Featured image credit: Macao Cultural Institute
The exhibition “Pirates in the Waters of Macao (1854-1935)”, is held from August, 2020 till January, 2021, presenting the phenomenon of piracy in the surrounding waters of Macau and the multiple meanings it had for the city. The word “pirate” conjures up the stereotype of adventures, romances, cruelties, and barbarities, which is a set of social representations cultivated fundamentally by literature and the film industry.
However, with a deeper study, one can see that “piracy” is a particularly complex subject. The exhibition “Pirates in the Waters of Macao (1854-1935)” is a project that aims, on the one hand, to encourage the public and researchers’ interest in the study and investigation of this subject and to give an account of the different dimensions of the phenomenon of piracy as a social practice in a much wider political, economic, social and cultural system; and, on the other hand, to showcase a particularly rich collection of documentation preserved in the Macao Archives.
The exhibition features a selection of over 100 documents, maps, and photographs from the Macau Archives’ collection that addresses the theme of piracy in the Pearl River Delta region, thereby revealing the diversity and thematic amplitude of the documentation, as well as developing knowledge about the multiple meanings of the phenomenon of piracy for Macau in the second half of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century.
When: August 19, 2020–January 31, 2021
Where: Macao Archives, 91–93 Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, Macau
How much: Free admission
For more information check the organizer’s official website or click here
