Hong Kong protest art goes on sale at independent Lunar New Year fairs in city after changes at official events
- With crafts, gifts and political merchandise banned from government markets, sellers and activists find their own way to make sales – and spread their message
Supporters of the anti-government movement will hold festive bazaars over the new-year period in at least five areas – Causeway Bay, Tai Po, Kwun Tong Fanling, and Wong Tai Sin. They will offer products such as artworks and snacks modelled on icons of the protests which have gripped the city since June – such as Pepe the Frog and the LIHKG Pig– as well as card games mocking political figures.
There would have been three more markets, but the government scuppered newly elected pro-democracy district councillors’ plans for events in Sai Ying Pun, Tuen Mun and Kwai Tsing.
“It’s a kind of suppression,” Central and Western district councillor Cheung Kai-yin, also one of the organisers, said. She had plans for about 40 stalls selling local handicrafts, fruits and political products such as pro-democracy stickers on Centre Street in Sai Ying Pun this weekend.
Cheung said she applied for a licence to hold the event from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in late November, shortly after the pro-democracy camp made huge gains in local elections, taking control of all but one of the city’s 18 districts. But the department did not give approval and Cheung and her team had to cut down the number of stalls by about half, with mostly game stalls and workshops. She added that no money would change hands.
A department spokeswoman said the government found it would not be suitable to hold the proposed event at the site during the suggested time, after consulting relevant departments.