Umbrella Patchwork Hong Kong

Making the Hong Kong umbrella patchwork, autumn 2014. Making the Hong Kong umbrella patchwork, autumn 2014.

An umbrella patchwork was made in the autumn of 2014 from discarded umbrellas during pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. It was regarded as a site-specific art installation. The demonstrations started when in September 2014 the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress announced its decision with respect to electoral reform in Hong Kong and how they were going to disallow civil nominations.

As a result there was a series of demonstrations and protests in Hong Kong, which were initially organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism. The students were later joined by many other supporters. In order to shield themselves from pepper spray and tear gas the supporters started to use umbrellas. These (especially those coloured yellow) quickly turned into a symbol of protest against the government.

The ‘Umbrella Patchwork’ was made from more than 250 discarded and broken umbrella awnings (the cloth used to cover the umbrella frame). It was made by a group of about fifty students at the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. It took three days and nights to make and was about 10 x 10 m in size. It was temporarily suspended from two footbridges in Admiralty, Hong Kong in order to provide shelter to protesters. The students regarded the Umbrella Patchwork as symbolising the unity and good wishes of Hong Kong people in their peaceful fight for democracy.

Digital source (retrieved 18th March 2016).

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 12th June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Monday, 26 June 2017 17:23
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