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Samuel Chan

Occupy activists are transforming old T-shirts into works of art with a practical purpose - providing a little comfort for protesters sleeping on Hong Kong's hard streets.
Pieced together on a wooden frame, the mats are the work of a group of friends already known for designing some of the many posters and stickers that have added colour throughout the Admiralty protest zone.
"We were thinking about what else we could do after making the posters and stickers," design graduate Ho Chan, 24, said, explaining how they came up with the idea for the mats.
"After all, everyone needs a good night's sleep," he said.
As he showed others how to do the work, he described how it took about three hours for three or four people to make a sleeping mat long enough for an adult of above-average height.
One mat featuring a yellow umbrella against a grey-scale backdrop has been on display since October 22 at "Umbrella Square" on Harcourt Road where Occupy leaders make their speeches.
Most recently, the designers have offered a T-shirt printing service, giving old T-shirts a new lease of life by printing them with a logo known as the "umbrella man" and the slogan: "Listen to our thoughts!" They thanked independent stores and printing services for helping.
Chan said he and his friends pooled funds and efforts to create a set of stickers with a minimalist design in black and yellow soon after tear gas was fired on protesters on September 28.
They started making the sleeping mats last month as it became clear there was going to be no early end to the mass sit-in.
Like many other Occupy protesters, Chan had never considered himself a social activist until very recently.
"I did not even join any of the rallies against the new town project in the northeastern New Territories," he said, in reference to the series of protests outside the Legislative Council in June, during which police were accused of using excessive force on both protesters and journalists.
"But after seeing on television the degree of violence police used on [teenage student leader] Joshua Wong [Chi-fung], I felt that it was now or never if we still wished to make ourselves heard."
 


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Occupy Central

Sleeping rough at Occupy Central? Designers have your back with T-shirt mats

Some of the team of designers work on turning the donated T-shirts into comfortable mats for protesters spending their nights on the streets of Admiralty. Photo: Sam Tsang

News

Hong Kong

Occupy activists are transforming old T-shirts into works of art with a practical purpose - providing a little comfort for protesters sleeping on Hong Kong's hard streets.
