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Artwork Showing Citizens' Wishes at the Venue

At Edinburg place, Central, where the "Social Welfare Sector: Humanitarian Crisis Assembly" was held, hand-made yellow helmets covered much of the venue. Participants wrote down their wishes and demands on the helmets, while others continue to write Christmas cards to imprisoned protestors. A yellow Lennon wall was built, made by patchwork quilts, forming a delightful contrast to the helmets surrounding it.

Source: #FirstHand , United Social Press
#17Dec #Art #PeacefulProtest
#Photography #Art
Photos of Hong Kong Pro-democracy Movement Won Half of the Prizes from “Taiwan Press Photographer Competition 2020”

Prizewinning photographs from the “Taiwan Press Photographer Competition 2020” are displayed at the General Association of Chinese Culture (#GACC) from September 24, 2020 and onwards.

Almost half of 123 award-winning photographs are about the anti-ELAB movement in Hong Kong, reflecting the extraordinary connections between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

With this exhibition, the organiser hopes that visitors can experience the five senses emitted from these photos and feel the concerns they have and the values they defend:

"Time passes, but the photographs capture the moment. The message can be sent to you via photos and stay in your mind. Please don’t forget that people have paid a high cost for freedom."

Source: Stand News #Sept23
#Art
#Badiucao Wins the 2020 Havel Prize for his Political Satire Cartoons

The organisers, the Human Rights Foundation, praised Badiucao, a Chinese-Australian satirical cartoonist, for creating the Lennon Flag, which became a protest symbol to mobilise the 2019 protest movement and the global community to stand in solidarity.

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Sept25

Read full article
https://hongkongfp.com/2020/09/26/in-pictures-chinese-australian-artist-badiucao-wins-2020-havel-prize-for-political-satire-cartoons/

#LennonWall #HongKongProtests
#Poem #Recital #HongkongersVoice
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Calls For Hong Kong Voices: "Freedom fighters/ With faces of pain/ And voices that will be heard"

On Oct 21, 2020, U.S. actor #JosephGordonLevitt is looking for people in Hong Kong to recite a poem titled "Hong Kong Never Sleeps".

The poem describes Hong Kong by the image of water including "fire on water" and "weeping tears of rain". The work also highlights the pro-democracy protests in the city by "bringing together people in the streets" and calling Hongkongers "freedom fighters".

The poem in full reads:

"Hong Kong, she never sleeps
A beauty in the orient
A smiling dragon that breathes
She is fire on water
A city of spirited souls and passing ships

Hong Kong, a world of its own
Where we write our own history
Upon pathways unknown,
But never alone
We forever stand as one

Hong Kong, weeping tears of rain
Bringing together people in the streets
Freedom fighters
With faces of pain
And voices that will be heard

Hong Kong, a home to us all
With layers of landscapes, harbors and hills
Between blue skies and blue seas
On clear days
You can see forever

Hong Kong, our sacred city
Walking and talking through avenues
So full of life
The place we settle in to sleep
And fill with dreams in the night"

Gordon-Levitt urged the interested person to send their recording to:
https://hitrecord.app.link/hongkong_voiceactors

Gordon-Levitt was known for his roles in critically-acclaimed movies including 500 Days of Summer, Inception and Chicago 7. The platform Hitrecord is founded by him and his brother.

Source: Stand News #Oct22

#Art #HongKongNeverSleeps #GlobalSupport
#Cinema #Art
#CannesFilmFestival screens Hong Kong director #KiwiChow's social movement #documentary “Revolution of Our Times” at the last minute

The annual Cannes Film Festival which is closing on July 17, 2021 suddenly announced that it will screen “Revolution of Our Times”, a documentary on Hong Kong’s pro-demoncracy movement in 2019, at 11am on July 16.

The documentary was directed by Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow whose previous works include Ten Years, and Beyond the Dream.

In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chow said he spent two years producing the film in secret. His friends had tried to convince to him to leave Hong Kong, hide his name from the film, or at least change the title of the film; but he refused.

“It is not freedom if I had to guess where the red line is”, Chow said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Festival announced the screening of “Revolutions of Our Times” at the last minute in order to protect the film crew.

On July 14, 2021, the Festival sent out an email to some media stating a “surprise documentary” would be added, and about 10 reporters were invited to a private viewing. The media were required to keep the news a secret until the afternoon July 15.

