The world-famous master sculptor Professor Wu Weishan, President of the China Academy of Sculpture, recently created a Confucius statue for Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) as a gift. The statue was unveiled on 17 June 2014, together with the inauguration of Professor Wu's new sculpture studio at MPI. The studio has on display several of Professor Wu's masterpieces presented to MPI, which manifest his unique style of ‘freehand sculpture’. This will definitely be a highlight in the art of sculpture in Macao.

The ceremonies, held in the lobby of MPI's Meng Tak Building, were officiated by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Cheong U, Professor Wu Weishan and MPI President Professor Lei Heong Iok. On behalf of the Institute Professor Lei expressed his appreciation for Professor Wu during the ceremonies. For more than a decade Professor Wu has exerted his best endeavours for MPI, as guest speaker at seminars, host of sculpturing demonstrations, and as an external judge for students’ graduation pieces, greatly contributing to the enhancement of the quality of MPI’s provision of art education. The Confucius statue and 11 other sculptures he presented to MPI reflect his will to enable Chinese traditional culture to shine with greater brilliance in Macao and also his encouragement for MPI's teachers and students to be ever eager to teach and to learn.

The two-metre tall Confucius statue stands in the lobby of Meng Tak Building against a wall with a design simulating bamboo slips, where Professor Wu's calligraphy from his article ‘The Ancient Way of Sculpturing Confucius' is inscribed, infusing the lobby with a strong atmosphere of Chinese traditional culture and an artistic ambience. Professor Wu noted that the statue and the calligraphy embody the pursuance of prosperity of the Chinese nation and its traditional cultural values, confirming that Chinese culture should be the central value orientation of Macao. He anticipated that MPI will continue to promote Chinese culture, raising outstanding Chinese talents for the Macao SAR, the world and all humanity.

MPI established the Professor Wu Weishan Sculpture Studio in 2001 and recently relocated it to the lobby of Meng Tak Building to better present Professor Wu's artistic achievements. After the ceremony Professor Wu accompanied Secretary Cheong U, Mr Ma Yau Hang, son of the late CPPCC Vice Chairman Mr Ma Man Kei who gave the studio his inscription of its name, and other guests and friends from the fields of education, arts and culture to visit the studio. The studio has exhibited works Professor Wu created during his presence at MPI in various teaching activities after Macao's handover as well as pieces he has donated to the Institute. Amongst the exhibits included are ‘Mother and Son’ which celebrates the tie between Macao and its motherland, the prototypes of several award-winning pieces in international art exhibitions, as well as some rarely seen works of painted porcelain.