By Sirius Chan, MA Painting (Alumni, Wimbledon College of Arts
When I was younger, unlike most Hong Kong people in my age who only listen to Cantonese pop songs, I was really into English rock bands. Which is how I learn about Lennon Wall, from one of my favourite bands The Beatles. Lennon Wall, Prague and 1980 sounds so far away from me in both geographically and time. I never thought that Lennon Walls woulc become one of the locations that I now walk pass everyday in Hong Kong.
The story of Hong Kong Lennon Wall began at the Umbrella Movement in October, 2014, located at Hong Kong Central Government Offices staircase. It was the main location during the occupy protest, fighting for the universal suffrage that Hong Kong was promised when returning from Britain to China.
A group of social workers bought post-its and invited people to write down their hopes, wishes and reasons for stay after police had tried to disperse protesters by firing tear gas. The message board started to expand and eventually colonised the entire wall beside the staircase heading to the Hong Kong Central Government Offices. It is one of the major artworks of the movement as a collective artistic work of spontaneous free expression, demanding democracy in the elections of the territory's top leaders. It was later removed during the police clearance operations in December 2014.
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
Lennon Wall came back during the protests against the China-Extradition bill on 9 June 2019. This time it is not just in the government offices staircase, but throughout Hong Kong including subway tunnels, shops and schools. It is referred to as ‘blossoming everywhere’. The wall evolved from encouraging Post-It Notes, into posters of facts and anger towards the government. The common themes of the messages include:
- China-Extradition bill
- Police brutality and misconduct
- Sudden appearing of thousands ’unsuspicious suicides’
- Memorial of the victims
- Anti-mask law on 4th September 2019
- Government refused shut Hong Kong’s border with mainland China during the early outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020
Throughout the past year, Hong Kong Lennon Walls have always been vandalised within the first few days of being set up. Government supporters will tear the paper off the wall, paint the wall over or with offensive words, the government may send cleaners to wash the wall with high-pressure water jets, then the protestors will stick the posters back again under the risk of being arrested, or attacked by the mob with weapons. The looping cycles go on, and the marks of activity stain the wall. I always see people, animals or weird creatures in the smudged shapes when I walk through the subway tunnel. I imagine these could become a kind of cave painting after thousands of years. And that’s how I started my project ‘Dot to Dots: Lennon Wall Subway’.
My project launched on 1 July 2020. This is also the day after implementation of the Hong Kong national security law. This marks the end of the freedom of speech and press. People who possess items with any major slogans of the protest such as ‘Free Hong Kong’ or ‘Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time’ can be arrested by the police. On 2 July, restaurants are warned by the police to remove the promotional materials and accessories on ‘Lennon Wall’ inside their shops and premises before it opened for business or they would be prosecuted. Shop owners now start to sell empty post-it notes. People on the internet put the shapes of Chinese protest words instead of the Chinese characters. Somehow this improvising action shares a resonance with my original idea.
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
-
Lennon Walls in Hong Kong by Sirius Chan
About ‘Dot to Dots: Lennon Wall Subway’ Project
Dot to Dots is a common educational game for young children. The hidden "big picture" is revealed when a line is drawn connecting a sequence of numbered dots. I record the scribbled, smudged and torn wall in Lennon Wall Subway and imagine the constantly modified marks as though the archaeological and historical objects are discovered years later. I create a set of Dot to Dots worksheets with the blurry shapes, with the unrecognised ‘big pictures’ hidden inside.
Through seeking the tiny clues with a magnifying glass and connecting the dots with a correction pen, an act of filling gaps and reconstructing the future history proceeds, and the unknown preset picture is being sought. Through filling the space between dots, new traces are added on the walls once again. The hidden picture eventually appears. This maybe the official model answer, or part of the truth restoration, or a new image created under the interference of the participants’ will. The only certain thing is that the walls have become unrecognisable.
Let’s play Dot to Dots
This work is now showing in "Art Guerrilla Anytime" Wild Art Festival 2020. Participates can obtain the worksheet in the exhibition venue, or distance learning by download and print out the online worksheet. Participates from all over the world can join the distance learning by downloading and printing out the online worksheet, and send/tag your work to Instagram @lennonwall.hk.
Background Information
About "Art Guerrilla Anytime" Wild Art Festival 2020
Date: 1-15 July 2020
Time: 12pm to 7pm every Tuesday to Sunday
Venue: Art and Culture Outreach (14/F, Foo Tak Building, 365-367 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong)
Enquiry: uncertaintimestudio@gmail.com
@wildart_festival and Wild Art Festival website
About Sirius Chan
Born in Hong Kong, Sirius Chan received her master degree of painting from University of the Arts London, Wimbledon College of Arts in 2018 and is now a visual artist in Hong Kong.
Want to learn more about what is happening to Hong Kong?
Here are some search engine keywords: umbrella movement - anti-extradition bill - national security law - police brutality - 721 Yuen Long
831 Prince Edward station - death of Chow Tsz-lok.
Related Links
- lennonwall.hk Instagram
- Lennon Wall Dot2Dots Project wesite
- About the Hong Kong national security law (HKNSL)
- How HKNSL apply to everyone else who is not related to Hong Kong
- ‘Thousands of Hongkongers defy Beijing-imposed law aimed at crushing freedom’
- The unofficial English Translation of HK national security law (No official English version exists so far)
- Hong Kong Says Common Protest Slogan Calling for ‘Revolution’ Is Now Illegal Under National Security Law
Post-Grad Stories
A thriving online magazine of our postgraduate student voices sharing thought-provoking experiences, practices, thoughts and articles about what matters to them.
Open Call: Student stories/shares during COVID-19 Outbreak
Want to write an article? Get in touch with the Post-Grad Community team PGCommunity@arts.ac.uk