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Macao China Nation Cultural Innovation Association delegation visits USJ

02/21/2019

21

Feb

01/01/1970

A delegation from the “Macau China Nation Cultural Innovation Association”, led by the President of the Association, Macao SAR Legislative Assembly member Ms. Song Pek Kei; the Executive Director, Ms. Ding Xiao; and the Vice-President, Ms. Pun Qiu Ting; visited the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) on February 21st, 2019.



A delegation from the “Macau China Nation Cultural Innovation Association”, led by the President of the Association, Macao SAR Legislative Assembly member Ms. Song Pek Kei; the Executive Director, Ms. Ding Xiao; and the Vice-President, Ms. Pun Qiu Ting; visited the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) on February 21st, 2019.

The delegation was received by Vice-Rector Professor Álvaro Barbosa to explore possible collaborations with the University to enhance the development and exchanges between the creative cultural industries in Macao and the Greater Bay Area.

The visit was a culmination of prior collaborations between the association and USJ on a number of events, which featured experience-sharing by high-profile industrial designers and Hollywood movie producers with students, respectively, of the USJ Design and newly created Digital Cinema programmes. President Song emphasised that the purpose of the association was to create a platform for the collaboration and diversification of the creative cultural industry of Macao. She believes that this is done through collaboration between the industry and universities in order to create a sustainable ecosystem, which then benefits both students and the society.

Apart from bringing experts in the field of creative industries from around the world to Macao and the region, the association has launched the Macao-Shenzhen Design Week, which has been running for three consecutive years to showcase the work of designers from Macao and Shenzhen. The competition features high-caliber judging panels from the IFF and Red Dot Design Competition judges, which facilitates a venue for the designers to showcase their work in an international setting.

Furthermore, members of the association have set up various outlets in Sands China Limited and Nam Van Lake, and plan for other outlets in the Galaxy Macao. These outlets are a possible venue in which students’ products and/or creations can be showcased and maybe marketed to promote local talent and products. In addition, these outlets can be managed by students under a mentorship/internship programme, where both business students and creative industries’ students may gain first-hand experience in the management of creative industries-related activities in a real life setting.

Executive Director Ms. Ding also explored the idea of co-creating a Centre for Product and Design, where USJ and the association would achieve synergies in bringing the best of Mainland China, Portuguese-speaking Countries and Europe to collaborate in the research, design and incubation of new products and talent, benefitting the creative cultural industries of Macao via industry and university collaboration.

Professor Álvaro Barbosa welcomed the ideas and will explore possible collaborations opportunities between USJ and the association. He agrees that USJ can add value to the development and promotion of the creative industries of Macao, through mutual collaboration, especially in the realm of linkage between Portuguese-speaking Countries and the industry of China. In fact, the Faculty of Creative Industries was originally created with the goal of assisting in the development of the industry in Macao. This is evident in the selective programmes launched by USJ in recent years, such as the Design, Architecture and Digital Cinema programmes. The University is also planning to launch Cultural and Arts’ Management programmes in conjunction with the School of Business and Law, along with the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, to complement the programmes already in place.

The delegation took a short tour of the Faculty of Creative Industries and gave high praise to the work that USJ has done in the area of supporting the development of the creative industries in Macao, looking forward to collaborations between the University and the association in the near future.

For more pictures, please click here.