Hong Kong Protests, Silenced on the Streets, Surface in Artworks


Even though police silenced the 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, artists, writers, and filmmakers are producing work about the protests in more abstract and ambiguous ways to evade authorities. For example, the Goethe-Institut’s Hong Kong branch hosted a mixed show that included photographs of the 2019 protests that the artist had punched, ripped, or cut in order to hide protestors’ identities. Even though Chinese law criminalizes anything that the government deems as promoting “secession, subversion, or collusion with foreign powers,” several other exhibits are also featuring protest art.

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