New | Occupy street art taken down as HSBC Nathan Road branch reopens

Street art showing support for the Occupy movement was removed from the walls of the HSBC bank on Nathan Road in Mong Kok as the branch resumed normal operation on Wednesday.

The bank has been open intermittently since the occupation began in Mong Kok more than three weeks ago. It had been closed since Friday after a police operation to remove barricades on the junction between Argyle Street and Nathan Road led protesters to reclaim the northbound lanes on Nathan Road they lost earlier.

Some protesters helped on Wednesday morning as a cleaning crew removed posters from the bank’s walls.

“I understand the reason behind [HSBC’s] action because they have a business to run and the posters on their walls would affect their business,” protester Zicki Wong said.

The 24-year-old translator said that many of the artworks had been preserved by volunteers. She suggested they could either be displayed in a new location or on a large mat which could then be stuck to the bank’s walls outside of business hours.

Lisa Chao, an HSBC customer aged in her 60s, welcomed the branch’s reopening. “Of course this is a lot more convenient,” she said.