Slideshow « Dragon & Phoenix

The Rui Cunha Foundation opens today, Tuesday, May 21st at 5:00pm, the Students Art Exhibition 2024 “Dragon and Phoenix Winged to Welcome Dual Celebrations”, an event annually promoted by the Macau Association for Intellectual Development Services (MAIDS) – the former Macau Association for the Mentally Handicapped – to share with the public the amount of imagination and creativity in the work carried out by young people with varied intellectual difficulties.

This event is organized every year with the works of members from the associated Schools and Centers, which resulted in a total of 51 paintings and crafts, created by students from the Kai Chi School, the Kai Chi Early Training Center, the Kai Lung Vocational Center, the Kai Hon Center and the “Sam Meng Chi” Snack Shop. The arts display is always joined by an internal competition – this year under the title “Delivering Love – Walking Together with Love” –, to challenge the minds of the participants, whose prizes will also be presented here to the winners.

There are 25 paintings and 5 three-dimensional works of art, in addition to the prize-winning pieces from the adjacent competition, which include paintings, ceramics, handicrafts and collages, resulting from the ongoing MAIDS’s project of validation through art, for its communicative potential, and its ability to stimulate personal self-knowledge and to challenge the difficulties, stigmas and prejudices among these young people with special needs. This year the age group of participants was expanded, allowing more students to take part in the competition, in line with the objectives of the “World Autism Awareness Day” established by the UN on April 2nd.

Founded in 1986, this institution offers early intervention services, special education, and day centers for didactic activities, as well as rendering employment support services for people with intellectual disabilities. At the same time, MAIDS has encouraged the learning of manual arts, as a way to develop emotional and behavioral skills through self-expression. These workshops offer children and young people an opportunity to manipulate materials, stimulating the exploration through alternative communication methods, which give them a sense of control of the creative environment.

By supporting and inspiring a free artistic creation space, the schools and centers associated with this project have been able to follow the growth of these students in terms of individual expression, improvement of social opportunities, greater self-esteem, well-being, and happiness. These feelings contribute to their mental health and the experience of a life with dignity, according to MAIDS.

The artworks will be displayed until June 1st, 2024.

Admission is free.
Don’t miss it!
For Macau, Further and Higher!

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