CASE STUDY: HONG KONG

HOW ACTIVISM BRINGS CREATIVES TOGETHER 

Possible themes 

• How to incorporate the features of the “frontline uniform” into a brand 
• Gathering different kinds of art together to build identity and unite people 
• How activism brings graphic designers together 

CASE STUDY: HONG KONG

2019 THE EXTRADITION BILL PROTEST 

Alice Woodhouse and Nicolle Liu 2019, Hong Kong protesters go into creative overdrive, Financial Times, viewed 14 November 2019, <https://www.ft.com/content/526e2d46-ee97-11e9-bfa4-b25f11f42901>. 

https://www.ft.com/content/526e2d46-ee97-11e9-bfa4-b25f11f42901 

Hong Kong protesters go into creative overdrive

• Anti-government activists are using the arts as a weapon in the battle to hold public attention 
• upswell of creativity in a city best known for finance and skyscrapers.
• Hong Kong’s graphic designers and musicians have gone into creative overdrive to express their discontent
• Such a large-scale explosion of public art was last seen five years ago when the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement turned major roads into buzzing community art projects.
• 2019’s art has turned towards more combative themes, such as celebrating the bravery of frontline protesters in their gas masks with distinctive pink filters
• decentralised nature of the movement — it has no overt leader, meaning anyone online can suggest a project for consideration
• Any public blunder made by an official quickly goes viral, and graphic designers create posters that are shared online and pasted up around the city in a matter of hours.
• demands are more important than personal glory, and fear retaliation from the government or attacks from pro-Beijing thugs.
• “the role of art in the movement should not be overlooked” said Cantopop star, Denise Ho
• “You really cannot censor the mind, you cannot censor creativity. In these times of the internet, some sort of piece of art or piece of music or movie that comes out into the world, they cannot delete it completely”, she says

• “The message that we want to send out is: what else can artists, musicians, rational, peaceful people do?“ he says. “What are the appropriate channels still available to society that can address our grievances?” - S, a conductor with a non-profit orchestra

“Lady Liberty” 

BACKGROUND

• Muddled on a young first aider who sustained an eye injury from a suspected police projectile at a protest in August 
• The helmet, 3M goggles and respirator she wears echo the uniform of frontline protesters
• The masks have taken on greater significance since early October when face coverings at protests were banned.

distinctive pink filters

FEATURE 

Her right hand holds an umbrella, the other a large black flag bearing the slogan “Free Hong Kong, revolution now” while a gas mask and goggles protect her from the surrounding smoke.

• “Lady Liberty Hong Kong”, the four-metre-high statue created by an anonymous group formed on the internet
• People ranging from welders to 3D printing experts to fashion designers (who sewed her fully functional backpack) built a Lady Liberty within the space of a week from a design chosen by the group.

Common motifs: The helmet, 3M goggles and respirator, all black outfit 

“Lennon Wall”

BACKGROUND 

• sticky notes bearing pro-democracy slogans, based on a wall of the same name in the Czech Republic
• these have become targets for pro-government groups who tear down the posters
• “use their freedom of speech to express their frustrations in a creative way”

Yan Zhao 2019, 100 days in: Ten creative ways Hongkongers sustain their protests away from the barricades, HKFP, viewed 14 November 2019, <https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/09/16/100-days-ten-creative-ways-hongkongers-sustain-protests-away-barricades/>

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/09/16/100-days-ten-creative-ways-hongkongers-sustain-protests-away-barricades/ 

100 days in: Ten creative ways Hongkongers sustain their protests away from the barricades

• over the past five months, Hong Kong has seen an abundance of creative output inspired by the protests - political cartoons, illustrations, design and moving-image works have been widely circulated digitally 
• some of the work is displayed in the form of street art on “Lennon Walls” across town, enhancing the city’s visual culture 

—> designs are widely spread and are everywhere that they are exposed to everyone 

• professional artists are also trying to translate the political tension and emotional trauma of the movement into art that speak to a wider audience