY OPERA - Male, age 30-40, blonde, average height, Australian accent, looks like Steve Irwin.
This job may span over the next few months or possibly year. Please send headshot and resume.
Audition Dates: End February, 2009
Email: matthew@uglyproductions.com

• ACTORS/MODELS WANTED [HEALTH DRINK TV COMMERCIAL]
A variety of actors are wanted in the following roles for a health drink TVC.
1. COLLEGE STUDENTS - Male and female.
2. YOUNG PARENTS
Casting Date: February 15, 2009
Shooting Date: Early March, 2009
Contact: Stephanie
Email: steph.casting@gmail.com
Phone: 9263 2355

• MALE ACTOR WANTED [WORDYBIRD THEATRE COMPANY]
This company is looking for a middle aged male actor of any nationality to play the role of Paul Sheldon in a stage version of 'Misery' by Stephen King.
Casting Date: 3 February, 2009.
Contact: Jodi
Email: briang@netvigator.com
Ph: 9193 6640

Go get them!

The Albergue opened officialy yesterday. Lights, sound, exhibitions, a fashion show, scheduled the event that started at 6 o'clock with a a mighty organization and a crowded audience. Among them many of the VIPs of Macau leaded by the Chief Executive, Edmund Ho. It was an effusive ocasion to glow a line of projects that are coming to this venue. The event marked the intention to grow to a new level. The potential is all there, we will see in the coming months what the future reserves for the whole space and for the district of St. Lazarus where creative industries pretend to flow.
For our part, Bloom is still displaced on the heart of its body. We're still walking and beating but through alleys and sideways. If there's the challenge to overcome for a new life, on a second and strong opportunity, on the same way we are faced for a huge operation that must be accomplished without scars and that needs certainty and consistency. We just want to clean everything, forget the past and start from ground zero onwards. Still today it's hard and painful to return to Bloom Red where the bones and remains of its destruction are completly visible. It's a nightmare on air going through weeks and weeks and we're tumbling down on the way to something that will come, but has time goes it gets more close to a dream then to anything else. We're hoping for the happy ending though.
Bloom Yellow is at Albergue, where the flashes went on. But even there we're faraway to engage on something solid, because we're still raining. Yellow is part of a rainbow and can't be made of shaded colors. We'll give it time. But we can't last forever on the side of un-definition.

Apart from all that, with or without us, Bloom wishes a long life and a great success to Albergue.
[PHOTO BY BLOOMLAND.CN | CLICK TO ZOOM IN]

Não se tem passado muito aqui por este lugar. Estamos meio absortos na esperança de uma resolução que possamos tocar com as mãos. Até lá é isto. Um céu. Um tempo. A terra que nos segura. Não existirá para sempre por baixo dos nossos pés.
Mas iremos voltar a este posto com mais regularidade muito em breve.

This is for Boys and Girls! You just need to bring your guts and come along with us. Where SPEED beats TIME in real life!Hey, are you a speed racer? Are you feeling cold this Winter? Are you sure? It doesn't matter if you're sure or note, what matters now is SPEED and TIME! Everyone knows that! You should also know.
So, while you're thinking, while you wait for something better later in the year, why not coming for a great afternoon in the depths of tarmac just outside the border of Macau. Yeah, it's in Gongbei, in China, across the main road of shops and bars, where they have these menus with everything for sale.
Meet up at the Border Macau/Zhuhai. Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Or send SMS to 66800024. Or look for Sergio Perez on the radar, he's the guy to beat!

PRICE: 120 RMB for 30 minutes (in periods of 10 minutes races.)
DAY: Sunday, 18 January 2009. 2 PM.
WHERE: Somewhere in Zhuhai City!! Follow us!
[CHECK HERE FOR THE GREEN HOUSE, is around there]

If you are looking for the best speaker system to pair with your mobile sound device, Zikmu is the choice to make.

Zikmu is the product of the association between the leader in wireless mobile telephony devices Parrot and the awarded designer Phillipe Starck. The system is a set of 2.5 feet tall speakers that use Bluetooth to communicate with each other. Thanks to Parrot's NXT technology they are able to relay sound 360° arround the room , using an extra-flat mebrane to create small-scale vibrations across the speakers' entire surface.

"We were not aiming to create just another speaker," says Philippe Starck. "Our design focused more on making the air vibrate. There is actually a three-dimensional feel to this vibration, meaning that the air is palpable, almost humanlike in presence, like a fragrance."

