Taipa Village Cultural Association is pleased to present "The Practice of Time", a contemporary art exhibition by established Macau artist James Chu. Sponsored by the Cultural Development Fund of the Macao SAR, the exhibition will be held from 18th September to 29th November 2026 at Lisboeta Macau.
This exhibition showcases a body of work shaped by seven years of sustained daily practice. Through a diverse range of media, including calligraphy, sculpture, installation, and light and shadow. James Chu explores how a continuous creative gesture can be transformed into a profound physical and contemplative experience. The exhibition invites viewers to slow down and observe the subtle relationships between time, material, and space.
At the heart of the exhibition is Chu's seven-year discipline of daily handwriting. Through relentless repetition, the act of writing becomes a record of time and concentration, evolving into a rhythmic, meditative practice. The centrepiece is a monumental three-dimensional paper sculpture constructed from seven years of handwritten pages. This work transforms a text of only 260 Chinese characters into an expansive physical structure, shifting language into matter and individual gestures into a collective form.
The exhibition also features Paper Buddha statue and Buddha Sudra created through traditional intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship, merging historical techniques with contemporary installation. Additionally, Chu utilises reclaimed bricks weathered by decades of history and fragile paper to create a dialogue between the accumulated traces of the past and modern artistic intervention.
Born in Macau, Chu is a multidisciplinary artist and curator. He holds a Master's in Cultural Studies from Lingnan University and completed the Advanced Cultural Leadership Program at the University of Hong Kong. Chu has held ten solo exhibitions and participated in over a hundred group shows worldwide. As a prolific curator, he has organized more than 100 exhibitions in global cities, including New York, London, Paris, and Beijing.
His notable achievements include designing the logo for the "Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries" and winning the 2005 East Asian Games Emblem Design Competition. In 2011, he represented Macau at the 54th Venice Biennale. Recipient of over 50 local and international awards, his works are held in prestigious collections such as the Macao Museum of Art, the Philippe Charriol Foundation, and the Shanghai Zendai Himalayas Museum.
"Across the exhibition, seven years of continuous practice provide a framework for exploring time as material, repetition as method, and meditation as attention," says João Ó, Vice President of Taipa Village Cultural Association and curator of the exhibition. "Chu's works invite audiences to rediscover the everyday act of making as a quiet investigation into how time can be recorded, transformed, and ultimately experienced through art."
James Chu adds: "This process is a Zen-inspired journey of simplicity and perseverance. The exhibition does not view historical forms of writing as fixed traditions, but as evolving visual languages. When memory, material, and time converge, the final result is a reflection of the path one has walked."
"The Practice of Time" reflects Taipa Village Cultural Association's continued commitment to presenting diverse artistic and cultural experiences in Macau. By bringing together contemporary art with spiritual reflection and inner peace practice, the exhibition further escalated the association’s artistic positioning to the next level, contributing to the development of cultural and creative landscape.
Organiser:Taipa Village Cultural Association
Time of Event:12:00-20:00 (MON-SUN)
Venue of Event:Level 1, Shop R70, Lisboeta Macau
Inquiry:(853) 2857 6212
Website:
www.taipavillagemacau.org.moStart Time of Event:18/09/2026
End Time of Event:29/11/2026
Sponsor(s):Cultural Development Fund of the Macao SAR