Hong Kong Artists Help Occupy the Streets of Hong Kong
30-9-14
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Since the weekend, Hong Kong has been front page news around the world because of the pro-democracy protests here.
I wanted to find out for myself what's actually happening on the ground and what the artists of Hong Kong have to say about it. So, yesterday I went to the occupy protests, to see them for myself and talk to the people who are trying to make a difference in Hong Kong.
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Here's the brief low down on what began as a sit in and boycott by Hong Kong students turned into something much more.
On Saturday, police in Hong Kong were seen on TV using pepperspray and batons on young students in Hong Kong, some as young as 17 years of age. On Sunday, Occupy Central (a sister movement which supports the cause of bringing a truly representative universal suffrage to Hong Kong for our 2017 Chief Executive elections) joined the student protest.
Street musicians take a break at Occupy Mongkok
Over the weekend, more than 50,000 people amassed at Tamar Park. The streets and MTR stations were closed off and people began climbing over the bridges and police barricades to access the area. Police and the government declared the rally illegal and told everyone to leave or there would be consequences.
At 6pm, Sunday, September 28th police in Hong Kong raised red flags which said "Disperse Or We Fire". Then black flags were raised. Tear gas was thrown. Police stats released yesterday announced 87 cannisters were thrown over 9 locations during the night.
Since the tear gas incidents, which many saw as an excessive measure, more people amassed elsewhere in the city. There are now protests at Mongkok, Causeway Bay, Wanchai, Central, TST in addition to Admiralty. Today on twitter there were even rumblings of an Occupy Sham Shui Po.
The protest movement has been rebranded as the Umbrella Revolution thanks to the imagery of those defending themselves against pepper spray and tear gas with umbrellas.
Umbrella Revolution Logo, Artist Unknown
Some protestors reject the term "revolution", saying that it creates violent imagery which contradicts the protest's peaceful nature. They want to stress that they never pushed or showed anger towards the police. That the police showed first agression towards them.
Last night over 80,000 people gathered at the various meetings points. Hashtags: occupycentral, occupyhongkong and umbrellarevolution have dominated twitter worldwide over the past few days and the National Day fireworks were cancelled by the government in wake the protests sighting, "safety concerns".
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So what part has the Hong Kong arts community played in all this?
Hong Kong performance artist and theatre director Ah Yeung Tung stood on a bridge and threatened to jump if the protest was not allowed to continue. According to a source we spoke to yesterday, Ah Yeung was taken into custody by police but has since been released.
Ah Yeung Tung on Bridge, Photo Credit @joannachiu
A street artist takes inspiration from the Occupy movement.
Many of Hong Kong's artists were on the front lines over the weekend and I had the opportunity to speak with them. They shared their stories with me and I thank them for their time. Were you at Occupy the past few days? Feel free to share your stories in the comment section.
Occupy Central is a non-violent protest. This is the only destruction we have seen in the past 3 days.
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A very crucial reason causing me to go out and protest is because we all know this is the right thing to do! I would NOT forgive myself and I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t spend any effort and just let the students fight for democracy for every one of us. - Boaz Chad, Actor
If it's not too late, I think that the biggest comment has been the decision of HKAPA to be a sanctuary for people needing to get out of the melee. They're not allowing cops in. We all have to make our own decisions about how to deal with moments like these.- Marshall Moore, Author
No one likes conflict and we all have our reasons for this but if we do not fight and support them, who will? I myself have been tear gassed numerous times and I feel proud to know that I am fighting as hard as I can for a city that has given me so much and made me the man I am today. - Daniel Felix-Johnson, Actor
It is the responsibilty of artists to tell the truth about a society. If we do not witness this injustice first hand, how are we going to be able to create pieces that talk about the issue later?- Simone Banks, Painter
It is our job to witness history and talk about it to future generations. Artists are mirrors. We must see history to reflect it back.- Chi Lui, Playwright
I was originally there to support students. To use pepper spray against unarmed students and detain them for more than 24 hours is disproportionately and unreasonably violent. As an adult and part of my society, I feel obliged to join the sit in protest to ask for a fair treatment for them.... In times like this, we first of all stand as individuals of the society, then as an artist. We decide how we stand in the stream of incidents and respond in our own familiar way. If art has been your medium, use it to respond.- Mona Chu, ex-Housenews Art blogger and editor of HK Artalk
I didn't have a chance to go out until Monday because of familial obligations but I am so glad that I went. It is very important as artists that we help Hong Kong stand up for its rights. Go paint a sign, write a song, just do something! - Brad Jacobs, Artist
Of course I am here fighting for our rights. My question is if you're not at Occupy Hong Kong, why not?- Titus Chan, Photographer
We stood there, arms raised in protest. Not fighting back, but not backing down. I felt that it was very important to make that statement on Sunday night, and I'm so glad that that same sentiment was echoed on Monday when the crowds came out in support.- Christina Chung, Arts Administrator
*All photos in this story are property of @mmcgurgan unless stated. Feel free to share on all social media platforms!
Comments
Mary Knolland
I wanted to write and say how much I enjoyed the podcast.
07 October 2014