Removal of street artist Invader's Hong Kong work sparks debate on culture and vandalism
Destruction of French street artist Invader's work has placed the spotlight on culture, free expression and public nuisance in Hong Kong, writes Richard Lord
Blink and you might have missed it, but something rather wonderful happened to many of Hong Kong's walls recently.
In January, 48 otherwise bland, drab concrete surfaces in public areas were beautified by the remarkable work of French street artist Invader - and then, despite near-universal appreciation for the artist's colourful tile mosaics, many were almost immediately removed by the government.
As well as exhibiting in galleries and museums around the world, the anonymous artist also artistically "invades" cities - more than 60 of them since he began his career in 1998 - gifting them his works by installing them, in classic street-art style, during the night.
I really consider that my approach of displaying the pieces in the street is a gift to the city and its citizens
Every Invader work is slightly different, but most are based on the pixelated graphics of classic arcade games, in particular Pac-Man and Space Invaders, the latter giving him his name. He also localises: London, for example, got a modified Union Jack with a Space Invader inside it, while Hong Kong got mosaic homages to the city's most famous son, Bruce Lee.
Invader has visited our city twice before, in 2001 (19 works) and 2002 (six works), but the recent invasion was his largest ever (he calls the 48 new works "a very good score"). It was followed, however, by the most comprehensive take-down of his work ever.
"I was alerted on social networks through pictures and comments that government workers were removing some of the artworks displayed in the streets. Having invaded more than 60 cities around the world, I have never faced a situation where a public authority would systematically and rapidly remove the art from the streets," he says from his home in Paris.
