Camy Tam

        An exhibition entitled “Coming of Age in My 60s” (六十而立) by local artist Wilson Lam Chi Ian (林子恩) is being held at the UNESCO Centre of Macau.

The exhibition, which is sponsored by the Macau Foundation (FM), is part of the Macau Artists Promotion Project, and Lam is the 94th participant in the project.

Lam told The Macau Post Daily in a phone interview last night that this is his first solo exhibition in Macau. It displays 60 watercolours, 12 sets of 60 zodiac stamps on the five-element theme which he designed for the local post office’s Chinese New Year stamps between 2008 and 2019, as well as several stamp designs’ original artwork and production materials, such as jade-carved zodiac teapots and woodcuts.

The exhibition entitled “Coming of Age in My 60s” aims to indicate that he is now in his sixties and is able to establish his principles of life and reach a certain degree of wisdom, based on his learning and experience, Lam told The Macau Post Daily.

According to a statement provided by Lam, he was born in Macau in 1960, and entered the advertising industry at the age of 15. He began a traditional apprenticeship with his master Cheong Iu Sang (張耀生) at the Macau Artist Society (澳門美術協會), and founded Wa Feng Advertising Company (華風廣告公司).

Lam partnered with local artist Lai Ieng (黎鷹) at the age of 20 and founded the New Impressions advertising company which ran the gamut from design consultancy for ceremonies for the University of East Asia (the predecessor of the University of Macau), to production design for the Hollywood movie “Indiana Jones” (奪寶奇兵) set in Macau, the statement said.

Lam later left the company and emigrated to Toronto where he studied Corporate Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD). He graduated with honours in 1989 and won the gold medal in the university’s Canadian college student design competition. Lam established his first design company “ARTiculation Group” in Toronto in 1996, according to the statement.

Lam designed the stamp for the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland in 2019. His watercolour works of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) was selected for the 13th National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2019. Lam designed the stamp for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for the local post office this year, the statement said.

According to Lam’s statement, he returned to Macau in 2009 and subsequently created three cultural creative brands, namely “Macau Creations”, “Soda Panda” and “Cunha Bazaar”. He continues to follow his artistic passion by sharing his creativity and experience with local art associations and educational institutions.

The exhibition runs until June 14 in two halls at the UNESCO Centre of Macau at 403 Alameda Dr. Carlos d’Assumpção in Nape daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.

As part of the government’s COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures, all visitors entering the venue must wear a facemask, have their temperature checked and present a digital health code.

For enquiries, call 28727066 or email unesco_info@fm.org.mo.

Photos: Camy Tam