Organized by the Archives of Macao (AM), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the exhibition “Pirates in the Waters of Macao (1854-1935)”, will be held from 19 August 2020 to 31 January 2021, presenting the phenomenon of piracy in the surrounding waters of Macao and the multiple meanings it had for Macao. All are welcome to visit.
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 AM.
The exhibition features a selection of over 100 documents, maps and photographs from AM’s 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 Macao in the second half of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century.
The exhibition is open from 10am to 6pm and is closed on Mondays and public holidays. The Archives of Macao is located at No. 91-93, Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, Macau. For details, please visit AM’s website at www.archives.gov.mo or contact AM at 2859 2919 during office hours.