Sculpture with Yellow Raincoats Removed in HK

Ju Ming's Lining Up before it was covered up last year

A sculpture featuring a series of people, including one in a yellow raincoat, and another holding a yellow umbrella has been permanently removed from the piazza at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Entitled Lining Up by well-known Taiwanese artist Ju Ming, 10 people cast in bronze, are seemingly in a queue.

Although the work was created in 2002 and displayed there since 2017, the yellow raincoat and umbrella took on greater significance following the Umbrella Movement and the 2019 protests, as the colour is related to the pro-democracy protesters.

Hoarding covered up the yellow raincoat people

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department blocked the public from viewing, let alone interacting with the work by covering it with hoarding from April last year, with the intention of doing maintenance work.

On the hoarding were photographs of the sculptures, but then grey panels were strategically placed where there are two people wearing yellow raincoats, and another holding a yellow umbrella would have been.

But now Lining Up won't be coming back to its former place.

"As the sculpture concerned had been on display at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza for many years since 2017, it would not be reinstalled in situ," said a spokeswoman from the LCSD.

She did not say whether the decision was related to the yellow raincoats, nor did she give further details on the storage arrangements, or whether keeping it out of public view would be a waste of resources.

Hong Kong-based art critic John Batten, called the decision not to reinstall the work unnecessary, and an overreaction, as the piece was not political in nature. He added the decision was not beneficial for the city's art image overseas.

The Taiwanese sculptor had other works in HK

"It's a much loved work by the public, a very interactive work in a prominent position also with mainlanders going to the area. No one sees that yellow raincoat colour as a political work," Batten said.

"What happened in 2019 is still a strong feeling for everyone in Hong Kong, [but] we all sort of know the boundaries now. The piece was never part of the protest... It's unnecessary."

Batten hopes the sculpture can be exhibited elsewhere in the city.

"I would ask that people, the art lovers in Hong Kong, be respected and the artwork is put back on display."

Originally from Taiwan, Ju Ming originally trained as a woodcarver, and worked with other media, like bronze, ceramics, stainless steel, and styrofoam. He died in 2023 at the age of 85.

In Hong Kong he also has statues doing tai chi in Exchange Square and outside the Bank of China building, both in Central.

Insatiable Demand for Yo-Yo Ma

Ma returns to Hong Kong next month after a 7-year absence

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will be performing in Hong Kong on November 8 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, but demand for tickets to the concert is so intense on the secondary market that they cost as much as HK$17,000 (US$2,170).

The last time he was in Hong Kong was in 2016, which may partly explain why fans are willing to pay premium prices to see him -- though now local audiences are also competing with wealthy mainlanders in the Greater Bay Area who are more than able to shell out.

Ma (left) performed in Hong Kong in 2016

"Bay area billionaires want tickets," a source said, referring to Beijing's initiative to combine Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong into an economic hub.

Tickets were originally sold out on August, and now some people are trying to profit on the demand to see the virtuoso live. 

"If a fan pays HK$17,000 for a concert ticket, he or she may be better off by buying an air ticket to fly to the United States, book a nice hotel and join his concert," remarked Hong Kong cellist Eric Yip Chun-hei. 

Originally the tickets ranged from HK$480 to HK$1,980 and the concert is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Chinese University. Ma has a personal connection to the university, as his late uncle, Li Choh-ming was its founding vice-chancellor, and the cellist also received an honorary doctorate of literature by the university.

Ma with pianist Stott

However, Ma's fans will have another opportunity to hear him as he will be performing two days earlier on November 6 in a duet recital with pianist Kathryn Stott at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets for this concert go on sale October 18.

There will probably be yet another mad rush for these tickets...

Remembering Taiwanese Sculptor Ju Ming's Works in HK

Tai Chi outside Exchange Square is one of Ju's iconic works

It was absolutely tragic to hear the news that Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming died by suicide in his home on April 22 after a long undisclosed illness. He was 85 years old.

