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Hong Kong, once a bastion of creative freedom is becoming a city where it is difficult for artists to know what they can and cannot say through their art. Tracy Harris talks to Hong Kong artists who are asking themselves: ‘should I stay or should I go?’.

The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong brought dissenting voices into sharp focus in 2019. They were brought to a halt by the Chinese Government’s introduction of a National Security law, aimed at curbing violent protest. Film-maker Kiwi Chow’s controversial documentary about the protests, Revolution of our Times, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, he says his creative freedom has been curtailed, and he is under threat of arrest.

Some artists have gone underground and deleted their social media accounts. The protest group who installed a ghostly white statue of a female protester on Hong Kong’s most iconic location, Lion Rock, say they are living in fear of being reported to the authorities and for the time being, have ceased making art.

The National Security law does not allow people to criticise the state and most artists and galleries are self-censoring their work whilst some have felt they had to leave. Kacey Wong, whose art satirises those in power, says he could no longer express himself freely in Hong Kong and now makes art in self-imposed exile in Taiwan.

A prominent artist who photographed protesters facing police blockades, transformed the images by punching out their faces so they could not be identified. He used ‘a violent act’ to literally deface the pictures, a reflection on the dramatic change to life in Hong Kong. Now he is worried he too may have to leave Hong Kong.

Presenter: Tracy Harris
Producer: Chris Rushton

(Photo: Kacey Wong in a satirical performance-art work, The Patriot, in which he plays the Chinese national anthem imprisoned in a red cage. Credit: Kacey Wong)