National Geographic Traveller (UK)
BRIGHT SPARKS
Citizens are coming together in innovative ways to keep Hong Kong’s neon heritage from fizzling out
From postcards and magazine covers to Hollywood blockbusters and video games, Hong Kong’s neon lights are intrinsic to the city’s identity. But over the past decade it’s estimated around 90% of Hong Kong’s large neon lights have been snuffed out.
Appalled by the threat of the lights’ annihilation, groups of passionate Hongkongers have rallied together to try to save, or at least catalogue, the fading lights. “These are pieces of art,” says Cardin Chan, spokesperson for the Tetra Neon Exchange, one of a number of neon heritage groups in Hong Kong. “The people who make the signs are artisans. Our work isn’t just to save the physical signs, but to educate people about what neon means to us.” While she doesn’t mention the ongoing political tension between the city and China, there’s a sense among Hongkongers that their unique heritage is being stripped away.
“Traditionally, these signs are more than advertisements; they’re the souls of the business. We actually have a saying in Cantonese, ‘We’re going to remove your signs!’ It basically means, ‘I want to put you out of business’,” adds Chan. “Because of this, business owners are often ashamed to let people see their signs coming down, making them harder for us to track.” To help gather information, the various groups are encouraging their followers to send in tips and photos of signs that might be slated for removal. Meanwhile, local artists and interior designers have been busy commissioning new indoor neon lights and installations as a way to support the cra.
The campaign will soon have some added weight from the new M+ museum, scheduled to open in late summer. One of the showpiece museums that make up new West Kowloon Cultural District, it focuses on Hong Kong’s visual identity, with a collection that includes 20th- and 21st-century art, design, architecture and moving images. In the run-up to the opening, the museum has put together an extensive online exhibition ( neonsigns.hk) that champions Hong Kong’s exuberant neon signage, including a Google Street View map of past and present signs.
Perhaps, between the gangs of sign-obsessed locals and the cultural big-hitters, there’s a chance to stop Hong Kong’s lights going out. mplus.org.hk