They're not around yet, you still have to wait untill Spring. In the meantime you can start to save your money because this combo will cost around 12 000 HK$ (1.500 US$). The good news is that you're not buying just an extreme sound quality for something you use everyday but also a work of art on a unique piece of design that you can always be proud, just for looking at. [SOURCE: ECOUSTICS]
• PRE-ORDER OR ASK A QUOTATION AT BLOOM BY THROWING US AN EMAIL.

MX-LIBRIS is a new kind of taxi vehicle for the Latin American region. With zero-emissions and an iconic form, it aims for a friendly urban appeal.

MX-LIBRIS is a zero-emissions vehicle incorporating a range of selected technologies from the transportation industry that are appropriate to the Latin American region. The vehicle has been specifically designed as a taxi, taking into consideration the cultural, urban transit, demographic and climate conditions of cities in Latin America. The use of technologies such as fuel cells and “drive-by-wire” make a more optimised use of space by replacing mechanical components with electronic ones and therefore providing more interior space. The vehicle is compact but high to facilitate access for passengers and driver.

The exterior design, which strictly follows its functionality, has been designed to intentionally become an icon of Latin America. Its asymmetric and sui-generis (or unique) form – moving away from typical car styling – make it a memorable object that locals and tourists will recognise as a forward-thinking icon, as opposed to a follower of car trends. The interior design, also asymmetric, responds to the functional needs of both passengers and driver. The interior layout maximises the use of space and promotes interaction between passengers by placing the fourth one facing the other three as well as leaving a central hallway for access.
In terms of sustainability, the design considers several aspects – from the no-emissions technologies to material selection and energy consumption. The aesthetic design does not follow either a sports or family car look because it deliberately aims to create a new segment of public transport with a friendly urban appeal.
[SOURCE RED-DOT]
• CREATED BY ZANIC DESIGN

Macau should just address the importance of these matters and help to create solutions to solve the serious problem of polution in the city. Build a MX-LIBRIS made in Macau, we have everything to learn with this project and use it to carry on, building a bright future. That's why BLOOM is here, to help creating better worlds. Come with us!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcoming the New Year, St. Paul's Corner is joining forces with you for the best expectations of 2009. A unique and great flavour to start the year to come. Forget the troubles and embrace the next year with a big smile full of good hopes. Are not the others who make it happen, who make it good or bad, it's you, you are the one in control! So... what are you waiting for? Make it shine! Make it big! Restart if needed! And Dance all night long!
Located on the heart of the most Famous Historical Landmark of Macau, the Corners Club, in collaboration with Bloom * Creative Network, invite you for a delightful evening of fun and joy. With live music, DJ's, Stand-up mike performances and a dance floor to twinkle the best beat on you. Don't miss it!

VENUE: St. Paul's Corner - The Corner's Club Rooftop Bar
ADDRESS: Travessa de S. Paulo 3,5 & 7
ORGANIZED BY: The Corners Club and Bloom * Creative Network
WITH: Beto Ritchie, DJ Kunming and Buds
DATE: 31st of December, 2008 - 10 pm
FEE: 80 MOP (60 MOP on advanced booking*) - Entrance + Countdown Champagne
* You can book your entrance by email: cornersclub@ymail.com or root@bloomland.cn / by phone SMS: (+853) 66821066 or (+853) 66800024 - stating your name and contact.

[MORE INFO AT: www.stpaulscorner.com and www.bloomland.cn]

A morte saiu à rua num dia assim
Naquele lugar sem nome para qualquer fim
Uma gota rubra sobre a calçada cai
E um rio de sangue de um peito aberto sai
O vento que dá nas canas do canavial
E a foice duma ceifeira de Portugal
O som da bigorna é como um clarim do céu
Vão dizendo em toda a parte o Pintor morreu

Teu sangue, Pintor, reclama outra morte igual
Só olho por olho e dente por dente vale
À lei assassina à morte que te matou
Teu corpo pertence à terra que te abraçou
Aqui te afirmamos dente por dente assim
Que um dia rirá melhor quem rirá por fim
Na curva da estrada há covas feitas no chão
E em todas florirão rosas de uma nação
[JOSÉ AFONSO • 1972 - TEMA DEDICADO AO POETA JOSÉ DIAS COELHO, ASSASSINADO PELA PIDE EM 19 DEZ 1961]

Fundação Oriente inaugura exposição fotográfica sobre Timor - verbas revertem a favor de projecto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, Timor-Leste