He is best known for his blocky sculptures that had sweeping textures that exuded movement, particularly the series on tai chi.

Ju became well-known from exhibitions in HK

A few of his sculptures can be found in Hong Kong, and on my way to the gym, I would pass by Taichi: Sparring (Harmony) outside the Bank of China building.

There was also a pair of sculptures at Exchange Square, one called Single Whip, the other Tai Chi.

Another one is at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, named Living World Series - Lining Up, featuring a line of people dressed in different outfits. They are short and accessible to children. What's interesting about this piece, made in 2002, features one person in a yellow raincoat.

For those who were in Hong Kong during the Umbrella Movement in 2014, will remember Marco Leung, who was known as "raincoat man", and fell to his death when he stood on scaffolding at Pacific Place in Admiralty. While there is no direct link to Ju's sculpture, the man in the yellow raincoat is what many Hongkongers remember of that time.

Taichi: Sparring (Harmony) at Bank of China

Ju gained international recognition through having his exhibitions in Hong Kong, thanks to Hanart TZ Gallery started by Johnson Chang Tsong-zung. He curated Ju's breakout exhibition back in 1982 at the Hong Kong Arts Centre and in 1991 in London's South Bank Centre.

"The news of Ju Ming's death is a big shock," Chang says. "A patient and resolute artist, Ju Ming always honed his vision with clarity, and pursued it with determination. He has maintained his style to the end.

"His passing marks the end of an era which fostered artists brought up in traditional skills and traditional mindset to become giants in modern Chinese art.

"We started working together four decades ago, and travelled east and west to promote a sculptural art that has the fluidity of calligraphy and the monumentality of mountains.

"Ju Ming was a man of integrity and an inspired artist; I feel immense loss that he has chosen to leave the world at this time, and sorely miss the long friendship that shared so many adventures together."

Living World Series - Lining Up in Tsim Sha Tsui

We are sad too that Ju felt he could not continue. We must accept this and remember him and the beautiful art he left for us to appreciate.

Coopting Leslie and Anita, 20 Years Later

What do fans think of this government tribute, 20 years later?

Hard to believe but 20 years ago on April 1, Hong Kong lost one of its brightest stars, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, a talented Cantopop singer and actor. Later that year in December, Anita Mui Yim-fong passed away from cancer. 

I was not in Hong Kong at the time -- a friend was so distraught he sent me copies of the Chinese newspapers covering Cheung's suicide at the Mandarin Oriental in Central in 2003. 

Fans used to remember Cheung every April 1

Since then every April 1, fans have bouquets of flowers sent to the outside of the hotel where a makeshift memorial is set up every year.

Fans come to take pictures of the flowers that have messages telling "Gor Gor" how much they miss him.

However last year with the national security law in place, the police made it very difficult for fans to even gather. Plainclothes police shooed people away, and they could only take a quick picture of themselves holding their flowers by the hotel and then leave.

This year it seems the government wants to take advantage of the two-decade anniversary with the first annual "Pop Culture Festival" with the slogan "Let's Pop"... 

Let's pop???!!!

What does "Let's Pop" mean?

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has organised the extravaganza to celebrate the glory days of Cantopop in the 1980s and 1990s. There will also be a "Miss You Much Leslie Cheung Exhibition" at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum to remember the much-loved star, while a concert will be held at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Cheung and Mui will also be celebrated in a show called "When Leslie and Anita Meet Hei & Gin", featuring some of the two performers' greatest hits at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre.

It is rather macabre for the government to resurrect these two stars from the dead in the hopes of reviving Hong Kong's fortunes. Fans should be given the opportunity to remember them the way they want to commemorate their favourite performers. Were fan groups notified about these massive initiatives? 

Also -- why is Hong Kong looking to the past when it should be looking to the future? The authorities seem to be politicising these two performers, using their names and reputations to earn street cred.

When a "Pop Culture Festival" says, "Let's Pop", it's just popping pathetic...