THE HANDS OF HISTORY

Being millenary, the moulding of clay seems to have found in Shiwan, through a long tradition, a magical place for its transformation into work of art.

As the curator of the Luís de Camões Museum between 1978 and the very last day of the year of 1997, I had the privilege of living together with that which is considered the best Shi Wan collection. Manuel da Silva Mendes, collector and lawyer, has gathered it with his sensibility and passion for Chinese art and has explained, in a memorable conference at the Military Club, the qualities that make the art of Shi Wan unique.

In the 80's I helped in the production of master Lio Chuan's first Macau exhibition, as well as another one by his son, Liu Gui Bing. On this occasion I had the opportunity of spending some time with the master, enjoying the simplicity that is the hallmark of a true master.

Almost 15 years after, it is rewarding to be once again in the presence of the works of two generations of masters out of whose hands History is being added to the long History of China.

Both Lio Chuan and Lio Gui Bing, to whom I'm grateful for the support given to the organisation of this exhibition, are part of a line of evolutive continuity of other past masters, nevertheless breaking conventions and boldly thrusting themselves into significant forms, sometimes moving away from the truth of anatomy to attain other truths.

Shi Wan and its masters, solidly represented here, are an added value not just to Foshan but to the whole Delta region, to China and to the world - for it will be impossible to live in cultural isolation in the future that has been triggered.

António Conceição Júnior