Protest art from Hong Kong

July 1 is a day of protest in Hong Kong, coinciding with the anniversary of the former colony’s handover back to China. It’s come to life recently as a hodgepodge of dissent: Various groups, organizations and even artists use it as a public forum to shout back at the local government heads.

The experience as a participant is quite interesting: You gather in a park, am ordered and sung to by the organizers, then walk along stretches of closed-off roads alongside various groups with banners and slogans, and pass various stations who proffer you their ideals… or merch.

For example, I picked up (bought) a T-shirt in support of raising the minimum-wage to $33 HKD ($4.23 USD):

T-shirt reads: To work better not be a slave (puns the words “be a slave” with “McDonalds”)

I also picked up (free) a giant broadsheet (though it was printed on both sides) called “Our Ten Thousand Words.” I’ve placed my wallet next to the sheet as a reference for size.

The essays on this broadsheet are a collective whine about the current state of affairs from a younger generation. The connecting thread between all of them is a connection with farming (they work in it, their family are farmers, etc.).

Oh, and I also picked up a tan from walking under the sun.