Uma exposição fotográfica sobre as gentes e paisagens de Timor-Leste vai estar patente na Galeria da Casa Garden da Fundação Oriente durante um mês, com inauguração marcada já para esta sexta-feira, dia 19, pelas 18:30. As fotografias de “Timor-Leste – Olhares Emergentes de uma Terra” são da autoria de Fernando Madeira, um conhecido fotógrafo de Macau e membro da associação “naTerra – Associação de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável”.
Com esta mostra pretende-se angariar verbas para a próxima iniciativa da associação “naTerra”: “Raio de Sol – um projecto de sustentabilidade em Timor Leste”, em que o grupo se propõe a construir um Centro Comunitário de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, contribuindo para que a população se torne mais auto-suficiente através do desenvolvimento de infra-estruturas, educação e partilha de competências. Conseguindo reunir as verbas necessárias, cinco dos elementos da associação partem para Timor em finais de Fevereiro do próximo ano.
“naTerra” é uma associação sem fins lucrativos que desenvolve projectos na área da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Fundada em Macau, surge da união de várias pessoas com o objectivo comum de criar soluções ecologicamente saudáveis, economicamente viáveis e socialmente justas, particularmente a nível comunitário.
A “naTerra” participou recentemente no Festival da Lusofonia apresentando, no Auditório do Carmo, o projecto “Raio de Sol” e uma colecção de fotografias de Timor. São estas fotografias que ficam agora à venda na Casa Garden até dia 19 de Janeiro de 2009. A exposição está aberta todos os dias entre as 10h00 e as 19h00. As receitas revertem inteiramente a favor do projecto “Raio de Sol”.
• Para mais informações consulte a página www.naterra.org ou contacte a associação através de info@naterra.org.
• Artigo no Hoje Macau, por José Manuel Simões, sobre este projecto.
[A presente exposição conta ainda com o patrocínio do Café Ou Mu]

A Japanese male actor is needed for an event on Jan 13 in Hong Kong, acting as a Chef. Performance duration around 15 minutes, costumes provided.
Please send photos, resume and expected salary to Chans Productirons here.

EVENTUAIS RECEITAS DA VENDA DA ACTUAL LOJA VÃO REVERTER PARA O IPOR
Novo modelo de Livraria Portuguesa
vai continuar a cumprir o seu papel

Parece cada vez mais certo que a actual Livraria Portuguesa tem os dias contados. Porém, o presidente da Fundação Oriente acredita que o novo modelo a criar poderá até trazer mais benefícios.

O que vai acontecer à Livraria Portuguesa?
Pode ser vendida, mas ainda não está vendida. E quando for vendida, vai para outro sítio, chama-se Livraria Portuguesa e é obrigada a comprar os livros que a outra livraria comprava ou até mais. Não há razão para se estar a fazer esta tempestade num copo de água.
António Falcão será o candidato natural?
Pode ser. É um dos candidatos certamente – é o candidato com quem nós conversámos sobre o assunto.
Qual seria o modelo a adoptar?
Seria a Livraria Portuguesa manter-se e depois juntar a vertente “Bloom”, que também faz sentido.
E manter-se no antigo albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia?
Não, num outro sítio. Fui ver dois edifícios agora. O local seria alugado e o IPOR ajudaria no arranque.
O IPOR contribuiria com os seus livros?
O IPOR tem um “stock” próprio grande. Poderia entrar com esse “stock” na livraria. Haveria uma concessão que se mantinha, em moldes um pouco diferentes, porque iríamos exigir da parte do futuro concessionário que também participasse no investimento. Iríamos fazer uma livraria de raiz, o que tem custos. No primeiro ano, o IPOR daria um contributo.
E o dinheiro da venda das actuais instalações?
Seria destinado ao fundo do IPOR.
Como responde a quem diz que a cultura não é como os hambúrgueres e que uma entidade como a Livraria Portuguesa tem que ter a suportá-la uma instituição sem fins lucrativos?
Há [essa instituição] e continuará a haver. Qual é a diferença entre estar ali naquele cantinho ou a cinco minutos a pé do Leal Senado, onde é um dos locais que fomos ver? É um prédio inteiro, com quatro ou cinco andares, que tem espaço que poderia servir para exposições. De resto, esse é outro ponto a que também já respondi: a Casa Garden já foi colocada à disposição para esse tipo de eventos, bem como o auditório do IPOR.
A nova livraria continuaria a cumprir o seu papel nestes moldes?
Sim, porque podemos ter a componente portuguesa – que será sempre a maior –, e depois somar-lhe a vertente inglesa e a chinesa. A Livraria Portuguesa antes era uma fonte de despesa muito grande para o IPOR e deixou de sê-lo com a actual concessão. Mas o que mais me interessava não era o capítulo financeiro: é que existisse uma livraria em Macau que tivesse os manuais escolares e as últimas obras editadas em Portugal. Julgo que isso foi conseguido, embora há quem diga que não. Isso vai continuar a ser conseguido com o novo modelo e eventualmente de forma melhor – por isso é que se muda.
[POR EMANUEL GRAÇA • JORNAL TRIBUNA DE MACAU • 11 DEZ 2008]

