As an election day passes in the United States with many states facing record-low voter turnouts, activists in Hong Kong continue to mobilize in pro-democracy demonstrations in spite of being met by police violence and official condemnation. And while the American election is marked by more corporate donations and less response to people’s actual will, Hong Kong’s demonstrations show what a truly engaged democracy looks like, showcased in perhaps no greater a way than by the movement’s embrace of activism through art.
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- Young girls design cardboard cutouts of Umbrella Revolution protestors in an act of solidarity.
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- CY Leung, leader of Hong Kong, is depicted as a wolf, due to the similarity of the two words in Cantonese.
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- A mock Communist-style poster warns that Leung’s removal is not enough of a goal, as another Beijing-appointed leader would mean only more oppression.
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- Hong Kong is depicted with strength in the face of adversity. (Photos by Michael Grothaus)
Works of pop art have been among the most widespread products of the demonstrations, containing messages of solidarity, resistance, and warning. The art makes use of popular, recognizable cultural symbols to mark the inclusiveness of the movement, and are created and distributed by volunteers ranging throughout the protest’s communities.
Below, Hong Kong’s students create art in secret locations, serving not only as a motivator for protestors to continue, but also as a record of the truth of events, against the government’s narrative.
The inclusiveness of the movement is made clear through the engagement of protestors from throughout Hong Kong’s society. Pictured below, the John Lennon wall is filled with messages from Hong Kong’s citizens to one another.
The wall is named for John Lennon, admired in Hong Kong as much for his activism and commitment to peace as his music. (Photo by Michael Grothaus.)
The representation of the protest has come from both modern and traditional forms of art. The painter Perry Dino, for instance, captures images of the protest with oil and canvas.
Dino is a veteran to Hong Kong’s activist community, also lending his brush to a series of protests in 2012. (Photo by Perry Dino.)
In a more modern medium, an Android app has been released in which the user plays the part of a protestor with a yellow umbrella, tasked with peacefully defending themselves against oncoming waves of government police.
In the face of violent opposition, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators have taken to art for the mobilization and engagement of their activist community, using it to quite literally paint a picture of the Hong Kong they aim to create.
It is clear, then, that that picture is one of a united Hong Kong, made strong through solidarity.