Then & Now | Refugees often fall back on their creativity, like Mr Chen – or was it Mr Chow? – the post-war pastel artist in Hong Kong

Artistic talent, or other cultural skills, are often the only portable assets a desperate person can take on their flight to safety from the ravages of war

An artist, who was a victim of the Chinese civil war, drew pastel portraits of Hong Kong’s affluent European elite that today hang in homes around the world

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

10-year-old Farhad Noory, a refugee from Afghanistan, looks at one of his artworks on show in Belgrade, Serbia, in . Artistic talent is often the only thing desperate refugees can bring when they flee oppression or disaster. Photo: AFP

Jason Wordie

Published: 8:45am, 14 Mar 2022

Recent weeks have seen a refugee exodus, from war-shattered Ukraine, unprecedented in Europe since the end of World War II. Too often overlooked in today’s callous world, refugees are the people to encourage in their new lives elsewhere. Brave people with the get-up-and-go to flee desperate circumstances in the hope of making a better tomorrow somewhere else generally try their best to succeed when they reach lasting safety.

With few exceptions, refugees make superb new citizens in those places that give them sanctuary in their time of need, and abiding gratitude is also firmly instilled into the next generation.

How do refugees make a living when some of the places they end up – such as Hong Kong – prevent them from legitimately working? Artistic talent, or other cultural skills, such as musical or theatrical ability, are often the only portable assets a desperate person can take on their flight to safety.

History shows these skills can be later deployed to marvellous, long-remembered effect.

The Shanghai Russians were members of a sizeable Russian refugee diaspora that flourished in Shanghai, China between the world wars. Photo: Getty Images

Late 1930s Shanghai, in particular, was internationally known for the superb chamber orchestras staffed by cultured Central European refugees, mostly Jews escaping the spread of Nazism. On a more popular level, dance bands and music schools provided employment opportunities for many.

A common feature in the homes of people who lived in Hong Kong in the late 1940s and ’50s are framed, high-quality pastel portraits – sometimes of adults, but more usually of children or younger teenagers.