Goodbye Hong Kong - Reflections on a month’s stay

I’m back in the UK, and Hong Kong has receded from my consciousness in much the reverse way that it unfolded - an MTR ride from Mei Foo to the airport, and the view from a 747 window of Lantau’s green hills bathed in sunshine... and then finally disappearing out of view beneath the cloud ceiling.
The residency has given me a once in a lifetime opportunity to view, absorb, and record aspects of HK life with ‘an artist’s eye’ - in ways I would not have done had I just been on holiday there; the extended visit has allowed me the luxury of time to consider and reflect on the things that have caught my attention and return again to these things during the course of my stay. Being a guest of Hong Kong Open Print has enabled me to observe the day to day practice of an organisation in the process of transitioning into an one that aims, through its outreach programmes and now with its new studio space, to bring art and print to a wide cross section of the local and wider HK community. They have also educated me, via invitation to various workshops, in areas of print of which I had little or no previous knowledge - with skill, passion, and humour! It has been a truly memorable experience for me. It might have been quite difficult to manage on my own for five weeks had it not been for the cordiality and friendship of the people I met through HKOP and its network of friends and associates, whom I will miss now that I’m back home. I feel as though I made some real friends as a result of my stay. My concern at the outset was how I would adjust to life in HK. Now it’s how I will adjust to life now I have returned!
Hong Kong remains an enigma. I do not understand how the place survives or can survive; how can you live here without going mad? How can so many people live that closely together, in such conditions of proximity and in such a climate with all that noise and pollution, with such equanimity? There is a level of tolerance here that I don’t see so much of in the UK; there are few outbursts of rage, little evidence of mindless violence, not much sign of vandalism, very little litter. People here do seem to have respect both for their environment and each other; and so although it is crowded in a way that is hard for us here to imagine, it is also cared for in ways that make me feel ashamed; collectively, we seem to care less for our own environment than they do.
And the process of expansion is ever present and remorseless. You don’t have to go too far in any direction in HK to see the extent of this - multiple engineering feats on the scale of the Second Severn Crossing occur here year on year - land reclamation, bridge building, residential programs, road rail and underground building on an unprecedented scale... and speed - as a mere individual it blows your mind. Their efficiency is staggering and yet this mega expansion brings with it the destruction of their heritage, and the city’s history. Talking to some Hong Kong-ers, there seems to be a real concern about how and if it can be kept in check. And yet for many this is just an acceptable price for progress.
Of course you can know much of this from pictures and reportage, books and the internet, if you care to; but it’s seeing it first hand that really has had an impact on me - my direct experience of the place.
Maybe this is the biggest lesson I’ve learned from my visit. And I hope that my own personal first hand views, recorded here along with some of my drawings and photographs, will convey at least some part of my experience of this wonderful and fascinating place, with a sense of both conviction and authenticity.
The task that lies ahead for me is to maintain a real sense of connection with Hong Kong albeit at a distance, and to relive the experience of being there in my artwork, drawings and printmaking - and my writing.

But most of all I hope that my writing and drawing will make you want to visit the city for yourself, and make an experience of Hong Kong that is all your own.