This group of six gelatin silver prints shows scenes of a Wangkang procession.During the procession, a large replica of a ship (wangkang means ‘king’s ship’) was said to hold captured evil spirits and was led through the streets before being put out to sea or set ablaze. The first ceremony in Malacca was organised by the Peranakans in 1846. It has been nominated for inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.Photography was a transformational technology when it was first invented around 1839 and was quickly embraced by the Peranakans as soon as it arrived in Southeast Asia around 1841. This group of photographs reveals the longstanding relationship between Peranakans and photography which continues till today.
