A Thousand Hamlet | The romance of HK

By Nina Wang

Vincenzo Luongo will carry his suitcase to Peel Street in Central around 11 a.m. to paint portraits. He charges 100 HKD for one portrait. He settled on the most popular graffiti wall on Peel Street and pinned his past creations on the colorful wall, along with a Chinese self-introduction and an advertising slogan: I can draw you in my imagination. Vincenzo, whose Chinese name is Long Yunsheng, uses recycled cardboard, newspapers, magazines, fabrics, and maps to paint. As an Italian artist traveling worldwide, he came to Hong Kong in April 2024.

Hong Kong is still attracting countless artists from around the world to come and participate in their creations. Although rumors have several versions about how Hong Kong changed in the past few years, artists, such as Vincenzo, who claim to live and create in a bohemian spirit, regard Hong Kong as their destination for Asia to collect styles, A must-go site for creation and communication. Vincenzo found this creative location very well because many tourists from the mainland and other countries like to take pictures of the graffiti wall on Peel Street. Some people will look for Vincenzo's portrait out of curiosity. Vincenzo said that his friend provided the Chinese introduction, and he had no idea what it was about. He would sleep outdoors at night. Hong Kong offers good public facilities for homeless people. For example, many parks have public shower rooms. Vincenzo doesn't like to be asked too much. His wandering and artistic creations have been his way of life for many years. He said he is treated as friendly in Hong Kong as in other countries.

The romance in Hong Kong is silent. This is mainly reflected in urban street painting art. As one of Asia's most active art and cultural centers, Hong Kong has world-class galleries, international art events, and ordinary street art. You can find visual impact, yet in harmony with the city in Central, Wong Chuk Hang Industrial Area, and Sham Shui Po. Graffiti paintings blend into the building. The streets of Hong Kong have become a canvas for local and international artists. Often overnight, artists can spray the originally pale walls with colorful colors, leaving unforgettable works of art.

These works of art tell the story of a romantic and attractive Hong Kong. The annual update of graffiti paintings is not random. It is shown that HKWalls, a local non-profit organization, has held the Hong Kong Street Art Festival every March since 2014, inviting creators worldwide to come to Hong Kong to paint graffiti. In this year's art festival, 31 artists from around the world left 31 giant paintings on the streets of Hong Kong. When walking on the streets of Hong Kong, maybe at the corner or when stepping onto the stairs, a painting is eight meters in height and ten meters in width of graffiti that comes into your vision. Behind every painting, there is an artist's romance. For example, at an inconspicuous step on Rozario Street in Sheung Wan, Jasmin Siddiqui (Hera), a Pakistani from Frankfurt, created a girl based on herself on the school's outer wall. The girl is leaning against a pile of books. with a footnote, if I were the hero of a story, I'd choose "hope" and "love" as my travel buddies on my quest.