Macao will be marking 500 years since the birth of the renowned Portuguese poet Luís Vaz de Camões with a series of activities and events that pay tribute to his life, works and relationship with Macao, the Cultural Affairs Bureau said in a statement last week.
The programme will kick off with a Camões-themed poetry and music performance from local musician Ma Yingying that will take place on 1 June at 3 pm in the House of Macao Literature. Ma is set to perform ten musical compositions that retell the love story between Camões and a Chinese woman named Dinamene.
This will be followed by a Cantonese-language lecture on 2 June at 3 pm, delivered by Lingnan University history professor Catherine S. Chan. Entitled “Camões’ Romantic Encounter with Macao: The Poet, the City and its Inhabitants,” the lecture will delve into the way in which Macao created, shaped and strengthened its relationship with the author and his epic poem The Lusiads.
[See more: UM acquires rare 17th-century edition of Luís de Camões’ epic poem]
On 8 June, a Cantonese-language tour, “A Journey through Literary Time and Space: An Appointment with Camões,” will take place at 10 am and 4 pm, guiding participants through various areas in the city that are linked to the Portuguese author. Those who wish to take part in the tour, and the other activities, can register via the activities page on their Macao One Account.
TDM reports that the Consulate-General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong will also be hosting over two dozen activities to celebrate the Day of Portugal on 10 June, memorialising Camões’ death, the 500th anniversary of his birth and the centenary of the inaugural flight between Portugal and China.
Born in 1524 or 1525, Camões is considered to be Portugal’s greatest bard and is often put on par with the likes of Shakespeare and Homer. Although opinions differ on whether or not he lived in Macao, the renowned writer is believed by some to have written at least part of his most famous work, The Lusiads, in the city during the 1560s. He continues to be celebrated in Macao, as seen most prominently from his bust located in a grotto in Camões Garden.