Source: Stand News; Hollywood Reporter; Wall Street Journal #Jul15

https://thestandnews.page.link/twLjaX818nrWtMTj9

#ProtestArt #Professionalism #HongKongDirector #RevolutionofOurTimes
#Interview #KiwiChow
“Revolution Of Our Times” Director Seeks Freedom by Faith: "Hong Kong is Where My Heart Is"


Part 1

On July 16, 2021, the #CannesFilmFestival in France added #KiwiChow’s “Revolution Of Our Times” to this year’s screening as a last minute surprise. The short film documented the pro-democracy movement sparked off by an extradition law in Hong Kong in 2019. 

Speaking in subsequent media interviews, Chow acknowledged that his safety has been a grave concern to many people close to him. Some advised him to release the film anonymously, while others urged him to leave Hong Kong.

Chow, however, does not want to be overtaken by fear, so he decided to stay behind.

“If I leave, I’ll be trapped in fear”

In early July, Chow’s interview was featured on the CGST Magazine published by the Chinese Academy of Theology. In this feature story, he talked about his short film “Self-Immolator”, one of the segment episodes of “Ten Years”, a film which won multiple awards in Hong Kong in 2016. Back then, people close to him were also concerned for his safety and advised him to flee, but he decided otherwise, clinging to his strong Christian faith.

Chow recalled the time he went on a mission trip in Africa with his wife.  “Where your heart is" (扎心) is an expression that they spoke of often. Chow said his heart is now tightly knit to Hong Kong. He decides to stay, not only to fulfill his responsibility, but also to seek freedom in his heart.

Chow expressed that if he leaves Hong Kong, he will be trapped in fear. “We are Christians. We have always been seeking Christ, seeking love, seeking freedom.” “They can imprison my body, but not my soul, nor my faith,” Chow added.

In recent months, the social situation in Hong Kong has become tense.  Chow expressed in his interview with Stand News that he thought that the documentary, “Revolution of our Times”, could well be banned from discussion even on the internet. He is delighted to see netizens sharing the film, as well as its news, posters and trailers online as usual.

#KiwiChow #RevolutionOfOurTimes #Art #KeepTheFaith

Source: Stand News #Jul17

https://bit.ly/37zcPdX
#Interview #KiwiChow
“Revolution Of Our Times” Director is Not Afraid: "“No matter how insignificant it is, I'll do it and keep going”

Previously, Part 1:

https://www.facebook.com/2406628919558580/posts/3041807359374063/

Continue with Part 2:

On July 16, 2021, the #CannesFilmFestival in France added #KiwiChow’s “Revolution Of Our Times” to this year’s screening as a last minute surprise. The short film documented the pro-democracy movement sparked off by an extradition law in Hong Kong in 2019. 

“No matter how insignificant it is, I'll do it and keep going”

Kiwi Chow said, “[If] I leave Hong Kong, it is going to be painful and fearful for me.  So, I am in fact too scared to leave Hong Kong for now.  Although it might sound contradictory, I am staying behind to find freedom, to be free from fear.”

Chow continued to say that his decision to stay in Hong Kong is connected to his religious belief. “I believe in freedom and justice. I want to practice what I believe. Now I am presented this opportunity to practice it, so I must hold on and carry it through.”

Chow also mentioned that a businessman approached him two years ago to produce a documentary about the anti-extradition movement. Although Chow specializes primarily in feature films, he saw it as an appropriate role for him to contribute. “No matter how insignificant my role is going to be, I'll do it and keep going.” 

In another interview on Ming Pao Weekly, Chow said he felt blessed that the documentary was accepted and shown in the Cannes Film Festival, so that people around the world can come to understand the movement taking place in Hong Kong.

Chow said he is hoping the film would send a message of empathy, justice, and freedom. He does not want history to be distorted, and it is never his intention to spread hatred.  

"I am a film director, and I documented this movement.  As to what the audience may take from the film, it is beyond my control.  In this documentary, I recorded what happened. The scenes, the people and their voices captured in this documentary are real.  That’s what I want to let the world know and understand.”

#KiwiChow #RevolutionOfOurTimes #Art #KeepTheFaith

Source: Stand News #Jul17

https://bit.ly/37zcPdX
#Art #Exibition #Court
Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal Dissipating in the Water in
#HongKongArtists' #Scupture

Situated in Bilchenton-on-Sea in North-eastern #Kent in England, a place not familiar to many Hong Kong people, an exhibition is taking place in a local museum from Monday, August 23, 2021, onwards.

Exhibits include art pieces from two Hong Kong artists. Among them are #LauYatWai's ceramic sculptures titled “Mute Tumult of Memories”. The scupture portrays the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong dissipating in the water.