A Bloom esteve presente na Feira do Livro da Escola Portuguesa de Macau, que decorreu nos dias de ontem e hoje, no átrio da escola. Com alguma afluência e alguns livros vendidos, o gosto de participar é sempre maior do que as intenções comerciais. Neste caso teria sido mais proveitoso estender a data da Feira e juntá-la ao dia da festa de Natal, em que os familiares dos estudantes estarão presentes com mais tempo e sem pressas, o que acontecerá amanhã. Voltaremos para o ano, no Dia Mundial da Criança. Obrigado.

[...] In regards to the Portuguese Bookshop, which the Orient Foundation announced last month it was planning on selling, Monjardino said the decision had not be made solely by the Foundation.
“The same as with the decision of [relocating] the Portuguese School [to the former Estoril Hotel, opposite Tap Seac Square], it is not the Foundation who makes them,” Monjardino said, adding that such decisions were made by general assemblies of the institutions involved. And even though the Foundation has some take in it, it a “minority,” whereas the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Portugal deals with decisions regarding IPOR, a Portuguese Institute from the Orient, while the Ministry of Education in Portugal deals with issues relating to the Portuguese School.
However, what is being sold is not the bookshop itself, but the premises where the current bookshop is together with the first floor of the building.
“The bookshop will continue existing, and will continue being called the 'Portuguese Bookshop of Macau' slash the name of the other person who will manage the bookshop and is more specialised – if it ends up being him managing the store – in English-language books,” Monjardino said, adding that he thinks both English and Portuguese-language books should be sold in the same space.
“If this is done [having this person manage the bookshop], it will still be located within the city centre,” the president of the Foundation added.
Although no names were mentioned, the Macau Daily Times understands that the person in question is António Falcão, who managed the English-language bookstore Bloom, which was completed flooded when typhoon Hagupit hit the SAR in late September.
Falcão met yesterday morning with Monjardino, who was also scheduled to visit three premises yesterday afternoon with the unnamed person, in order to see which would be a more viable location for the Portuguese Bookshop.
“We will finance the space. We will help support the installation of the new bookshop and during a certain period of time, we will help with the rent and redecorate the building to have a 'proper' look,” the president of the Foundation said.
The new bookshop is also set to house the same sort of features, including an art gallery. [...]
SARA FARR • MACAU DAILY TIMES • 11 DEC 2008

For now we just want to add that Bloom is not only an "English-language" bookshop. From the beginning we are a multi-language project, mostly focused on Portuguese and English books.

This was the result of my creative writing exercise on Shirley Lim's workshop. After a process of relaxation, the idea was to bring back a distant smell from the depths of your memory. Writing freely without stopping for a few minutes.

It was the house. The view. As if you could smell the view. The floor, not the scent of the floor, but the touch as a smelly little torture. The doors. The walking in. The ring bell. The summer. The smile of the face that would walk you in. The face that is just a memory, ageless in time, as now and forever. The room inside. The weight of your jacket that was about to be put asside. Thorned. And then someone was there. Rich, perfect, beautiful. And that person was all hands. Hands lighting up a cigarette. Matches probably. Or a cigarette that would be lighten up by itself, just like that, with those magic hands. Hands that would flow to the pages of a book or so many books placed on the shelfs of the wall. And then he would hold his head in an endless thought. Endless in time. Through the steps of the memory.
But the smell was the smoke. The smoke all over the place, unnoticeable. Like the smoke of a gun that is about to blow your head. Smoking coming in and out, invisible, just targeting your eyes sleepless into your rememberings.
The hands that hold the cigarette, yes. And the smoke that from the truth was not really there.

