Defiance: Photographic Documentary of Hong Kong’s Awakening
Rock Lion Limited: 2020
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Voices
Rock Lion Limited: 2020
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One of Hong Kong’s last remaining Lennon Walls was destroyed on 1 January 2021. On the second floor of Kwai Chung Plaza, next to stores peddling street food and budget clothing, the metal panels on the side of an escalator were returned to their original sheen. While in the past visitors would see an evolving collection of protest art—a splash of Post-its, punny posters or even full-fledged murals—now they will find only their reflection, warped slightly by the imperfect surface.

The space was first rented by Yummy Corner in 2018 to run advertisements. But as Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest movement gathered steam the following year, it was turned into an ersatz message board for the community, one of dozens that sprung up across the city seemingly overnight. Hong Kong’s Lennon Walls drew inspiration from the original in Prague, but it is fair to say the student became the master. In the autumn of 2019, each week brought dazzling feats of creativity: Tai Po residents took over a pedestrian subway and made it a ‘Lennon Tunnel’, while the Kwai Fong site was crowned the ‘Lennon Museum of Art’ for its sprawling designs.

• Tags: Holmes Chan, Hong Kong, Issue 22