The entrance symbolizes: "The Dream Gate" and the artistic re-creation of
the urban image of Macau through installations
ZOU Qi
(School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Macau City University, Macau)
[Abstract] In the current globalized era, enhancing a city's cultural soft power has been recognized asone of the most important ways to increase the happiness index of local residents and the cohesion ofthe city. The shaping of a city's image is the external manifestation of its competitiveness. Based onthis, this article takes the artistic installation work "The Dream Gate" at the entrance of the New TaiResort in Macau,which was completed in March 2026,as the analysis object. It combines urbanimagery theory, tourist gaze theory,and experience economy theory to study the relationship betweenurban art installations and the shaping of a city's image. Through the research,it is found thatcontemporary large-scale art installations often integrate into the shaping of a city's image throughlocalization, symbolism,and landscapeization;art installations do not create or change a completelynew city image,but rather condense and manifest the existing or unexploited deep connotations of thecity. Therefore,"The Dream Gate" uses "entrance" and "maze" as metaphors to allow tourists to enterMacau,experience Macau,and thereby construct a contemporary art city image of Macau withadvanced aesthetics. This case reveals that art installations,as a special "carrier" that integratescommercial capital and artistic aesthetics, provide scientificity and possibility for the reshaping of acity's image.
[Keywords] "The Dream Gate"; Macau; Art Installation; Urban Image; Tourist Gaze; Urban Imagery
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