History Tours – 2025.03.01

The Rui Cunha Foundation is organizing on Saturday, March 1st, 2025 at 3:00pm, a guided tour of Kun Iam Ecumenical Center, as part of the popular “History Tours” program. This special session will be held on the Cultural Affairs Bureau-owned public site and hosted by the Portuguese architect and sculptor Cristina Leiria, author of the original project that has been inaugurated on March 21, 1999, and recently renovated and reopened on December 11, 2024.

The Kun Iam Ecumenical Center was conceived by the author, with the UNESCO support, «in order to promote mutual respect and friendship among all peoples and civilizations», according to IC’s official website. The public art complex has a total height of 32 meters, 20 of which are Kun Iam’s bronze statue, weighing about 50 tons.

«The base of the statue, shaped like a Lotus Flower, includes a Contemplation Room where visitors can rest, listen to music and read. The cupola is decorated with figures, symbols and texts related to Lao Tse, Confucius, Mencius and Buddha, painted on rice paper by local artists Kwok Woon and Joana Ling», states the information from IC. The lower level offers a Multipurpose Room, with capacity for 50 people, suitable to host concerts and conferences, film screenings and other multi-cultural activities such as art exhibitions.

Currently there on display is “Moments of Light with Kun Iam” solo exhibition by Cristina Leiria, who was invited by the Cultural Affairs Bureau after the completion of its renovation works to mark this conversion into a multipurpose cultural tourism space, 25 years after the author’s presence at its inauguration. The exhibition, which runs until March 13th, showcases Kun Iam deity statues and other relevant works, in materials such as jade, crystal, wood or brushed steel, and is complemented by images and videos that portray the process of designing and building the Ecumenical Center, presenting the public with a behind-the-scenes look at its planning and construction.

The event will be held in English. Registration to guarantee a place (maximum 20 participants) is free and is now open, by phone 28923288 or by emailinfo@ruicunha.org, until 6:00pm on Friday, February 28th.

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For Macau, Further and Higher!

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