Taking Art to the Street
A new group transforms the city’s public spaces into a makeshift gallery of its own. Photos courtesy of Street Art Movement.
Hidden away from the bustling markets, bargain boutiques and suffocating crowds typically associated with Mong Kok, Luen Wan Street would be just another unremarkable pedestrian-only lane, save for its phantasmagoric murals. Known as a “wall of fame” amongst local graffiti artists, the little remaining available space was covered by new contributions from 12 different artists for an all-day street art show held at the end of December last year. The completed street paintings were accompanied by a live band performance and a slew of enthusiastic visitors.
The exhibition’s founders, Vivian Ho and Jessica Poon, who attended school together in Hong Kong before leaving for different universities in the US, initially wanted to hold a show of their artworks for their friends. After it began to evolve into something bigger, the two made a Facebook page for the event, calling themselves the Street Art Movement. The 12 participating artists—including illustrator C Chung and printmaking artist yan yung—spent two weeks painting new works. Following the unwritten rules of graffiti art, they made sure not to cover up work that was already there. The only promotions for the show were done over the Facebook page, but news spread like wildfire and visitors from all walks of life stopped by throughout the day, including 40-year-old former graffiti artists, musicians, tourists, expats, families and lots of university students.
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The group has also organized live drawing sessions on the MTR—one in January and another on March 9. “We didn’t have lots of time to promote [the event], just three or four days. Me and my partner were just going to draw on our own if [no one showed up], but 20 people and a magazine reporter showed up. It was really fun,” says Ho. The group met inside Central station and rode along the Tsuen Wan line, sketching and taping their finished drawings onto the windows and walls of the train. They updated their Facebook page with their location every so often so late participants could join in. “We had lots of interactions on the spot with the many different people coming in and out of every station,” adds Ho. The group plans to hold these sessions every month.
Despite support from its large following, the Street Art Movement has faced its fair share of difficulties—unsurprising for a grassroots collective whose modus operandi involves doing art in very public and unexpected places. “In Mong Kok, I got [ID] carded three times by the police, and there were MTR officials telling us to put our drawings down [during the live drawing sessions],” laments Ho. “They were just doing their job, but it was kind of discouraging. For the street art show, we needed to talk to a lot of people to try and convince them [to join]. It was kind of hard because me and my friends are nobodies, and a lot of people thought [our idea] was really stupid.”
Considering that the group gained close to 1,000 followers in just one month, Ho and Poon probably won’t remain nobodies for very long. “People are so hungry for this kind of thing.” says Ho. “In auction houses people only learn about pieces because of how much they were sold for; it’s so commercial. As art students, me and my partner feel the frustration of this gap between the general public and the really small circle of arts people. We want to blend the two worlds and show that even non-rich people can [enjoy] art.”
To keep up with Street Art Movement's events, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/houseforthebum.