When the arts responds to the “Umbrella Movement”

On August 31, 2014, the NPCSC announced its decision on the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2017. The Hong Kong Federation of Students, with the objective of pressuring for constitutional reform, lobbied and brought about a week-long Student Strike in September, 2014. On the evening of September 26 when the Strike finished, a group of students and Hong Kong citizens forcefully entered the “Civic Square” (the Square) of the Tamar Central Government Offices. The Police arrested some of them. Tai Yiu-ting Benny, one of the convenors of the “Occupy Central” movement, announced in the wee hours of September 28 the kick-off of “Occupy Central”. In the afternoon that followed, a large amount of Hong Kong citizens went to Admiralty, trying to join the “Occupy Central” convocation but were trapped when the Police blocked the trunk roads of the area. The citizens required the Police to unblock the roads, resulting in major clashes. The Police broke up the gathering with tear bombs but people quickly came back once the gas cleared. From then on, Hong Kong citizens occupied the roads of Admiralty, Mongkok and Causeway Bay for over 70 days. The incident was later named “Umbrella Movement.” During the Movement, a large amount of original visual objects were seen in the three “occupation areas” at Admiralty, Mongkok, and Causeway Bay. In the meantime, many local artists responded to the Movement with artworks, a practice which extended to beyond the clearance of the occupation areas. In this section, information on such visual objects is presented.