Macau's secret world of rare and acclaimed works of art

Whether it is a piece that people are barely aware of, such as the Forever Handshake sculpture at Sun Yat Sen Park, or the hard-to-miss Crystal Pool at the Galaxy Macau, which cost US$20 million and was designed by four-time Emmy Award winner Jeremy Railton, there are plenty of startling works of art in Macau, hidden in plain sight.

Here is a small selection of the city’s more interesting works of art, as well as some pieces that would not be out of place in the world’s great galleries and museums.

Salvador Dali sculptures at MGM Macau
One of the most famous artists to have ever lived and renowned for surrealist masterpieces such as The Persistence of Memory with its image of melting clocks, Salvador Dali was a bona-fide eccentric, and his work spanned several disciplines, including sculpture. Two of the Spanish artist’s sculpted works are on permanent display at the MGM Macau.

The beautiful Alice in Wonderland sculpture welcomes visitors to the hotel. Writer Lewis Carroll's surreal universe was allegedly an inspiration for Dali from as early as the 1930s but, for this sculpture, the artist has reimagined Alice as an adolescent girl with bare breasts.

In the MGM’s lobby is the second Dali sculpture, Dalian Dancer. The bronze sculpture, one of several cast from an original using a process called lost wax, sits under the Fiori di Paradiso Ceiling, a hanging sculpture of hand-blown glass flowers by American artist Dale Chihuly.