I got to know António Conceição Júnior in 1978 when the first contacts were established for the presentation of the Macau Forthnight which would have the cooperation of the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Since the start of our cooperation, I begun to admire his creative and organizational qualities.

From that time onwards, I had the pleasure of working several times with António Conceição Júnior. It has been twenty years of an intense collaboration and from this I would like to nominate the initiatives that I believe are landmarks.

In 1980 Antonio was the Curator of the magnificent Exhibition MACAU 400 YEARS IN THE EAST, as part of the 1st. Macau Forthnight of which he was also the President of the Executive Committee.

In 1987 he proposed and organized the Series of Exhibitions under the Theme THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS OF PORTUGUESE PAINTING, an extremely ambitious project which, nonetheless, e managed to carry out with enormous success. Antonio managed to present at the Macau City Council Gallery works of tremendous value, which gave a true panorama of what was Portuguese Painting during those hundred years. It was a pity that Portugal itself did not profit from this occasion to repeat this series, as it has never before have such a project been carried out.

In 1988 I had more frequent contacts with António Conceição Júnior, when he was appointed by the Macau Governor to direct and organize the Office for the Macau Cultural Complex, a post he occupied until the last day of 1991. The planning and programme that he conceived was extremely complete and, once more, its author brought forward his great creative qualities.

I cooperated with Antonio in the organization and setting up of various exhibitions, such as those of Vieira da Silva, Costa Pinheiro, and João Cutileiro, and I had the opportunity to verify his capacity for team work.

As I have stated, his creativity is inexhaustible, which turned him into a multi-faceted personality. The fields he dwells in are numerous: design, painting, printmaking, medallist, numismatics, interior design, photography, fashion, choreography and scenography. What else is there to say?

José Sommer Ribeiro
Director of the Center of Modern Art
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - 1995 (retired)

Director Museu Arpad Szenes - Vieira da Silva