Camy Tam
An exhibition titled “The Sailing Junk and Macau Traditional Handcrafts” co-organised by the History and Culture Association of Port of Macau (HCAPM) and the private University of St. Joseph (USJ), supported by the public Macau Foundation (FM), is being held on the Catholic university’s Ilha Verde campus.
According to the leaflet about the exhibition, President of HCAPM Chan Yat Fung said that he “was born in a fisherman’s family”. When he was a child, his senior family members told him a lot of folk stories, about how they sailed and harvested the sea. Macau’s fishing industry introduced machines and diesel engines in the early 1960s, which brought a rapid modernisation to the industry. The traditional sailing ships had become obsolete within a decade. These sailing ships disappeared from the harbour nearly half a century.
Chan points out that the sailing acp junks are out of the sight of Macau people, who have little recognition to them. What’s even worse is those skilled technicians and navigators are ageing and some of them had passed away. If we are not preserving Macau’s sailing skills and craftsmanship, this valuable folk wisdom and traditional culture will soon vanish.
Rector and Reverend Professor Stephen Morgan said in a statement on the university’s website that the University is delighted to be able to work with the association to bring this exhibition to USJ and allow the public to learn more about the Chinese Junk and inspire the imagination to consider its importance in making the modern world.
Chan describes the exhibition as being both a playful and educational scientific exhibition and hopes that the viewers find fun as well as exploring the daily life of a seafarer. Chan was also involved in a project called “The Research Project of Intangible Cultural Heritage – Naval Architecture and Nautical Skills of Macau Junk Ship” presented in a video at the exhibition gallery to share about sailing, and his experiences.
The exhibition is open to the public until March 19 from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Kent Wong Exhibition Gallery at 14-17 Estrada Marginal da Ilha Verde, University of Saint Joseph, Ilha Verde.
The exhibition is not open on Sundays.
For more information, please visit https://www.usj.edu.mo/en/events/sailing-junk-macau-traditional-handcrafts-exhibition/.
As part of Macau’s COVID-19 pandemic preventive measures, visitors who enter the venue must wear a facemask, have their temperature checked and present a digital health code declaration.
Photos: Camy Tam
