Visual Arts Activities for the 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover: Painting Two Different Pictures

“2017 is the year that marked the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover to China. A series of related activities took place, government- or community-led. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) established an inter-departmental Steering Committee (with Chief Secretary for Administration Cheung Kin-chung Matthew as the president) at the end of 2016 to plan the 20th anniversary celebrating events. They earmarked $640 million to be spent on a series of local and overseas celebratory activities organized by the Home Affairs Bureau, Development Bureau, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Information Services Department, and Planning Department. The Mainland also played an active role and provided resources to facilitate the organization of the activities, for example, by lending out artifacts. Art associations and interest groups at the community level organized various visual arts exhibitions in the name of “Celebrating Handover Anniversary.” In addition, Chinese-funded media groups, culture companies, overseas Chinese associations and business associations put together similar visual arts events.
On the other hand, independent art practitioners and groups ran activities to reflect on, or even protested against, the Handover Anniversary, resulting in a scene distinctly different from that of the government and the pro-China associations. There was a wide disparity in scale and resources between the two camps without any overlap in regard to the participating artists and publicity channels used. Official and pro-China organizations adopted a narrative entirely different from that of the independent arts groups. The former put forward the ideas of “promoting and perpetuating Chinese culture,” “expressing patriotic sentiments,” “restoring the spirit of Chinese civilization,” “developing a stronger sense of national identity,” “Chinese artists,” “a hub of cultural exchange,” “east meeting west,” “integrating traditional and modern beliefs,” “promoting Hong Kong cultural and creative industries,” “showcasing achievements,” “painting and calligraphy as essential components of Chinese culture,” “brushwork and skill,” and “combining traditional ink painting and contemporary art technique,” etc. The latter looked into “1997,” “identity,” “locality,” “dilemmas of the individual,” “artistic labor,” “art space,” “political censorship,” “political sensitivity,” “operation of arts groups,” “social movements,” and the “Hong Kong-China relationship,” etc.
The official and pro-China organizations planned a large number of activities, in general homogenously festive. In comparison, independent arts groups were more concerned about deconstructing historical events and offering critical reviews by deploying contemporary art forms (including performance art, installation, video, mixed media, etc.). In comparison to the visual arts activities for the celebration of the 10th Handover Anniversary, 2017 events were highly similar in nature and approach, both for the official and pro-China organizations. Their perceptions of Hong Kong’s cultural positioning and development of visual art remained basically unchanged, while the independent arts groups and artists continued their reflection on the issues concerning the handover at the political, social and cultural levels.”