Hong Kong refugee musicians put on hip-hop shows – a form of release while they’re stuck in bureaucratic limbo
Musical act Talents Displaced offer a creative outlet for those caught in legal limbo, who survive on handouts for years while they wait for their cases to be processed in a city with one of the lowest refugee acceptance rates in the world
It’s a chilly January evening and the Great European Carnival on Central’s harbourfront is in full swing, the faces of fun-seekers – and giant teddy bears – aglow under neon lights. Occasional screams from amusement rides fill the air.
Next door, in a small, cordoned off area of the Maritime Museum, another great show is about to take place.
It’s 7pm and members of Talents Displaced, a group of refugees, asylum seekers and their friends, have gathered a few hours before the group’s scheduled performance. Frank, one of the group’s founding members, is helping to set up the space. A rapper, singer and songwriter, he’s excited about spreading the group’s message.
Formed in November, 2016, Talents Displaced are an Afro-fusion group that integrates hip-hop and African drums. Occasionally there’s a DJ. There’s always dancing.
Asylum seekers in Hong Kong who are trying to make the best out a bad situation
“We started about a year ago,” says Frank, who does not want to reveal his surname. “Sealing was looking for a group of talented asylum seekers to showcase their talents to help change public perception about us,” he says.
Sealing is Sealing Cheng, a professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). She has been researching the city’s refugees and asylum seekers since 2012 and found among this community a number of talented artists with much creative potential.