Doet Boersma is a dutch artist who steps into Asia for the first time showind and presenting the project "Hong Kong Impressions". Having an inspiring time as an artist-in-residence at aco_air in Hong Kong, she converted all her impressions, meetings and feelings about HK into drawings on packaging papers dumped by offices around her studio at Fotanian, and also on rice papers and canvases. They show the atmosphere, intimacy and loneliness of being a passer-by in HK. In the talk, she will explain how she transformed her impressions into the artworks. and she will explain the differences between her former experiences as an artist-in-residence in Ireland and here in Hong Kong.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Doet Boersma finished Art Academy in 1985 and worked years as a drawing and painting teacher in secundary school and vocational school. Since 1991 she founded her own painting school It Frysk Skildershûs, where now are teaching 12-15 artists. Since the late eighties she used more and more time for her own artistic career. Different themes passed, but landscapes were always the most important. In the landscapes, she could show her passions of light, directions, atmosphere and colour.
She painted in Italy, Portugal and France, worked in the European Academy in Trier, Germany (2006), had an artistic residency in Ireland (2006). And in Hong Kong, she had a residency for 6 weeks, painting Hong Kong impressions of streetmarkets and people in the street. The materials changed from canvas to rice-paper.

Hong Kong is a total different residency than I had before, because of the totally different culture and small spaces", she commented.

Doet is exhibiting in different countries in Europe.

Papoilas. Lírios. Rosas. Brincos-de-princesa.
Lembro-me de cheiros diferentes que se misturavam, tornando-se impossível distinguir. Cheiros que me invadiam enquanto circulava por diferentes jardins e parques em busca do conjunto de flores perfeitas.
O meu pai perguntava: "Estas servem?" Aproximava-me lentamente, absorvia o aroma, observava a cor, o formato e a textura. "Sim, servem", respondia, dependendo da sensação que me causassem.
No fim do dia, tinha conseguido reunir cheiros doces, frescos, acres, todos no meu caderno. Orgulhosa, entreguei-o à professora, com a sensação de dever cumprido.
Claro que, com o passar do tempo, os cheiros daquele caderno alteraram-se, mas, na minha memória, permanece o aroma daqueles campos abertos cheios de flores. Como se fosse o espelho da minha infância.
Luciana Leitão • Jornalista

Before time, everytime my sista like be the boss of the food.
We stay shopping in Mizuno Superette
and my madda pull the Oreos off the shelf
and my sista already saying, Mommy,
can be the boss of the Oreos?

The worse was when she was the boss
of the sunflower seeds.
She give me and my other sistas
one seed at a time.
We no could eat the meat.
Us had to put um in one pile on one Kleenex.
Then, when we wen' take all the meat
out of the shells and our lips stay all cho cho,
she give us the seeds one at a time
cause my sista, she the boss
of the sunflower seeds.

One time she was the boss
of the Raisinettes.
Us was riding in the back
of my granpa's Bronco down Kaunakakai Wharf.
There she was, passing us one Raisinette at a time.
My mouth was all watery
'cause I like eat um all one time, eh?
So I wen' tell her, Gimme that bag.
And I wen' grab um.
She said, I'ng tell Mommy.
And I said, Go you fuckin' bird killa;
tell Mommy.

She wen' let go the bag.
And I wen' start eating the Raisinetes all one time.
But when I wen' look at her,
I felt kinda bad cause I wen' call her bird killa.
She was boss of the parakeet too, eh,
and she suppose to cover the cage every night.
But one time, she wen' forget.
When us wen' wake up, the bugga was on its back,
legs in the air all stiff.
The bugga was cold.
And I guess the thing that made me feel bad
was I neva think calling her bird killa
would make her feel so bad
that she let go the bag Raisinettes.

But I neva give her back the bag.
I figga what the fuck.
I ain't going suffer eating one Raisinette at a time.
Then beg her for one mo
and I mean one mo
fuckin' candy.
BY LOIS-ANN YAMANAKA

"Boss of the Food" was the introdoctury text that Shirley Lim brougth to us. She read it aloud with all the tones of the little young girl who was supposed to be the voice of this story on the form of a beautiful poem. Lois-Ann Yamanaka is a Japanese American writer from Hawai. She often uses this Hawaiian Pidgin. Somehow shows how your inner voice can be reached on your own special language. And that's what was all about: bringing up your voice as a creative writer.

LIVRARIA “BLOOM” ORGANIZA “WORKSHOP”
Vencedora de dois “American Book Awards”, a escritora asiática Shirley Lim esteve ontem em Macau para falar e ensinar algumas técnicas de escrita criativa.

