How Hong Kong’s Lennon Walls became showcases for art and design of extradition bill protests
- Walls have sprung up all over Hong Kong in past two weeks, having been first seen in city during Occupy protests in 2014
- The Hong Kong iterations are based on an original one that was mounted in Prague after John Lennon’s assassination in 1980
Hong Kong has been rocked by waves of protests against the government’s extradition bill since June. But while opposition to the now-suspended bill has at times been fierce, the episode has also inspired many Hongkongers to express themselves in a quieter, more creative way.
Since last week, displays of colourful sticky notes have sprouted up across the city, making international headlines. Known as Lennon Walls, the displays made up of anti-bill messages and other protest statements have transformed entire underpasses, pedestrian bridges and even shopfronts into multicoloured billboards.
City Weekend takes a closer look at how the protest movement has become a major source of inspiration for the creation of art and memes.
The origin of the Lennon Wall
The colourful walls get their name indirectly from one of the most iconic figures in popular music, John Lennon, who was also an anti-war activist in his later life. The original Lennon Wall sprang up spontaneously in his honour in Prague following his assassination on December 8, 1980. Lennon’s pacifist anthems recorded during his solo career after the break-up of The Beatles, such as Give Peace a Chance and Imagine, became anthems for anti-war movements across the world.
The latter, with the lyrics “imagine all the people, living life in peace”, was also sung during the 2014 Occupy protests in Hong Kong.