On the afternoon of September 15, 2026, the launch ceremony of the "Chinese Culture and Me: Viewing Macao's History through Cultural Creativity" Cultural and Creative Design Competition and its accompanying series of exchange activities was held at the Macao Forum. The Faculty of Innovation and Design of City University of Macau organized a delegation of postgraduate students to attend the launch and participate in the full program, drawing fresh design inspiration from the experience.

The series of themed activities, including a cultural and creative product competition, the special exhibition "Encounter Ancient China through Museum Cultural Creative Products", expert lectures, campus classes, essay contests and themed study tours, will run from September 2026 to February 2027.

The cultural and creative exchange forum invited three cultural and creative experts from the Chinese mainland as speakers. Liao Fei, General Manager of National Museum (Beijing) Cultural Industry Development Co., Ltd., took the "phoenix crown fridge magnet" as an example to analyze the iterative development of museum cultural and creative products. Shi Guangqiang, Executive President of HERE Group Limited, focused on trend toy IP operation and emphasized emotional value and cross-border integration. Cui Yang, General Manager of Xinjiang Jingsheng Wanwu Culture Media Co., Ltd., put forward a methodology for urban cultural and creativity development, covering the distillation of cultural essence to product transformation, offering references for local development in Macao.

The salon session was moderated by Dr. Wong In Nga from Macao Polytechnic University. Postgraduate students from our faculty raised questions on topics such as "identifying trends" and "balancing tradition with market adaptation", engaging in deep discussions with the guests on IP operations and strategies for bringing Chinese culture to global markets. Following the seminar, the group visited the concurrently opened "Encounter Ancient China through Museum Cultural Creative Products" exhibition where nearly 800 cultural and creative works from 22 museums and cultural institutions across the country vividly demonstrated the concept of "bringing cultural relics to life".

This visit provided postgraduate students of the Faculty of Innovation and Design with a high-level academic exchange opportunity. Students shared that the event gave them a more systematic understanding of cultural transformation and market operations in design. They expressed their enthusiasm to actively participate in the competition, integrating Macao's World Heritage and intangible cultural heritage elements with contemporary design language to showcase the unique charm of Macao's Chinese-Western cultural fusion, thereby contributing youthful strength to the inheritance and innovation of Chinese culture.

In recent years, the Faculty of Innovation and Design at City University of Macau has continuously promoted student participation in cultural and creative practice activities, actively expanding its design disciplines in the directions of cultural inheritance and cross-disciplinary research, further enhancing the faculty's international academic influence and students' practical capabilities.

Author: YUYIN