The 2009 Macao Annual Art Exhibition was opened to the public here on Saturday, which featured over 100artworks created by various artists.

The inauguration ceremony was held at Macao's Tap Seac Gallery with the announcement of the top ten pieces chosen in accordance with this year's theme "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," according to the Macao Daily Times.

The Annual Art Exhibition, which has been held for seven consecutive years by the Special Administrative Region's (SAR) Cultural Affairs Bureau (ICM), takes "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" as this year's theme so as to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China and also the 10th anniversary of Macao's return to China, the daily said.

The organizer of the exhibition has said that ICM received a total of 650 artworks from 262 artists, of which 152 pieces from 99 artists were chosen to be included in the exhibition, which were created in various forms such as photography, calligraphy, sculptures, paintings, posters, and videos.

The theme this year aims to give Macao artists the opportunity to have a retrospect on the development of Macao in the past ten years, and to show their expectation on the future, the daily quoted Charles Lam, head of the special project division of ICM, as saying at the ceremony.

The exhibition will last till Aug. 16, with a short break between July 6 and July 9.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2009)