Description
Pong! is a zine commemorating women workers in the fireworks industry.
In China, fireworks are not only festive items but also a sound ritual. Whether it’s a baby’s birth, a wedding, or the passing of a loved one, we set off fireworks to express blessings, hopes, and farewells through sound.
In my grandmother’s village, almost every family was involved in fireworks production, with women undertaking the vast majority of the work. They made paper tubes, wove fuses, packaged, and sold the fireworks, expending immense physical and mental energy in the long and arduous process, but leaving almost no trace of their names or identities.
My mother and grandmother also made fireworks at home for many years. As a child, I often heard them recount their arduous labor, but I didn’t truly understand the meaning behind these stories. Only after leaving my hometown did I increasingly miss them and begin to frequently chat with them, recording those forgotten labor experiences and the dangerous stories hidden behind their work.
How can women achieve true freedom by inheriting and understanding their mothers’ lives? This publication combines my personal experience with feminist theory, attempting to re-examine a long-hidden social order: women’s labor is not an inherent attribute, but a form of labor constantly shaped and perpetuated by the combined influence of history, social structures, and emotional bonds.
The cover of Pong! is also a poster. Readers can fold it into a paper firecracker following the instructions, and when thrown forcefully, it will produce a loud bang similar to a firework explosion.
