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Old Master Q comic exhibition celebrates Hong Kong humour

For more than 30 years, Alfonso Wong used his comic strip to poke fun at everything from Hong Kong current affairs to art, rock music and ghosts, then handed his brushes to his son. A retrospective celebrates Wong’s art and humour

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Joseph Wong Chak with Old Master Q’s famous characters. Picture: SCMP

Published: 7:02am, 11 Dec 2016Updated: 7:02am, 11 Dec 2016

Alfonso Wong Kar-hei captured the many facets of Hong Kong life through The Old Master Q series, which first appeared in newspaper columns in 1962 and accompanied countless Hongkongers throughout their formative years.

Using his oldest son’s name as a nom de plume, the comic artist touched on subjects ranging from current affairs (poverty, theft, suicide, the mafia and cross-dressing) to the surreal (encounters with aliens, ghost sightings and the afterlife). He poked fun at art and fashion, rock music and cultural differences between East and West.

Now the Hong Kong Arts Centre is collaborating with Comix Home Base to give the public another chance to view Wong’s work in “Indulging in Imagination – Exhibition of Old Master Q’s Comics Works”, part of the Tribute to Masters series.

Wong retired in the mid-1990s but was succeeded by his eldest son, Joseph Wong Chak.

“This exhibition invites audiences into the imaginative world of Old Master Q, and explore its timeless charm regardless of generations, genders, geographical or cultural differences,” says Connie Lam Suk-yee, executive director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

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