Graduated from the School of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University (#HKBU) in 2011, Lau specializes in ceramics.

Lau and his teacher #YiLaiKeung worked in partnership with two #UK artists specialising in sound effect to create their joint artwork during a remote residency hosted by #TheCeramicHouse.

Their work will be shown in the "No Interdependent Origins" exhibition from August to October, 2021 in the Powell-Cotton Museum in the #UnitedKingdom.

Source: Stand News; #Aug19

https://bit.ly/3j8fvWy

#ProtestArt #Installation #UK #HongKongCourt #Scupture #NoInterdependentOrigins #PowellCottonMuseum
Mid Autumn Festival 2021: May we share the same moon, no matter where we are

September 21, 2021 marks this year's mid-autumn festival, a day that symbolizes reunion.

For many Hongkongers, it proves to be difficult in the context of 2021.

"Though a thousand miles apart,
May we share in this beautiful sight,
Under the waning moon we wait,
Until she shines again, so full and bright"

===

Wishing our readers peace on this Mid Autumn festival, from all of us at #BeWater HK.

===

Source: Ah To #Sept21

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=417583549736343&id=100044541035098

#Art #LionRock #MoonFestival
#MidAutumnFestival
#Art #Freedom
Italian city defies China bid to scrap dissident's art show

An Italian city is going ahead with plans to host an art exhibition by a Chinese dissident despite a request from China's embassy to cancel it.

The show, called "China is (not) near," is due to run from November 13 to February 13, 2021 in the northern Italian city of Brescia.

The exhibition by #Badiucao, a cartoonist also known as "The Chinese Banksy", is expected to denounce Chinese political repression and censorship of information on the COVID pandemic.

Brescia Mayor #EmilioDelBono told local press that his office would not comply with a request from the Chinese embassy in Italy to scrap it.

He said the friendship between the Italian and Chinese people "is not in question", but "I think it is important to show that you can stay friends while criticising some things".

The deputy mayor, #LauraCastelletti, earlier tweeted that "For us art and freedom of expression are an essential combination".

#Italy #FreedomOfExpression

Source: Stand News, #Oct23 https://thestandnews.page.link/PHgLpzQ5HDsT9fKR8
#PopMusic #Censorship
Top Ranking Song Mocking Chinese nationalists Banned in China and Delisted from HK-based streaming app


Malaysian rapper #Namewee and Taiwan-based Australian singer #KimberlyChen Fang-yu rolled out a Mandopop song titled "#Fragile" (玻璃心, or literally meaning "#GlassHeart"), on Youtube in mid-October 2021.

The term "glass heart" is commonly used to describe nationalist Chinese netizens who become easily upset when a social media post attacks the Chinese Comminist Party (#CCP).

While the song can be interpreted as a love song, the music video satirizes the CCP and nationalist Chinese netizens
(aka "#LittlePinks") through the extensive use of the color pink, simplified Chinese subtitles, and a giant and clumsy panda.

References are made to China's claims to Taiwan, bat soup representing COVID19, the Great Firewall, and #XiJingping's latest political campaign Common Prosperity.

The song hit the internet with an overwhelming popularity, receiving over 10 million Youtube views in just first few days.

The pro-China netizens criticized the lyrics for "inflicting insults on China", leading to both the ban of the singers in China and the removal of their #Weibo accounts.

In response, Namewee wrote on his Facebook page pointing out that the song has reflected a general trend as more people are realizing CCP's oppression and encroachment. The artist said, "[this song is] not so amazing, it's just a mirror."

Commenting on the freedom of expression in artistic creation, Namewee said, "If I have to give up creative freedom and my ideals, this goes against any artististic pursuit.  I would rather stop creating."

Namewee added in his comment that with the growing number of supporters, he would consider leveraging their influence to resist and protest against authoritarianism.

He said, "I believe if one remains silent in the face of iron fist, it would foster and reinforce them [authoritarianism]. Until one day, the iron fist hits your head as it spares no one."

On October 27, 2011, the Hong Kong-based music app, #MOOV, was found delisted the song from its app. Netizens slammed the music app, calling it "#FragileMOOV".

Source: Stand News #Oct25; as1 entertainment #Oct27

https://thestandnews.page.link/v8e74czAgLL9oV6Z8/

#PopCulture #PopSong #MandoPop #MOOV #Delist #Creativity #Art #Culture #MusicVideo #Ban