O antigo albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Macau foi ontem palco de um “workshop” de escrita criativa liderado pela escritora Shirley Lim, da Malásia e actualmente residente nos Estados Unidos. Durante duas horas, macaenses, portugueses, japoneses e americanos residentes na RAEM trocaram ideias e aprenderam algumas das principais técnicas de escrita criativa.
Depois de uma sessão de relaxamento, os alunos foram desafiados a ir buscar ao “baú das memórias” um cheiro que lhes lembrasse uma situação, sentimento ou vivência marcante. Depois, durante dez minutos, realizou-se um exercício de escrita livre, que Shirley Lim descreve como “um dos mais difíceis, pois requer a abstracção total do ambiente envolvente e da rotina”. O resultado foram alguns textos que poderão um dia dar origem a uma história curta ou até a um romance, “se o autor for persistente neste tipo de trabalho”, explica a escritora. Shirley Lim defende que “ser-se criativo é ter a capacidade de acreditar em si próprio e de aceitar riscos”.
No final da aula, os participantes leram os seus textos e trocaram ideias e Shirley Lim leu alguns poemas da sua autoria e outros resultantes do projecto “Moving Poetry”, que envolveu crianças de Hong Kong. Esta foi uma proposta diferente para uma tarde de sábado que partiu da Livraria “Bloom”.

Nascida em Malaca, Shirley Lim começou a escrever aos nove anos de idade e aos onze sabia que “queria ser poeta”. Depois de alguns poemas e histórias curtas publicadas na Malásia, partiu para os Estados Unidos. Hoje é professora na Universidade da Califórnia e realiza “workshops” de escrita criativa por todo o mundo, desde Hong Kong à Austrália, Singapura, Malásia. Esta foi a segunda vez que a autora veio à RAEM, depois de, em 2001, ter dado aulas a cerca de 400 crianças na Universidade de Macau.
Entre as obras publicadas de Shirley Lim, encontram-se “Monsoon History”, “Two Dreams”, “Among the White Moon Faces”, “Tilting the Continent” e “Life’s Mysteries”.
[POR PATRÍCIA NEVES • JORNAL TRIBUNA DE MACAU • FOTOS: BLOOMLAND.CN]

A Bloom agradece a: Shirley Lim, Andrew Moody e a todos os participantes; Bambu Sociedade de Artes Ltd., Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Macau, Casa de Portugal em Macau, Jornal Hoje Macau, Jornal Tribuna de Macau e Teledifusão de Macau. A todos o nosso obrigado!

Art for All is celebrating its 1st anniversary at St. Paul’s Fine Art gallery tomorrow, 8th of December, with a cocktail party at 6:30pm. Concurrently more than ten local prominent artists, including Konstantin Bessmertny, James Chu, Bianca Lei, James Wong, José Drummond, Cindy Ng, Ung Vai Meng, Ng Fong Chao, Tong Chong, Kent Ieong and João O, will display their works for rummage sale to raise funds for the art group’s 2009 operation.

Art for All is a non-profit association founded on 8th December 2007 by a group of Macao artists with the aim to promote the contemporary art development of Macao. Supported by the private organization St Paul’s Corner , in December 2007 Art for All moved to Travessa de S. Paulo to open and manage the gallery “St. Paul’s Fine Art” and six artist studios. In 2008 the gallery has already held seven solo and two collective exhibitions of Macao artists showcasing 100-odd art pieces, presenting local artists’ creative outcome in the past year. Furthermore, Art for All has organized artists to participate in large scale international art events such as the “Beijing Art Fair 2008” in September and the “2008 ACAF NY – Asia Contemporary Art Fair New York” in November, striving to promote Macao’s contemporary art overseas.

Apart from the Macao artistic base “St. Paul’s Fine Art”, Art for All sought development beyond the region. In October, it set up the Beijing Art for All Contemporary Art Exchange Center located at the 318 Art Garden in Beijing. Its debut exhibition - the “Macao Contemporary Art Exhibition” featuring 15 Macao artists and 24 representative works - has received wide acclaim from the mainland artistic community. It provides not only a window for introducing Macao artworks to the dynamic art market in Beijing, but also a platform for artistic exchanges, creating opportunities for local artists to develop in the capital.

On the same occasion, Art for All will unveil a commissioned installation work “High Ladder” by João O who is a Master of Art course student at the Barcelona University of Spain. The artist hopes to share his latest creative work with the audience.
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