Culture Club | Here’s hoping Invader’s street art returns to the front line…so we can all smile again

Volunteers call for a 'Space Invaders Restoration Scheme' following government's ruthless removal of his works

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Invader's name is inspired by the 1978 arcade game Space Invaders. His works are inspired by the pixel images in arcade games from the 1970s and 80s. Photo: Space-Invaders.com

Published: 6:15pm, 28 Feb 2014Updated: 6:55pm, 28 Feb 2014

With the bloody attack on former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau (who taught me media law at journalism school) and the government’s ruthless removal of Invader’s adorable works of street art, this has been a terrible week for Hong Kong.

But some have decided to take things forward. Some have chosen to protest against the attack and chant slogans like “They can’t kill us all” to “defend” the city’s press freedom. Others apparently believe actions speak louder than words, and they are grouping together to bring Invader’s art back to life.

After Invader expressed in a full statement his sadness over the removal of his art, revealing that Hong Kong was the first out of the 60 world cities he had “artistically invaded”, volunteers have called for a “Space Invaders Restoration Scheme”.

Hong Kong artist Kacey Wong told me that a crew of nearly 10 volunteers, including architect Alvin Wong and HK Honey’s designer/ beekeeper Michael Leung, are calling for the public to join the scheme, which calls for the restoration of the French artist’s works.

Alvin Wong came up with the idea, while Kacey Wong created a poster. “My poster is there to encourage people to take action instead of thinking that they are helpless citizens," said Kacey.

“Art is my religion. If you see somebody destroying art of high value, complaining is not good enough, action is,” the award-winning artist said.