Macau Museum of Art
Start with the most comprehensive art space in the city, the Macau Museum of Art (MAM) is a five-story building with different types of exhibition areas including the Gallery of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy and the Gallery of Chinese Ceramics; the historical pictures and Macao contemporary artworks; a large special exhibition room and several exhibition areas organized on the first floor and the ground floor. In addition, the neighboring Handover Gifts Museum is also managed by MAM and definitely worth a visit.
The Mandarin’s House
Zheng Guanying, famed as one of the most important reformers and writers of late Qing China, was also part of a long dynasty of merchants based in Macau. This complex of houses, in which he wrote his masterpiece Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity, is the most magnificent example in the region of a traditional Guangdong family residence. Its sixty-odd rooms, grouped around a series of courtyards, fuse Chinese conventions with Western and Indian ornamentations. The main hall’s French windows sit below an ornate Chinese beamed ceiling, while the open-air corridors with their round moon doors give the museum an enchanting, labyrinthine aura.
Leal Senado
Most visitors to Macau will eventually find themselves at Senado Square visiting the World Heritage attractions in this historic area of the city.
While there, fans of art should stop by Leal Senado, where exhibitions are held throughout the year, many of which are art-themed. Another art reason to pay Leal Senado a visit is to see the large collection of Portuguese-style tiled murals, which line the building’s inner walls and courtyard. You will see examples of these blue and white tiles elsewhere in Macau but the Leal Senado murals are particularly beautiful and merit a few minutes of appreciation.
Ox Warehouse
Ox Warehouse was formerly known as the ‘Old Ladies’ House Art Space’. Notably found in 2002, it has flourished as a private non-profit art association. Ox Warehouse regularly organizes exhibitions in various mediums including painting, sculpture, poster design, installation, sketching, etc. to provide an experimental and exchange platform for local contemporary arts.
Moreover, it offers workshops for adults and children in drawing, music, and other artistic activities. The Ox Warehouse highlights attractive historic architecture and is equipped with a small library, art information corner, CD corner and a cafe to spend quality time before browsing further.
Maritime Museum
Macau’s location on the Pearl River Delta was a key foundation for its mercantile prosperity. The Maritime Museum, situated on the spot where the first Portuguese explorers arrived in 1553, pays tribute to the sea’s crucial role in the city’s history. Housed in a modern building designed to evoke a ship, the museum’s three floors deal with the ethnography, history, and technology of the sea, and exhibits include a whalebone replica of a dragon boat, a model of the seventeenth-century city and a range of nautical instruments. Four large aquarium tanks depict the area’s diverse marine life, while the esplanade outside offers excellent views of the harbour.
Anim’Arte Nam Van
Open since 2016, Anim’Arte Nam Van is Macau’s newest landmark for leisure, culture and creativity. Retail spaces provide outlets for local designers to show and sell their wares. There are daily performances, all free of charge, and frequent workshops open to all too. And if all that is not quite your bag, there is even a dedicated street art area where you can let rip with your spray cans.