Exhibition marks 100 years of firecracker industry

[Photo; Ricaela Diputado]

Over a century’s worth of archives from Macau’s firecracker industry was revealed at the opening ceremony of “A Century of Iec Long Firecracker Factory in Radiance – An Exhibition on the Resonant History and Aesthetic Memory of Macao Firecrackers.”

The exhibition at Sands Gallery at Four Seasons Macao features more than 400 exhibits, including original manuscripts, firecracker-making tools, and historic packaging labels.

Structured into six thematic chapters, the exhibition traces the history of the firecracker industry, the craftsmanship of its artisans, and the design of packaging, alongside interactive and immersive elements.

Marjorie Meng [Photo; Ding Shiqi]

Curated by Ung Vai Meng, a professor at Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) who has studied the industry for over 30 years, the exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Sands China, MUST, the Macao Museum, and the Archives of Macao.

Speaking at the opening ceremony yesterday, Ung remarked, “For many older residents, it represents a shared collective memory of the last century. In the 1950s and 1960s, Macau-produced firecrackers accounted for an estimated 30% to over half of global output, holding a pivotal position in the international market.”

“In the centenary of Iec Long Firecracker Factory, I am delighted to collaborate with Sands China to present this exhibition, enabling today’s residents and visitors to gain deeper insight into this history and to appreciate the artistry of firecracker packaging labels,” he added.

Professor Ung Vai Meng [Photo; Ding Shiqi]

Meanwhile, according to MUST’s library researcher, piecing together over a century of Macau’s firecracker industry was no easy feat.

Library researcher Marjorie Meng told the Times on the sidelines about the main archival and research challenges in piecing together over a century of history for the exhibition.

Meng stated, “We faced many difficulties, and those were big challenges for me as the researcher because Macau’s traditional manufacturing industry started a long time ago, almost 200 years ago.”

She added, “Firecracker manufacturing in Macau started in 1863 and continued until 1997. So, for research spanning over 150 years, we divided it into four parts. The first and second parts were especially difficult to find information on – the archives and sources. But we wanted to do this because we think it’s very significant.”

The researcher believes that most visitors to Macau are only aware of the casinos and tourist attractions and do not know much about the city’s history.

“When people come to Macau, they only know the gambling casinos or attractions like the Ruins of St. Paul. They only see the attractions on the street, but they don’t know much about the history. They wouldn’t know that firecrackers, matches, and incense were some of Macau’s most important manufactured goods,” she explained.

[Photo; Ding Shiqi]

According to Meng, true research on the firecracker industry goes beyond the scarce information available online.

“If you want to know about real historical archives, theses, or doctoral research, there is not much. When we searched the Chinese research database, only 10 or 20 articles were found about this. It’s not very deep. There is just a brief introduction to the environment or a firecracker label introduction. But there’s almost nothing on the history itself, especially covering the past 140 years of the industry.”

She added, “We organized face-to-face interviews to gather historical information and spoke with local people. One interviewee had worked in the industry as a child; he provided information and shared memories.”

Meng said her drive to dig into the firecracker industry came from the lack of online information for a significant part of Macau’s history and culture.

“That’s our motivation for this research. At the very beginning, it was very hard to find information because there was barely anything online,” she said.

The MUST research team consisted of just three people: Meng herself, curator Ung, and PhD student Alex Huang.

Also speaking on the sidelines, Huang told the Times how he deciphered the different writing styles and dates on the many invoices from the firecracker industry.

“There are four ways of calculating dates on the receipts: solar years, lunar years, and a special code – the Suzhou code, a number-writing style from Suzhou, China. Businessmen in the past wrote using this code. It’s only found on some samples, which we discovered in their writing.”

Meanwhile, Sands China and MUST will bring elements of the exhibition to the university campus. According to the integrated resort, the initiative includes an academic dialogue designed to help the public understand the impact of Macau’s firecracker industry through packaging labels and oral histories.

The exhibition will run until August 31.