The Rise and Fall of Hong Kong Protest Art
As the media uproar surrounding the Hong Kong protests has died down, what’s actually happened in China?
Some people interpret the quietness as a sign that Xi Jinping has won the fight to suppress the pro democratic movement in Hong Kong, as the 2017 elections are still set to only feature candidates pre-selected by Beijing. There is still dissent within Hong Kong, but the number of protesters has dramatically dwindled: on February 1st, the first protest of the year was held in Victoria Park while the protests this past fall attracted tens of thousands of protesters, the one three weeks ago brought in only 8,000 to 13,000 people.
While the protests were at their peak, the streets were lined with art that encouraged the public’s participation in the unrest. There was art created by professionals and amateurs alike, encouraging participation across class lines and turning the streets into protest sites cum outdoor art exhibits. Hong Kong is more known for its economic power than for its art, and graffiti and other public art forms are tightly regulated, so the protest zones gave a free space for the masses to vocalize their opinions and spur their creativity. The art proved to be a huge mobilizing force: there were entire walls full of sticky notes and origami umbrellas, each contributed by an individual with his or her own personal note about the cause. There were huge tapestries created from umbrella awnings, and then the iconic Umbrella Man, by an art student who goes by the name Milk, which features a 12-foot wooden sculpture of a man holding an umbrella. The umbrella has become a motif for the movement because of umbrellas’ use in protecting protestors from police tear gas and pepper spray, in addition to their being a wardrobe staple in Hong Kong.
The visibility of Umbrella Man served as both a rallying point for the protestors and as a challenge to Beijing. The statue bears a remarkable resemblance to the Goddess of Democracy, a figure created during the Tiananmen protests of 1989. The Goddess of Democracy was originally positioned in Tiananmen Square, facing the infamous Mao portrait, and much like the Tiananmen movement, the Umbrella movement in Hong Kong is also student led. Such a direct reference to Tiananmen serves as a challenge, provides legitimacy to the Umbrella movement, and serves as a warning to Beijing that if they’re not careful, they may have another Tiananmen situation on their hands (i.e. Beijing should not roll in the tanks).
As the protest sites were cleared in December, however, not only did the masses of protesters leave, but so did the art. Private collectors and museums have been trying to collect and preserve the protest art, but the attempt at preservation implies that the movement has already reached its peak, and that now is the time to collect evidence of what is now a part of Hong Kong’s history. There are still vocal and public protests against Beijing’s policies – shopping tours, for instance, in which people parade through shops holding the iconic yellow umbrella in an effort to keep people involved with the movement – but the numbers are still nowhere near what they used to be. In the fall, there were thousands upon thousands of people asking for change, but after the Occupy Central protests were cleared in December, both the art and massive public outcry have greatly declined. Beijing may have “won” for the moment, but it is unlikely that people in Hong Kong will give up their fight.