Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Working in black and white, documentary photographer Yau Leung (1941-97) captured
some of the most stunning and iconic images of 1960s Hong Kong, while art photographer
So Hing-keung focuses on the shadows, figurative and literal, of the city in creations known
for their psychological depth. Hong Kong-born, London-based visual artist Kurt Tong ex-
plores his multilayered identity, family heritage and memories through thoughtful docu-
mentary photography.
In Case it Rains in Heaven
(2010), his best-known project, is presen-
ted like a high-end shopping catalogue of stylised portraits of paper-made objects burnt as
offerings for the deceased. The combustible items honoured by Tong run the gamut of mod-
ern human desires in Chinese societies.
There are only about four Tsang Tsou-choi works left on Hong Kong's streets today (with
three subject to the mercy of the elements), but you won't miss the concrete pillar that
bears his imperial treatise at the Star Ferry pier in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Street Art & Other Arts
Street graffiti was almost nonexistent or largely unrecognised in Hong Kong until the
passing in 2007 of the self-proclaimed 'King of Kowloon' (aka Tsang Tsou-choi), who for
decades had smothered the city with his trademark rambling, childlike calligraphy that
cursed the Queen of England for 'usurping' his rightful land. His irrepressible daily reveries
and inimitable visual style eventually inspired many artists and designers, and won him ex-
hibitions both at home and abroad.
Street art has noticeably grown in Hong Kong since, perhaps with the King's benediction.
This trend in part stems from a new-found confidence among a younger generation of artists
to express their dissatisfaction with the social problems of the day using means that are
more open and combative. After the April 2011 arrest in mainland China of the prominent
artist and activist Ai Weiwei, a number of artists in Hong Kong came forth with a dose of
creative surprise to raise public awareness of his case and to rally for his release. Most
memorably, Ai-inspired graffiti stencils appeared on pavements, overpasses and walls for
five nights straight around the city, thanks to a lone operator known only as 'Tangerine'.
Equally unorthodox in its use of public space is Street Art Movement, a new group that
stages seemingly impromptu gallery shows in the most ordinary of common spaces. In
March 2012 the group organised an art ride along the Tsuen Wan line on the MTR, sketch-
ing and clipping their finished drawings onto laundry lines that they strung up inside the
train carriages as fresh interest poured in at every station.
