Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Tomorrow-Sun
Simon Go Man-ching once met an old man at a Chinese restaurant in Wan Chai who told him about a coin he had with the face of King Edward VII on it. That was 10 years ago. A few months after the encounter, the 50-year-old Sheung Hei Lau restaurant was demolished to make way for a new building. Like the details of the old man's story, the restaurant where the locals used to share their stories soon became a distant memory.
'I never saw the old man again,' says the artist.
Together with fellow photographer Wong Kan-tai, Go will be holding an exhibition in the foyer of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, which opens tomorrow. Entitled Hong Kong Britain, Go's photographs were taken before the handover, between 1996 and 1997, including one of the old man with his coin (above), while Wong's were shot between 2002 and 2005.
Go's works are full of symbols and remnants of the colonial past, such as images of Queen Elizabeth II and the Union flag. 'I knew those icons would disappear soon after the handover. Yet they're not just icons but part of our culture,' he says. 'I've an impression that the government is putting in a lot of effort to de-colonise the city. The knocking down of the piers and the numerous urban renewal projects are the telling signs. But the fact that Hong Kong was once a colony cannot be denied. The government is trying to remove our memories, and thus our identities.'